How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
No. It would help if I were able to feel guilty. But the end of innocence is also the end of guilt. (2.3.41)
What does David mean that, "the end of innocence is also the end of guilt"? When did his innocence end? How does guilt imply the presumption of innocence, the ultimate desire to be innocent?
Quote #8
I dropped my brick and went to him. In a moment I heard his fall. And at moments like this I felt that were merely enduring and committing the longer and lesser and more perpetual murder. (2.3.100)
How would you describe "the longer and lesser and more perpetual murder"? What does it mean for a murder to be "perpetual"? Does David feel guilty about leaving Giovanni or about not leaving him sooner? Should David feel guilty for these moments of false forgiveness? What would be the alternative?
Quote #9
Such a scandal always threatens, before its reverberations cease, to rock the very foundations of the state. It is necessary to find an explanation, a solution, and a victim with the utmost possible speed. (2.5.1)
Here is David's description of the government's reaction after Guillaume is found dead. Essentially what he's talking about is that the government needs a "scapegoat." Why does the fact that Guillaume is gay require the government to find a scapegoat? What is the government trying to hide by casting about for someone to blame?