How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He measured everything he would let me eat, he was feeding it on me, he wanted a replica of himself; after it was born I was no more use. I couldn't prove it though, he was clever: he kept saying he loved me. (4.6)
The narrator seems puzzled by the concept of love and may even doubt that her ex-husband actually loved her—at least, she suggests there was something strategic or crafty about his use of the word.
Quote #2
I'm trying to decide whether or not I love him. It shouldn't matter, but there's always a moment when curiosity becomes more important to them than peace and they need to ask; though he hasn't yet. (5.4)
Perhaps the narrator has trouble believing that people could love her because she can't relate to the emotion—she certainly can't seem to figure out if she loves Joe.
Quote #3
He said he loved me, the magic word, it was supposed to make everything light up, I'll never trust that word again. (5.33)
Although we don't really have all the details yet, the narrator indicates that her ex-husband used "love" as some kind of magic charm to get whatever he wanted. At first it just seems like potential ego problems on her part, but maybe there's something to her claim that he uses the L-word for his own crafty purposes? Stay tuned…
Quote #4
Love without fear, sex without risk, that's what they wanted to be true; and they almost did it, I thought, they almost pulled it off, but as in magicians' tricks or burglaries half-success is failure and we're back to the other things. Love is taking precautions. (9.24)
The narrator offers yet another relatively unromantic take on "love," which involves making sure you have plenty of birth control and a low risk of pregnancy.
Quote #5
I wondered if that was the equivalent of saying I loved him. I was calculating how much getaway money I had in the bank, how long it would take me to pack and move out, away from the clay dust and the cellar mould smell and the monstrous humanoid pots, how soon I could find a new place. Prove your love, they say. (10.28)
She has just assured Joe that, contrary to his belief, she does give a darn about him (sorry for the language, Shmoopers), and she is hoping that will suffice (i.e., she'll be off the hook for not saying "I love you" outright). However, given that she's running through plans to move out, it seems like she doesn't think the ploy will work.
Quote #6
"Do you love me, that's all," he said. "That's the only thing that matters."
It was the language again, I couldn't use it because it wasn't mine. He must have known what he meant but it was an imprecise word; the Eskimoes had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them, there ought to be as many for love.
"I want to," I said. ""I do in a way." I hunted through my brain for any emotion that would coincide with what I'd said. I did want to, but it was like thinking God should exist and not being able to believe. (12.51-53)
Joe is finally asking the narrator straight out whether she loves him, and she still isn't ready to answer in the affirmative. The word just doesn't fit any of the emotions she has for him.
Quote #7
Anna hadn't told me, she had left something out; or else he was lying. "But she loves you," I said. (16.37)
When confronted with the brutal truth of how bad Anna and David's marriage actually is, the narrator resorts to saying Anna loves David, even though we know she doesn't actually really connect with that word or its meaning. As a result, the phrase seems like cold comfort.
Quote #8
He did say he loved me though, that part was true; I didn't make it up. It was the night I locked myself in and turned on the water in the bathtub and he cried on the other side of the door. When I gave up and came out he showed me snapshots of his wife and children, his reasons, his stuffed and mounted family, they had names, he said I should be mature. (18.4)
Now we're getting to the bottom of why the narrator viewed her ex's "I love you" as hollow: he used those words to comfort her when she was cranky about their relationship (and perhaps the fact that it was an affair?), and he had to remind her to be "mature" and consider his family.
Quote #9
"Oh," I said; I thought about it for a minute. "Maybe they love each other." It would be logical, they were the ones who could. "Do you love me," I asked in case I hadn't understood him, "is that why you want me to?" (18.27)
In trying to convince the narrator to sleep with him, David tells her that Joe is off having sex with Anna. Instead of getting upset and wanting to have revenge sex with David, the narrator is very matter-of-fact about the whole thing, wondering if that mysterious L-word is at the heart of all this infidelity, or attempted infidelity.
Quote #10
I watch him, my love for him useless as a third eye or a possibility. (27.9)
Finally, in the final lines of the novel, we learn in passing that the narrator has decided that she does feel love for Joe—even if she does call it "useless." We're unclear on how these newfound feelings will affect her life or willingness to return to the city with him.