How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)
Quote #13
He held out his right hand in the moonlight. From the cut on his wrist the blood was still oozing. Every few seconds a drop fell, dark, almost colourless in the dead light. Drop, drop, drop. To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow…
He had discovered Time and Death and God.
"Alone, always alone," the young man was saying. (8.61-3)
While Bernard suffers from his isolation, John has learned to use it to his advantage. It is only in times of solitude that he can embrace his individuality and explore his spirituality.
Quote #14
The words awoke a plaintive echo in Bernard's mind. Alone, alone… "So am I," he said, on a gush of confidingness. "Terribly alone."
"Are you?" John looked surprised. "I thought that in the Other Place… I mean, Linda always said that nobody was ever alone there."
Bernard blushed uncomfortably. "You see," he said, mumbling and with averted eyes, "I'm rather different from most people, I suppose. If one happens to be decanted different…"
"Yes, that's just it." The young man nodded. "If one's different, one's bound to be lonely." (8.62-7)
It's fascinating that these men—in completely different worlds, with completely different upbringings, environments, and realities—have discovered the same universal truth.
Quote #15
"Our library," said Dr. Gaffney, "contains only books of reference. If our young people need distraction, they can get it at the feelies. We don't encourage them to indulge in any solitary amusements." (11.67)
The ban on solitude is Gaffney's reasoning for why children aren't allowed to read Shakespeare. Indeed, John too has come to associate his solitude with literature: he turned to Shakespeare to comfort himself in times of seclusion, but literature in turn set him apart from the other boys (he was the only one who knew how to read).