Public Masturbation
Taddeo writes, "The stone streets were naked at that hour, in the toothache of dawn, and she (Taddeo's mother) turned to see he had his penis, long, thin, and erect, out of his pants, and that he was rapidly exercising it, up and down, with his eyes on her in such a steady manner that it seemed possible that what was happening below the waist was managed by an entirely different brain."
Here, Taddeo is referring to the man that stalked her mother and masturbated upon seeing her. Evidently, Taddeo's mother is the man's sexual object that elicits sexual excitement in him. Moreover, the man is obsessed with Lisa's mother because he follows her often.
“After-school sessions”
Taddeo writes, “Maggie doesn’t remember exactly how she started to talk to him about her life in those after-school sessions. She’d linger after his class, or he would ask her a question when she was on her way out of the door. Maggie, he’d say, with incredibly earnest eyes, and she’d hang back. Eventually, she started to tell him bits. Her dad being drunk to drive home from the bar.”
Knodel becomes Maggie’s father figure because he listens and offers emotional support that her dunk father cannot offer her. Maggie is vulnerable that she needs a steady figure to bolster her emotionally. Knodel, being older than Maggie, becomes a symbolic in authority who takes the place of Maggie’s father.
“Friday Night”
Taddeo writes, “This Friday night, that is precisely what she’s doing...She’s in just a bra and panties in her bed right now and he is beside her and his big arms are around her pale waist and his thumb is inside her belly button and she’s full-on French-kissing him.”
Lina's erotic fantasies are driven by her unconscious yearning for sexual intimacy. She visualizes the bliss that she would enjoy while being intimate with her dream man. Kissing and bodily contact are the foremost engagements that would amplify her excitement. Lina is ready for romantic pleasure to the degree that she seeks it unconsciously in the absence of a man.
Aidan’s Future
Lisa foresees, “One day Aidan is going to drink too much, he is going to have kids and a job that doesn’t pay enough to buy one propane for grill for the birthday parties in the summer. One day Aidan is going to have a big gut and a good deal of regret. He will not be a marine or an astronaut or a ballplayer. He will not sing in a band or swim in the pacific.”
Evidently, Aidan’s affair with Lisa may not end up in matrimony for they are young lovers. Aidan’s future is not utterly promising; so he may not end up a famous or renowned or extremely successful personality. Nevertheless, his role in Lisa’s life, as her foremost lover, would always be indelible in her life.
