How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
She asked me to make a copy of her key. I was happy for her. That she wouldn't be alone anymore. It's not that I felt sorry for myself. [...] And yet. I made two copies. One I gave to her, and one I kept. For a long time I carried it in my pocket. To pretend. (7.64)
This is really sad, right? We definitely pity him at this moment. But we have two questions here. One: do you think that's why he's admitting this to us? And two: how do you think the woman would feel if she knew he had made an extra copy of her key and carried it around with him every day? Would she feel sympathetic like us, or be totally creeped out? Those are two legit options.
Quote #8
In my loneliness it comforts me to think that the world's doors, however closed, are never truly locked to me. (7.73)
Think about the two instances in the novel where Leo uses his skills to sneak into a building. One is the empty, almost abandoned home of the son he never had the nerve to meet. The other is Carnegie Hall—a vast cathedral of empty seats, suggestive of all the people he might be surrounding himself with, but steadfastly avoids.
Quote #9
He didn't make any friends. He was no longer in the business of making friends. [...] There were other refugees around him experiencing the same fears and helplessness, but Litvinoff didn't find any comfort in this because there are two types of people in the world: those who prefer to be sad among others, and those who prefer to be sad alone. (9.9)
This passage seems to assume that the only people with whom Leo might communicate or associate would be other survivors of the Holocaust who experienced similar terrible things and could relate to his suffering. It also suggests that, for this group of people, being sad—either alone or in a group—is the only option. Being happy is out of the picture. Does that sound right to you?