How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He watched them holding themselves with their noses in the current, many trout in deep, fast moving water, slightly distorted as he watched far down through the glassy convex surface of the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log-driven piles of the bridge. (I.3)
The trout here could be on one of those motivational posters. By holding themselves against the current, they represent strength, overcoming adversity, resolve… basically, they’re modeling what Nick feels like he should be doing in the face of his nervous condition. But that is much easier said than done, and it might help explain why Nick is gripped by anxiety as he watches the trout move.
Quote #2
He did not need to get his map out. He knew where he was from the position of the river. (I.11)
It’s not that Nick doesn’t like asking for directions; instead, by nixing the map and using natural signs like the river and the sun, Nick is being guided by a more solid instinct. A map shows you where you are, but only theoretically. If instead you look around yourself and know that you are following the river, it’s more definitive and, for Nick, reassuring.
Quote #3
Now, as he watched the black hopper that was nibbling at the wool of his sock with its fourway lip, he realized that they had all turned black from living in the burned-over land. He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way. (I.12)
So the grasshoppers (1) have been changed by a circumstance in the past beyond their control, (2) are now manifesting the effects of that circumstance, and (3) might be doing so for a while yet. Not only do we not see a nice past-present-future layout here, but this sounds an awful lot like what happened to Nick as a soldier coming home from WWI. Now, we might not immediately make this connection on the first reading, but even if we miss the WWI aspect we know by this passage that something similar is going on with Nick.