Goodbye, Columbus Language and Communication Quotes

Roth really captures first phone call anxiousness here. This moment also helps develop Neil's character because we know he is totally nervous, but still daring enough to call with no hesitation. Brenda is sure to be aware of this, too.

Through Doris's comment, we are aware of how Neil and Brenda look to those outside their magic circle of love. As Doris points out, Neil's devotion seems a bit extreme. Doris's comment also expresses a bit of natural jealously over their romance.

This is the second time Neil has apologized for making "nasty" remarks to Brenda. It's also the last that we can see. Interestingly, after she tells him to stop apologizing to her, he does. Maybe he didn't really mean it.

Neil suggests that language can both discover and create feelings. He and Brenda are experiencing a heightened level of communication at the country club that second day of their romance.

Neil, being from Newark, is stung by this remark, and Brenda doesn't realize it, even though he's told her that he's from Newark. He hates Brenda at this moment for being spoiled and insensitive, and this is only day two.

Aunt Gladys gets some of the best lines in the book. She's talking about Neil washing his underwear by hand at the Patimkins' house instead of Gladys doing it in the machine. Shmutz is a Yiddish word that means dirt. Gladys's concern for Neil is her way of expressing love, and Neil knows it.

Mr. Patimkin had been talking about Ron and how his college education wasn't helping him at Patimkin Sinks. He realizes Neil, too, has gone to college and is possibly an idealist. This shows that he's more sensitive to others than he appears.

Mr. Patimkin might have bad grammar, but he loves his daughter and is sensitive toward her. His chief way of expressing that love is through buying her things, but he's also kind and loving to her in general. Still, Neil and Mrs. Patimkin might argue that he's keeping her from being independent by spoiling her.

They both used the word "loved" instead of love. At least for them, there is no turning back from such utterances. Once love is past tense, it can't be made present again, and so ends the romance, but not the memories. Also, notice how silence is a form of communication here—what are they, psychic?