How we cite our quotes: (line number)
Quote #1
No, sir. What you'll probably get is cancer of the mouth, and then you'll have to wear one of those things Freud wore after they took one whole side of his jaw away. (17)
Jerry has hardly met Peter and he's already talking about Peter getting cancer of the mouth and having his jaw rot away. Charming. This is only a successful opening conversational gambit in Theater of the Absurd. A Shakespeare character would just say, "Forsooth! I'm peacing out, homie."
Quote #2
But good old Mom and good old Pop are dead…you know?...I'm broken up about it, too…I mean really. BUT. That particular vaudeville act is playing the cloud circuit now, so I don't see how I can look at them, all neat and framed. (116)
Jerry refers jovially and callously to his parents death. Maybe he's actually pained deep down, so he's using humor to downplay the grief. Or he could just be a jerk.
Quote #3
First, I'll kill the dog with kindness, and if that doesn't work…I'll just kill him. (157)
Shmoop does not approve of plots to kill dogs, even if said dogs are unpleasant and try to eat your legs. Again, Jerry treats death like a joke. Perhaps death is a cosmic joke; perhaps life is one absurd round of absurdity after another, and we are but pawns (or prawns?) of blind and capricious fate. Shmoop doesn't care. Plotting to poison dogs is still wrong.
Quote #4
The day I tried to kill the dog I bought only one hamburger and what I thought was a murderous portion of rat poison…. AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT THE BEAST WAS DEATHLY ILL. (159)
Jerry is using semi-Biblical language to talk about his encounter with the dog. Remember, God also pops up at the end of the play, as Jerry is dying. God is used ironically; the play does not seem to take place in a well-ordered universe where God is watching over all. (Dog is God backwards; is Jerry trying to poison God? No wonder it doesn't work, if so.)
Quote #5
You are mad! You're stark raving mad! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME! (262)
In some plays, folks face death with stoicism, bravery, and heroism. Peter is more of a meet-mortality-with-panic-and-all-caps kind of guy. So are we.
Quote #6
(Then he, too, screams, and it must be the sounds of an infuriated and fatally wounded animal. With the knife in him, he stumbles back to the bench that PETER had vacated.) (270)
Jerry has tried to reach an understanding with animals. Mortally wounded he becomes an animal himself—or is supposed to try to act like one, according to the stage instructions.