"Since he had retired, since his... stroke, the wife and the girls kept him boxed up in the house every day of the week except Tuesday. On Tuesday he was dressed and brushed and allowed to cut back to the City for the day. Though what he did there the wife and girls couldn't imagine. Made a nuisance of himself to his friends, they supposed."
-- Narrator

Importance: This quotation appears at the beginning of the story. It describes Woodifield's current relationship with his wife and daughters after having suffered from a stroke. Here, Woodifield expresses his frustration with his family for infantilizing him and restricting his autonomy. As the story unfolds, however, the narrator shifts readers' understanding of Woodifield's family from controlling to caring as they look out for him and support him in his stages of physical decline.

"All the same, we cling to our last pleasures as the tree clings...
-- Narrator