How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Wearing rubber gloves so as to avoid being stung by the amerikanski electricity in the metal of the shelving, Pnin would go to those books and gloat over them: [...] (3.6.24)
Once again, America is associated with something that is bothersome to Pnin. We are sure that there is static electricity in Russia, but he acts as if it's a problem entirely confined to the shores of the United States.
Quote #8
"No, no," said Pnin, "I do not wish an egg or, for example, a torpedo. I want a simple football ball. Round." (4.6.2)
All we need now is a scene of Pnin rejecting baseball and saying that he's allergic to apple pie, and he will have given a thumbs down to all the stereotypical symbols of America. Why do you think Nabokov constantly reinforces this idea that Pnin is most definitely, without a doubt, absolutely not American?
Quote #9
It is—what do you want to eat? Veal cutlet? O.K., I will also eat veal cutlet—it is naturally a concession to America, my new country, wonderful America which sometimes surprises me but always provokes respect. In the beginning I was greatly embarrassed—" In the beginning Pnin was greatly embarrassed by the ease with which first names were bandied about in America: after a single party, with an iceberg in a drop of whisky to start and with a lot of whisky in a little tap water to finish, you were supposed to call a gray-templed stranger "Jim," while he called you "Tim" for ever and ever. (4.8.10)
Why do you think Pnin was so quick to adopt the new American fashion, but he is still very traditional about being called by his first name? What does it mean that he allows Victor to call him by his first name? Would Victor rather call him "Daddy"?