How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It made Wilhelm profoundly bitter that his father should speak to him with such detachment about his welfare. Dr. Adler liked to appear affable. Affable! His own son, his one and only son, could not speak his mind or ease his heart to him. I wouldn't turn to Tamkin, he thought, if I could turn to him. At least Tamkin sympathizes with me and tries to give me a hand, whereas Dad doesn't want to be disturbed. (1.35)
From Wilhelm's point of view, it's bad enough that Dr. Adler refuses to help him out with his finances, but the fact that he can't turn to his own father for even emotional support is the final nail in the coffin. From Wilhelm's perspective, Dr. Adler is at least partly to blame for his downfall.
Quote #2
He behaved toward his son as he had formerly done toward his patients, and it was a great grief to Wilhelm; it was almost too much to bear. Couldn't he see—couldn't he feel? Had he lost his family sense? (1.37)
Wilhelm wants desperately for his father to show him a little bit of kindness and sympathy. He finds it embarrassing to confess to Dr. Adler that things are going so wrong in his life—especially when he feels sure that his father hates having such a failure for a son. What can we say, Wilhelm? It kinda sorta looks like you got yourself in this mess.
Quote #3
Ah, the truth was that there were problems, and of these problems his father wanted no part. His father was ashamed of him. The truth, Wilhelm thought, was very awkward. [. . .] Dad never was a pal to me when I was young, he reflected. He was at the office or the hospital, or lecturing. He expected me to look out for myself and never gave me much thought. Now he looks down on me." (1.47)
Distinguishing the narrator's "objective" perspective from Wilhelm's own view of his father can be tricky business, as free indirect discourse runs rampant in Seize the Day. How much of Wilhelm's own bitterness about his father's neglect can be heard in the novel's narrative voice?