How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Henry] had no hope of playing in college. College coaches were like girls: their eyes went straight to the biggest, bulkiest guys, regardless of what those guys were really worth. (2.11)
We're not sure if this is jealousy or not. What do you think? In any other guy it would be, but we're not sure if Henry is capable of that emotion.
Quote #2
"Lev can hit […] But his defense is slipshod. He lacks the Skrimshander panache." (5.29)
Lev Tennant ends up becoming jealous of Henry, a freshperson, despite being a senior on the team. That's what happens when someone younger and more talented shows up on the scene.
Quote #3
The last thing [Schwartz] wanted to do was sit there acting happy about the Skrimmer's impending fame. (16.48)
Poor Mike should be proud of Henry's fame and, like any good coach or manager, take credit for it. He's the Don King to Henry's Mike Tyson, but with better hair.
Quote #4
The first definable feeling that worked its way up to his brain was disappointment. Owen would never want me, he thought. If this is what Owen wants, then Owen would never want me. (17.5)
Is this jealousy? Even Affenlight is trying to figure himself out at this point, when he discovers porn on Owen's computer and thinks the muscled hunk on the screen is his type. Affenlight looks at it again to try to figure out his own reaction. He's so confused about his sexuality, he doesn't even know if he's jealous of the model.
Quote #5
"You were right about the kid—what you saw in him three years ago, everyone else is seeing now. But it's not making you happy, the way you thought it would. In fact, you're starting to resent the ungrateful bastard." (18.55)
This quote is a continued exploration of Mike's jealousy, from Pella's point of view. Is she right, aside from the ungrateful part?
Quote #6
"I had a plan for Henry, and it worked. I had a plan for myself, and that one didn't. I shouldn't take it out on him." (18.62)
This is Mike's own self-analysis. Is he accurate? What could he do to assuage these feelings of jealousy?
Quote #7
If [Mike] wanted to buy a coffee at a rest stop, he'd have to ask Henry to spot him. Henry, all of a sudden, could afford it. (19.1)
Add this to the "reasons that Mike feels jealous of Henry" pile. Mike is having money woes, what with student debt and no future education prospects, but Henry is hearing rumors of increasingly lucrative signing deals. Even though Mike likes to take care of others, he can't bear being in debt to anyone else—except the government.
Quote #8
If Owen thought Jason was slightly better-looking than Affenlight but much better-looking than Owen, then Owen thought that Affenlight was better-looking than Owen. Which was a compliment. But to be compared unfavorably to an ex-boyfriend: that was a slight. (26.20)
Affenlight's constant analysis of his and Owen's relationship waffles between jealousy of his ex-boyfriend and just pure neuroses. Do you think Affenlight is jealous or just a neurotic?
Quote #9
It was a bad thing to do: to distance himself from Henry, to cut the Skrimmer adrift while pretending nothing had changed—and to do so, when you got down to it, because he couldn't handle Henry's success. (28.46)
We're proud of Mike here because the book isn't even halfway over yet, and, through the power of his own self-awareness, he's able to squash his jealousy of Henry and repair their friendship.
Quote #10
"David, I'm leaving you because you're controlling and unreasonable and debilitatingly jealous. You don't want me to work, don't want me in school, don't even want me to learn how to drive." (42.40)
We don't get to know much about Pella's husband David. Do you believe he's as jealous as she says he is? If so, why does she end up with Mike, who is capable of similar destructive levels of jealousy? Is she fine with it as long as it doesn't directly impact her?