How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
In the girls' eyes I was... old, merely old. Not behaving the way an old man should—invisible, silent, and scared—was, itself, sufficient provocation. (4.1.214)
Cavendish does not live in a culture that reveres the elderly. If anything, it reviles them. Not counting your relatives, how do you feel about old people? And how do you define "old"?
Quote #2
The Undead of Aurora House watched me through the wall of glass. (4.1.271)
Cavendish never has anything nice to say about the old folks of Aurora House. Their Undead qualities either have to do with the catatonic complacency of old age or with being medicated into such a state.
Quote #3
You will not apply for membership, but the tribe of the elderly will claim you. [...] Only babies, cats, and drug addicts will acknowledge your existence. So do not fritter away your days. (4.1.306)
Some cultures revere the elderly. In Timothy Cavendish's culture (England, around the year 2000), old age is a curse, an affliction, a threat, a punishment. How does your culture view the elderly?