How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
One day Father came upon a couple and was shocked to see the wife thrusting her hips upwards to the thrusts of her husband. An uncanny animal song came from her throat. [...] He thought of Mother's fastidiousness, her grooming and her intelligence, and found himself resenting this woman's claim to the gender. (10.2)
Women shouldn't actually participate in sex, or enjoy it... at least this is how Father thinks. Though it might seem shocking that he's shocked by the woman's enjoyment, the point here is that Father's thinking wasn't so unusual at the turn of the century.
Quote #5
He was shocked by the outlines of his body, the ribs and clavicle, white-skinned and vulnerable, the bony pelvis, the organ hanging there redder than anything else. (14.1)
Poor Father. This is a simple sentence, but one which shows very clearly a Victorian male's shame at his body... even his "organ" is red with embarrassment.
Quote #6
Waiting for Peary to return to the Roosevelt he had heard the wind howl at night and had clasped with love and gratitude the foul body, like a stinking fish, of an Esquimo woman. He had put his body into the stinking fish. (14.1)
Remember when Father was so fascinated by the Esquimo women having sex? Though he acted disgusted by it, he has sex with one of the women himself, and is so ashamed he can't even think of her as a woman—but as a foul-smelling body. Where's your repression now, Father?