"Would my great ancestors be proud to know they produced a goddam grocery clerk in a goddam wop store in a town they used to own?"
Here, Ethan is commenting on his "great" ancestors who used to own a great fortune. However, due to a change in circumstances, they lost their fortune, and Ethan now works in a grocery store as a clerk. This is something he is embarrassed and ashamed about and leads to his immoralities later in the book.
"A joker who got off his gags veily-eyed like a poker player, but he whinnied at other people's jokes, whether or not he had heard them."
Here, the narrator describes Joey, Ethan's friend. He is described as being a "joker" and was previously described as looking like a horse. This is a good introduction to this character, who later helps Ethan with his plan to rob a bank.
"It's as though events and experiences nudged and jostled me... in the direction of the grocery clerk, the failure, the man without real hope or drive... caged by habits and attitudes I thought of as being moral, even virtuous."
Ethan acknowledges his low status and his dissatisfaction with the status quo. He believes himself to be a failure, so consumed by the pressure of sustaining his family, that he has never amounted to anything more than mediocre. However, the fact that he was “caged by [moral habits]” illuminates that he isn’t readily willing to change his circumstances, because he feels trapped by the confines of his integrity and honesty.
“‘I don’t [blame you for your failure]. But I do blame you for sitting wallowing in it. Everybody’s laughing at you….’ The word exploded in her head, and she was silent and ashamed”
Although Mary tries to be supportive of Ethan, she still cares immensely about their reputation in the town. Mary gives into the societal pressures around her. She believes that her husband is less successful than the other families in town, and is embarrassed that their family isn't wealthy.
