Dissatisfaction Quotes in The Golem and the Jinni

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

All at once the Jinni's tolerance for the Bowery evaporated. It was as though they'd taken everything good about desire and turned it ugly. (11.29)

What happens in the Bowery stays in the Bowery, and although vices might be easy to come by, that somehow diminishes them, at least in the Jinni's eyes.

Quote #8

[The Jinni] could not return to his glass palace, his earlier life, bound as he was. He'd be forced to seek refuge in the jinn habitations, among his kind but utterly apart, pitied and feared, pointed out as a cautionary example to the wayward young. (12.82)

The Jinni knows he'd be unhappy even if he went back home. Maybe even more so, because there he'd be with creatures that are still able to do everything he used to do, reminding him even more sharply of how unhappy he is in his current form.

Quote #9

This is the most you can hope for, the dance hall was telling him. This much, and no more. (18.154)

Sure, the dance hall is great, but compared to the vast Syrian Desert, it's like trading a French pastry for a Pop-Tart. The Jinni has to learn to accept that this is his life now. He can't go back to the way things were and maybe, just maybe, things now aren't as bad as they seem.