How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Do you find words difficult?" Arthur asked. "I can't imagine that you're any good at reading or writing, and as for lying—Words are so alien to your kind. They can't come easily to you." (15.23)
Arthur uses Nick's difficulty with words as evidence to support his claim that Nick is not actually human. But the fact that Nick can talk at all seems to indicate that he might not be exactly what Arthur thinks he is, either. So you tell us: what is Nick?
Quote #8
Black Arthur had been right, though. He had never been human, never felt things in a human way, never been completely comfortable with a language made of words. (17.23)
Really? Okay, so we'll go along with the "never been completely comfortable with a language made of words," but (ahem) there are plenty of humans who feel that way about language, too. And as for the "never felt things in a human way" bit, well… we're not so sure about that.
Quote #9
He made an effort to catch her eye, and when he did, he smiled.
"Well done," he said.
Mae looked sick. Nick realized that somehow he had said the wrong thing, and he was just thinking that Alan would have said the right thing when he saw Alan stir. (17.68-70)
Seems like maybe it would be kind of maddening to have a brother who always says the right thing—especially if you yourself had a knack for always saying the wrong thing. To that end, we'd like to give big kudos to Nick for waiting until Chapter 11 to take out his frustrations on his eloquent brother.