Prompt 5- Week 3 Novel Prompt

     There is a passage from page 31 through 37 that I found very interesting. It describes Howard's, a teacher and alum of Seabrook, relationship with his girlfriend Halley. I liked this passage because it was so spot-on about how most of the time seemingly fairy-tale relationships fall apart. 
    
     Before he went home, Howard stopped to talk to the substitute Geometry teacher. After talking, she out of the blue said, "You know, I'm not going to sleep with you,". This rattled Howard and made him think she really did want to sleep with him.

" 'He did.' She scans the back of the book. 'Looks interesting.'
  Howard shrugs non-committally. Halley leans back against her chair, watching his eyes buzz restlessly over the counter surface.
 'Why are you acting weird?'
  He freezes. 'Me? I'm not acting weird.'
 'You are.'
  Interior pandemonium as he desperately tries to remember how he normally acts with her. 'It's just been a long day -- oh God --' groaning involuntarily as she pulls a cigarette from her shirt pocket. 'Are you going to smoke another of those things?'
 'Don't start...'
 'They're bad for you. You said you were going to quit.'
 'What can I tell you, Howard. I'm an addict. A hopeless, pathetic addict in the thrall of the tobacco companies.' Her shoulders slump as the tip glows in ignition. 'Anyway, it's not like I'm pregnant.'
     Ah, right -- this is how her normally acts with her. He remembers now. They seem to be going through a protracted phase in which they're able to speak to each other only in criticisms, needles, rebukes. Big things, little things, anything can spark an argument, even when neither of them wants to argue, even when he or she is tying to say something nice, or simply to state an innocuous fact. Their relationship is like a piece of malfunctioning equipment that when switched on will only buzz fractiously, and shocks you when you're trying to find out what's wrong. The simplest solution seems to be not to switch it on, to look instead for a new one; he is not quite ready to contemplate that eventuality, however." (Skippy Dies, p.31-32)   

     For the next couple pages the book alternates between dialogue between these two and Howard contemplating their relationship. But of this above selection, I especially like the faulty machine analogy. When either of the two try to find out what is wrong, the other one shoots him or her down. In the later parts of this passage, the book elaborates more on why they're always arguing. The two are both unhappy with their jobs, and take all the pent-up misery and frustration home with them. They take it out on the other, when they know that they're just as miserable as they are.

     Overall, what I like about this passage is it's insight. It uses very clear language to explain to the reader what has happened to Howard's (and many other's) relationship.