How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Anna hadn't told me, she had left something out; or else he was lying. "But she loves you," I said. (16.37)
When confronted with the brutal truth of how bad Anna and David's marriage actually is, the narrator resorts to saying Anna loves David, even though we know she doesn't actually really connect with that word or its meaning. As a result, the phrase seems like cold comfort.
Quote #8
He did say he loved me though, that part was true; I didn't make it up. It was the night I locked myself in and turned on the water in the bathtub and he cried on the other side of the door. When I gave up and came out he showed me snapshots of his wife and children, his reasons, his stuffed and mounted family, they had names, he said I should be mature. (18.4)
Now we're getting to the bottom of why the narrator viewed her ex's "I love you" as hollow: he used those words to comfort her when she was cranky about their relationship (and perhaps the fact that it was an affair?), and he had to remind her to be "mature" and consider his family.
Quote #9
"Oh," I said; I thought about it for a minute. "Maybe they love each other." It would be logical, they were the ones who could. "Do you love me," I asked in case I hadn't understood him, "is that why you want me to?" (18.27)
In trying to convince the narrator to sleep with him, David tells her that Joe is off having sex with Anna. Instead of getting upset and wanting to have revenge sex with David, the narrator is very matter-of-fact about the whole thing, wondering if that mysterious L-word is at the heart of all this infidelity, or attempted infidelity.