How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter)
Quote #4
[John:] I walked to the edge of the living room and just waited for the lecture I knew was coming.
[Lorraine:] "You shouldn't have gone upstairs with the roller skates on," she finally said as though in a trance.
"I didn't think he would follow me up."
"You just never know when to stop."
"Oh, shut up!" I snapped at her. "You're beginning to sound like my Old Lady."
She turned her head away, and I was sorry I had yelled at her. (11)
After Mr. Pignati's first heart attack, Lorraine and John feel horribly guilty. They blame each other, and, deep down, John blames himself. They begin to bicker like an old married couple.
Quote #5
[John:] Everything that happened from then on [after they visit Mr. Pignati in the hospital] Lorraine blames me for, and maybe she's right. (11)
John still stops short of accepting full responsibility for the disaster of the party and its effect on Mr. Pignati. "Maybe she's right." Well, John, is she or isn't she?
Quote #6
[John:] I mean, this was turning out to be the party of the year. The house was a great pleasure palace, it really was. And there wasn't that much damage being done. Somebody dropped a drink down the stairs, and a cigarette burned a small hole in a throw rug. Only one lamp went over, and that was during this frenzied dance when everybody was on the floor. (13)
For the reader, this passage is an ominous sign of the destruction to come as the party grows wilder. But John is trying to convince himself that the damage is minimal. This is one example of John's tendency to delude himself.