To be reticent is to not reveal one's thoughts readily. In this case, it is the reticence of the author. The author does not reveal their thoughts readily. If the narrator or author refuses to do something, it is made known that he is doing something. The something here is him refusing. If he acts as if the situation is normal, I'd assume he is acting in such a way that would be nonreactionary of the actions from the provoker. I would safely choose the last option as sorrentino's exercising of authorial reticence.
Im not sure I understand this question,but I will try to make out what you are trying to say,you can have alot of drama in your life with others,but without others then there is not very much drama,maybe you can have drama just by your self,for example you find a thing of ants and feel like your about to pass out(happened to me this morning) thats drama without other people.
you need to explain more.
Explanation:
Why does biff steal?
Biff steals things because it is his passive-aggressive way of getting back at people he feels have unfairly done better in life than he has,
What compels him to steal?
stealing gives him an excuse to quit whatever dead-end job he happens to be in at the moment.
Future?
This pattern of subtle revenge and avoiding of mundane responsibility is exposed to be a nearly life-long pattern for Biff, and one that will continue.