Visions of the West Quotes in Angle of Repose

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

His character and his role were already Western, he had only that way of asserting himself against the literary gentility with which her house was associated in his mind. (1.5.40)

A big reason why Susan falls in love with Oliver is that he's so quintessentially Western. He's like a hunky cowboy. Given that Susan spends most of her time hanging out with literary bigwigs and diehard intellectuals, meeting a rough-and-tumble dude like Oliver is like a breath of fresh air. It'd be like breaking up with a fashion designer to start dating a professional athlete.

Quote #2

She saw exotic red-barked trees among the woods, and smelled the herb-cupboard smells of sage and bay. Another world. (2.1.65)

Although she was scared at first, Susan actually falls in love with the West immediately. It certainly helps that it's super pretty out there, completely unlike the Northeast where she was born and raised. Like she says: it's another world.

Quote #3

"This is a place to be very happy in [...] but there is a thought [...] which is the undertone of our life here—that this is not our real home." (2.2.32)

Although she digs it out there, Susan is hesitant to call the West her home: she assumes that she and the fam will be heading back east in a few years' time. We're not trying to call her out or anything, but we're pretty sure that Oliver would disagree with that statement.