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
The grocer sighed and waited. Waiting he did poorly. When times were bad time was bad. It died as he waited, stinking in his nose. (1.1.14)
The slow rot of ticking time is about all Morris has to look forward to each day. Business will never boom. He won't be able to pursue a dream job. He can hardly provide for his family. His life is a dull disappointment.
Quote #2
She shared unwillingly the grocer's fate though she did not show it and her dissatisfaction when no further than nagging. (1.2.33)
Ida is no happier than Morris. Arguably, she's not happy with him. Still, just like her husband, she carries on, day after day, too despondent to rebel.
Quote #3
Virginity she thought she had parted with without sorrow, but was surprised by torments of conscience, or was it disappointment at being valued under her expectations. Nat Pearl, handsome, cleft-chinned, gifted, ambitious, had wanted without too much trouble a lay and she, half in love, had obliged and regretted. Not the loving, but that it had taken her son long to realize how little he wanted. Not her, Helen Bober. (1.3.19)
Helen regrets sleeping with Nat. She wouldn't do so again or repeat the first time. She tries to explain this later to Frank, but he doesn't get it. Like Nat, he doesn't value her as she deserves.
Quote #4
Thinking of his life always left her with the sense of the waste of her own. (1.4.38)
Though still young, Helen shares the monotonous life of her parents. She has prospects—college or perhaps a college-educated husband—but these too mostly elude her. Even Frank's life looks glamorous from her perspective. Sounds like Helen needs to get her groove back.
Quote #5
"Every time I read about somebody like him I get a feeling inside I have to fight to keep from crying. He was born good, which is a talent if you have it." (2.1.17)
Frank looks up to St. Francis, but he has a mistaken notion about the saint. Francis wasn't born good. Quite the opposite. He turned his life around.
Quote #6
"What good is it to sit so many nights alone upstairs? Who gets rich from reading? What's the matter with you?" (5.2.36)
Ida doesn't want her daughter to suffer their same fate, and she fears that Helen's love of reading is keeping her away from suitors who could lift her out of poverty. Gee, thanks Mom.
Quote #7
"Some people want their children to read more. I want you to read less." "That won't get me married any faster." (5.2.77-78)
Ida doesn't seem to have much hope in college for Helen. She believes the path to wealth lies in having a wealthy husband. Hmmm…Does she regret marrying Morris? Probably.
Quote #8
Utterly lonely, she regretted the spring-like loveliness of the night; it had gone, in her hands, to waste. She was tired of anticipation, of waiting for nothing. (6.7.18)
In a way, the Bobers are out of time. They don't see a future for themselves, they regret the past that is now gone, and they feel each present moment slips by, wasted. Time has given them nothing and promises them nothing.
Quote #9
Undressing for a shower—her third in hours—she burst into tears at the sight of her body. Every man she drew to her dirtied her. (7.3.2)
Notice the self-blame here. Helen believes she has dirtied herself by drawing men to her. She's deeply disappointed in herself, in the choices she's made, and now at the sight of herself.