How we cite our quotes: The book doesn't have numbered or titled chapters, but it is broken up into sections with sub-sections under these. We'll call this Chapter:Section:Paragraph.
Quote #1
December yielded nothing to spring. She awoke to each frozen, lonely day with dulled feeling. Then one Sunday afternoon winter leaned backward for an hour and she want walking. Suddenly she forgave everyone everything. A warmish breath of air was enough to inspire; she was again grateful for living. (4.5.3)
The warmth of the sun can make all the difference in the middle of days of dreary cold. Here, it inspires Helen to start feeling a bit happier to be alive, and bit more forgiving, too.
Quote #2
The matter was how he now felt, and he now felt bad that he had done it. And when Helen was around he felt worse. (4.5.4)
Frank longs for Helen to forgive him, but has he really forgiven himself? Would forgiving himself make him feel less bad?
Quote #3
It wouldn't necessarily mean that Helen Bober would then and there fall for him—the opposite could happen—but if she did, he wouldn't feel bad about it. (4.5.8)
Frank is a complicated soul. He really does want Helen to forgive him for wrongs he's done her family—participating in the attack upon her father—but at the same time he's interested in her loving him and sleeping with him.