How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
What Marla loves, she says, is all the things that people love intensely and then dump an hour or a day after. (8.50)
Whereas the narrator wants to rid himself of all these useless, transient possessions, Marla wants to show them a little bit more love, even if it is just prolonging the inevitable.
Quote #5
Marla's philosophy of life, she told me, is that she can die at any moment. The tragedy of her life is that she doesn't. (14.10)
Once again, Marla proves to be a foil for our protagonist. He's dealing with the disappointment that everyone dies. Marla is dealing with the disappointed that she just won't die. What do you think: are these two coping strategies just two sides of the same coin?
Quote #6
For thousands of years, human beings had screwed up and trashed and crapped on this planet, and now history expected me to clean up after everyone. (16.62)
Our narrator isn't happy having to clean up after his ancestors' mistakes. Who wants to be held accountable for a mess they didn't make?