He waved away the whiskeybottle with a smile. In this tall room, the cracked plaster sootstreaked with the shapes of laths beneath, this barrenness, this fellowship of the doomed. Where life pulsed obscenely fecund. In the drift of voices and the laughter and the reek of stale beer the Sunday loneliness seeped away.Aint that right Suttree?What's that?About there bein caves all in under the city.That's right.What all's down there in em?Blind slime. As above, so it is below. Suttree shrugged.Nothing that I know of, he said. They're just some caves.
The passage describes a scene in a somber yet lively environment, where the speaker declines a drink, indicating a complex relationship with substances and their effects. The room is characterized by its dilapidated state, suggesting a struggle against decay and loneliness. Amidst the backdrop of laughter and the smell of stale beer, there seems to be a fleeting escape from Sunday loneliness, hinting at a fragile sense of community among those facing hardship.
As the conversation shifts to the underground caves beneath the city, there is a sense of mystery and darkness. The dialogue about "blind slime" and the notion of parallels between above and below evoke themes of decay and existential contemplation. Suttree's indifferent response to the caves hints at his resignation and detachment, symbolizing a deeper sense of despair and bleakness that permeates the lives of the characters.
