How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He fell for an eighteen-year-old girl with one of those deepdown, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going. (1.1)
Ah, love… hearts, red roses, and killing your lover. Ain't love grand? Joe cherishes the feeling of loving more than he cherishes Dorcas herself. So he has to shoot her in what is a quintessential crime of passion. Spooky love indeed: You know when a novel starts like this it's going to be pretty preoccupied with matters of the heart.
Quote #2
It was a randy aggressiveness he had enjoyed because he had not used or needed it before. The ping of desire that surfaced along with his whisper through the closed door he began to curry. (2.7)
Lust and power are equated a ton in Jazz. He (or she) who holds the lust holds the power. A lot of conquests in this novel are described as wins: If a person lusts after someone and gets them, they've won. So when Joe picks Dorcas instead of being picked by Violet, it's a win, which is why he enjoys his "randy aggressiveness" so much.
Quote #3
They try not to shout but can't help it. Sometimes he covers her mouth with the palm of his hand so no one passing in the hall will hear her, and if he can, if he thinks of it in time, he bites the pillow to stop his own yell. If he can. (2.25)
Yep, Dorcas and Joe have some white-hot passion. It's described as an unstoppable force, something they can't help. Another unstoppable force in this novel, something that is sweeping the city and can't be helped, is the Jazz Age. We're not saying that Dorcas and Joe's passion is just a metaphor for jazz—it's also a complex love affair in its own right—but for the characters who fear change, Dorcas and Joe's affair is exactly the kind of sinful activity that jazz is going to provoke.