Tropic of Cancer Time Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

The cancer of time is eating us away. Our heroes have killed themselves, or are killing themselves. The hero, then, is not Time but Timelessness. (1.3)

Right off the bat, Henry makes it clear that things are a changing. It seems like he's trying to escape the responsibilities of time and progress. But, um, is that possible?

Quote #2

We stand of five minutes and devour centuries. (1.36)

Wait, what? Modernists aren't always the easiest to decode in terms of their musings on time, and here, Miller seems to be manipulating time in some strange way. He is always in the past even as he is writing in the present. Not exactly logical, but it's what he believes.

Quote #3

Nothing is proposed that can last more than twenty-four hours. We are living a million lives in the space of a generation. (1.39)

Time seems to have sort of collapsed or folded or done something science fictiony. According to Miller, everything is changing so quickly that you never stand in one place. By not putting any faith in tradition, Miller is again getting all Modernist on us.