How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I cannot say that I was frightened. Or, it would be better to say that I did not feel any fear – the way men who are shot do not, I am told, feel any pain for awhile. I felt a certain relief. It seemed that the necessity for decision had been taken from my hands. I told myself that we both had always known, Giovanni and myself, that our idyll could not last forever. (2.2.25)
What are David's choices in his current case? Well, he could stay with Giovanni. Or can he? He could go off and be married happily ever after with Hella. Or can he? He could leave them both and return home. Likely? Is it really possible for David to escape the "necessity for decision"? Hasn't he made a decision even by evading one?
Quote #8
Somewhere, at the very bottom of myself, I realized that I was doing something awful to her and it became a matter of my honor not to let this fact become too obvious. I tried to convey, through this grisly act of love, the intelligence, at least, that it was not her, not her flesh, that I despised – it would not be her I could not face when we became vertical again. (2.2.80)
David has made a choice. His choice is that he will sleep with Sue. Why is he sleeping with Sue? Well, from this passage, it seems like his decision to sleep with Sue has a lot to do with his own sexual repression and self-loathing. But he's already made the choice. Now that he realizes the motivations behind it, does he have a new array of choices before him or is he just stuck with his old decision?
Quote #9
I had hoped that when I saw her something instantaneous, definitive, would have happened to me, something to make me know where I should be and where I was. But nothing happened. I recognized her at once, before she saw me, she was wearing green, her hair was a little shorter, and her face was tan, and she wore the same brilliant smile. I loved her as much as ever and I still did not know how much that was. (2.4.2)
Compare this moment to others where David has to make a big decision. Is there wisdom in David's desire that something "definitive" will happen to him? Is there cowardice? How does he distinguish between when he must make decisions and when decisions are made for him? When does he actually make a decision?