How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
"How can you be sure it is death you fear? Death is so vague. No one knows what it is, what it feels like or looks like. Maybe you just have a personal problem that surfaces in the form of a great universal subject." (26.80)
Jack doesn't want to think that Babette's fears are connected to something as crude as death. He tries to convince her (and himself) that what she's actually concerned about is her weight, or her hair, or something like that. He does the exact same thing the modern world does, which is try to mask the fear of death as something else (like a fear of being fat, or ugly, or poor).