How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I was driving past long lawns which seemed to be twirling water on themselves, and past houses where no one sat on stoops. (1.67)
You'll notice that the suburbs and the city are constantly being contrasted in the story. Neil is not a fan of the suburbs and sees inner-city life as more "real." Yet, the suburbs have a seductive pull that Neil might not be able to resist.
Quote #2
"Simp is her Bennington name. The ass." (1.75)
Bennington was and is a prestigious private college. Brenda finds her name pretentious, but Neil finds Brenda pretentious, too, at times. Brenda is kind of in between Simp's pretentiousness and Neil's. Neil is pretentious because he thinks too many things are pretentious.
Quote #3
We […] sat around the dinner table, while the maid, Carlota, a Navaho-faced Negro […] served us the meal. (2.74)
Carlota is obviously a paid worker. In other passages, Neil suggests she enjoys her job. Like Aunt Gladys, Carlota might actually enjoy the work. She is obviously an experienced professional. But is she being paid a fair wage and treated professionally and fairly? What can you use as evidence from the book?
Quote #4
"You know the way they treat the housing projects we give them."
"You give them?"
"The city. […] They are taking over the city." (3.28-3.30)
McKee sees Newark as divided by race. He thinks poor black people have brought their poverty upon themselves. McKee doesn't take into account slavery or severe discrimination. Keep in mind that our tale is set around 1959, several years before the official beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.
Quote #5
"Aunt Gladys, they don't live over a store."
"I lived over a store and I wasn't ashamed. Thank God we always had a roof." (4.92-4.93)
In Quote #8, we talk about how businesses and residences are interspersed in Newark but not in Short Hills. Here not living where you work seems to indicate "higher" status, at least to Neil. Why?
Quote #6
She meant, I was sure, that I was somehow beginning to look the way she wanted me to. Like herself. (5. 123)
This is the first day of Brenda's exercise program for Neil. Humorously, Neil is allowing Brenda to physically mold him for upper-middle-class life as she knows it—grapefruit and all.
Quote #7
"You'll stay there too long and you'll be too good for us." (6.19)
In another passage Neil wonders if Brenda's wealth will take away her uniqueness. Here, Gladys thinks that wealth and privilege will set up a wall between Neil and his family in Newark. Is she right? Would it? Does it have to?
Quote #8
Patimkin Kitchen and Bathroom Sinks was in the heart of the Negro section of Newark. Years ago, at the time of the great immigration, it had been the Jewish section. (6.218)
Quite a contrast to the Patimkin home in Short Hills, but this is also the heart of that home. An interesting point of contrast: in Newark, business and residences are interspersed, but, for the most part, not in Short Hills. What, if anything, does this have to do with immigration?