How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
None of us ate together: my Aunt Gladys ate at five o'clock, my cousin Susan at five-thirty, me at six, and my uncle at six-thirty. (1.13)
At Aunt Gladys's, the "family table" means each family member gets individual attention and an individual dinner to please him or her. It's her way of caring for the people she loves. Yet, it's different from the image of the "ideal" American dinnertime popularized in the late 1950s in shows like Leave it to Beaver.
Quote #2
Inside my glove compartment it was as though the map of The City Streets of Newark had metamorphosed into crickets […]. (1.67)
The city versus the suburbs motif is a vision of America. Neil is constantly comparing the two. It's hot in the city, but so cool up here the suburbs. He desires the green, nature-filled expanse of the suburbs, but can't justify living there. He's a young philosophy major. What do you expect?
Quote #3
We did not eat in the kitchen; rather, the six of us […] sat around the dining room table, while the maid Carlota, a Navaho-faced Negro […] served us the meal. (2.74)
This is a contrast to both Aunt Gladys's family table and Leave it to Beaver's. Having a maid and a dining room table is the way the Patimkins show love for their family. How does Neil feel about it? How do you feel about it? Explain your answer.
Quote #4
Beneath their branches, like fruit dropped from their limbs, were two irons, a golf ball, a tennis can, a baseball bat, basketball, a first baseman's glove, and what was apparently a riding crop. (2.73)
Roth uses sports in many of his novels. Sports are, for many, a big part of the American dream. For the Patimkins, it's a huge part, though Neil doesn't seem to be much of a sports fan. What about you?
Quote #5
Sitting there in the park, I felt a deep knowledge of Newark, and attachment so rooted that it could not help but branch out into affection. (3.2)
Neil is constantly showing his love for Newark (where his creator is from too, by the way). He feels comfortable and like he belongs, in contrast to the way he feels when he's on Brenda's turf.
Quote #6
Just before lunch the lion tamer came wide-eyed into the library. (3.7)
A brave child comes into the library in the middle of the summer looking to educate himself on art—now that's the American dream. Sadly, the boy could have been tossed out for being black had Neil not been there to protect his right to read.
Quote #7
I looked hard at the image of me, at that darkening of the glass, and then my gaze pushed through it, over the cool floor, to a broken wall of books, imperfectly shelved. (8.255)
Neil is the first major character in the first book by Roth, one of America's most celebrated living authors. No wonder he looks in the mirror and sees books—he sees his creator's future. Where do the words "broken" and "imperfect" come in? Discuss it with us in "What's Up With the Ending?"