Gender Quotes in The Corrections

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

She was his baby sister, after all. Her years of fertility and marriageability were passing with a swiftness to which he was attuned and she, he suspected, was not, (3.747)

This is pretty icky, Gary—you're not only assuming that "fertility and marriageability" are Denise's number one goals, but also that you're somehow more aware of them than her. That's crazy talk.

Quote #5

He was glad Denise was taking heat again from Enid. He felt surrounded, imprisoned, by disapproving women. (3.905)

Misogyny is rooted in a fear of women. For Gary, it's even more complicated than that—he's afraid of them because he's so desperate for their approval.

Quote #6

Her stillness and self-containment, the slow sips of air she took, her purely vulnerable objecthood, made him pounce. (4.6)

This isn't even subtle. Alfred has a notoriously difficult relationship with sexuality, and the only way he can make love to Enid is if he denies her personhood.