Epstein and Faulkner

Recently we read Epstein's "Family Values" and Hemingway's "The Killers." In different ways, both of these stories are about a lack of involvement, lack of attachment; they suggest that a profound solitude is at the heart of modern society. Comments, questions, thoughts?

One Last Puzzle from "Sense of Humour"

At the very end of the story, as Humphrey and Muriel are driving the hearse with the dead body of Colin in the back, Humphrey thinks, or says: "I was proud of her, I was proud of Colin, and I was proud of myself." What in the world does this mean?