How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
They come into white people's lives like that in sudden sharp black trickles that isolate white facts for an instant in unarguable truth like under a microscope; the rest of the time just voices that laugh when you see nothing to laugh at, tears when no reason for tears. (2.905)
There’s a strange tension between generalizations (the plural pronoun "they") and Quentin’s attempts to grapple with the ways that his relationship with Deacon is one of the only comprehensible relationships he has in the North.
Quote #11
When people act like n*****s, no matter who they are the only thing to do is treat them like a n*****. (3.17)
Quentin’s attempts to understand his own ideas and emotions about race are thrown into sharp contrast by Jason’s outright racism.
Quote #12
What this country needs is white labor. Let these dam trifling n*****s starve for a couple of years, then they'd see what a soft thing they have. (3.108)
Jason’s understanding of the world around him is almost always articulated in economic terms. Here, he muses that racial tension could be solved by depriving blacks of their jobs. Ironically, of course, this is exactly what’s happened to him: he "lost" the job that he was promised at the bank.