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Next-Door Girls
While Maria takes the tram to the Donnellys’ house, an elderly man gives up his seat to her and talks to her throughout the ride. Maria initially describes this interaction in positive terms: he is kind in giving up his seat, and she remarks on how easy it is to connect with him. However, when she realizes that she left her slice of plum cake on the tram because their conversation made her “confused,” she reveals that this interaction was actually incredibly uncomfortable for her. Maria implies that the man was drunk (which she hates), and remembering their conversation makes her feel “shame and vexation and disappointment,” leaving her on the verge of tears. It’s clear that, actually, Maria had an uncomfortable conversation with a drunk stranger on the bus and—despite it being so disorienting to her that she left her cake on the bus—she forced herself to continue their polite conversation until she got off. That Maria not only wouldn’t show her true feelings to the man (whom she humored with polite conversation), but also wouldn’t even admit to herself how uncomfortable she was, shows the extent of her instinct to repress anything unpleasant and pretend that everything is okay.
Elderly Man Quotes in Clay
The Clay quotes below are all either spoken by Elderly Man or refer to Elderly Man . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Clay
Quotes
He was very nice with her, and when she was getting out at the Canal Bridge, she thanked him and bowed, and he bowed to her and raised his hat and smiled agreeably; and while she was going up along the terrace, bending her tiny head under the rain, she thought how easy it was to know a gentleman even when he has a drop taken.
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Maria, remembering how confused the gentleman with the greyish moustache had made her, coloured with shame and vexation and disappointment. At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried outright.
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Get the entire Clay LitChart as a printable PDF.
Elderly Man Quotes in Clay
The Clay quotes below are all either spoken by Elderly Man or refer to Elderly Man . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Clay
Quotes
He was very nice with her, and when she was getting out at the Canal Bridge, she thanked him and bowed, and he bowed to her and raised his hat and smiled agreeably; and while she was going up along the terrace, bending her tiny head under the rain, she thought how easy it was to know a gentleman even when he has a drop taken.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Maria, remembering how confused the gentleman with the greyish moustache had made her, coloured with shame and vexation and disappointment. At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried outright.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
