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“Melancholy was the dominant note of his temperament, he thought, but it was a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith and resignation and simple joy. If he could give expression to it in a book of poems perhaps men would listen. He would never be popular: he saw that. He could not sway the crowd but he might appeal to a little circle of kindred minds.”
Little Chandler reflects on his temperament. While he does not view himself as heroic or great, he does believe that he possesses a special poetic ability. He believes that some people might appreciate what he could make of that talent. He has given both his personality and his talent level a lot of careful thought—but so far he has not done anything to bring his gift to the real world.
“A dull resentment against his life awoke within him. Could he not escape from his little house? Was it too late for him to live bravely like Gallaher? Could he go to London? There was the furniture still to be paid for. If he could only write a book and get it published, that might open the way for him.”
Here, Little Chandler acknowledges the depth to which he resents his domestic life and dreams of belonging to the glamorous lifestyle that Gallager subscribes to. However, while he longs to be more like Gallaher, the fact that he worries about paying off the furniture before running away indicates that he still fundamentally cares about societal expectations and will never escape.
