Quote 19
He has a sense that, inside him, a vital organ has been bruised, abused—perhaps even his heart. For the first time he has a taste of what it will be like to be an old man, tired to the bone, without hopes, without desires, indifferent to the future. (13.11)
After the attack, David and Lucy spend a lot of time moping around the house. Here, he thinks about how, like an old person, he doesn't have anything to look forward to. This says really depressing things about what David and Lucy are going through, but we also can't help thinking, dang that says sad things about the experience of old people, too!
Quote 20
"It was a male. Whenever there was a b**** in the vicinity it would get excited and unmanageable, and with Pavlovian regularity the owners would beat it. This went on until the poor dog didn't know what to do. At the smell of a b**** it would chase around the garden with its ears flat and its tail between its legs, whining, trying to hide. […] There was something so ignoble in the spectacle that I despaired. One can punish a dog, it seems to me, for an offence like chewing a slipper. […] But desire is another story. No animal will accept the justice of being punished for following its instincts." (11. 22)
David compares his own sexual instincts as a man to those of a dog and tells a story of a dog who was beaten for going after the b****es he liked. This is a long-winded way of him saying, "I'm a guy. I couldn't help it, so don't blame me."
Quote 21
"No, I have not sought counseling nor do I intend to seek it. I am a grown man. I am not receptive to being counseled. I am beyond the reach of counseling." (6.31)
David doesn't just seem averse to the idea of being counseled; he seems outright insulted by the suggestion. His retort? "I'm a grown man." The thought of being counseled is framed in part as an affront to his masculinity.