Why Don't You Dance? Guilt/Shame (or lack thereof) Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)

Quote #4

"Those people over there, they're watching," she said. (89)

At first, when the guy encourages them to dance, the young girl indicates she's uncomfortable, noting that there are people watching. Wait, where did the exhibitionist from earlier in the story go? You know, the one who was willing to get frisky in public? Now dancing is an issue? What gives?

Quote #5

"Let them watch," the girl said. (91)

Whew—we thought we were going to have to revise our opinion of the young girl and her willingness to do whatever, regardless of who's watching. Although she was concerned at first that people were watching her, here (just a couple of lines later) she's back to her old self, totally comfortable and guilt-free about the fact that people will be watching her dance. Once the guy gives her permission not to care, she decides that she doesn't.

Quote #6

"That's right," the man said. "They thought they'd seen everything over here. But they haven't seen this, have they?" (92)

We're not totally sure what's going on here, but it sounds like the older guy has been the subject of scrutiny before—apparently, the neighbors have already seen "everything" at his house, so a little dancing can't hurt, right? The fact that the older guy has already put on a show (of some kind) for the neighbors means that he and the young couple can do it again without worrying or feeling embarrassed about it.