How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When their stare was returned, their eyes filled with hatred. At this time Tod knew very little about them except that they had come to California to die. (1.10)
Tod is obsessed with "the people who come to California to die." Although we don't understand this oft-repeated phrase at first, it quickly becomes clear that these people—whoever they are—are driven by feelings of disappointment. They come to California because there's nothing else for them, and they soon realize that California doesn't have anything for them, either. And that's never a good thing, folks.
Quote #2
His emotions surged up in an enormous wave [...] until it seemed as though the wave must carry everything before it. But the crash never came. (9.1)
This is disappointment of a different sort: emotional disappointment. Homer has a lot of trouble understanding his emotions, which inevitably leads to him bottling them up like soda pop. No matter how hard he shakes that bottle, however, he's unable to release the contents once they're inside.
Quote #3
The lizard was self-conscious and irritable. [...] Whenever one of its elaborate stalks was foiled, it would shift about uneasily on its short legs and puff out its throat (10.8)
Sound familiar? This grumpy lizard is just like the main characters of the novel, dedicated to achieving a distant goal and then ticked beyond belief when he utterly fails to reach it. Although Homer tends to laugh at the lizard when it makes a fool of itself like this, he fails to see the obvious parallel to his own life.