Brighton Rock: quote banks for associated themes-
CRIMINALS
Example questions:
1. “Any sympathy for fictional criminals is always muted.” Explore the presentation of criminals
in two crime texts you have studied.
2. “Crime writing presents human nature as fundamentally dark and selfish.” Explore the
presentation of human nature in two of the crime texts that you have studied.
3. “In crime writing, criminals rarely show remorse for their actions.” Explore the significance of
guilt in the two crime texts you have studied.
4. “In crime writing, both the criminals and victims suffer.” Explore the significance of suffering
in two crime texts you have studied.
PINKIE:
‘He watched Hale all the time closely and with wonder: you might expect a hunter searching
through the jungle for some half-fabulous beast to look like that- at the spotted lion or the
pygmy elephant-before the kill.’
‘Suddenly the little spur of vicious anger rose again in the Boy’s brain and he smashed a salt-
sprinkler down so hard that the base cracked.’
‘He smiled at her stiffly; he couldn’t use those muscles with any naturalness.’
‘When people do one murder, I’ve read they sometimes have to do another- to tidy up.’
‘The word conveyed no more to him than the word ‘box’, ‘collar’, ‘giraffe’ .’
‘He couldn’t see through other people’s eyes, or feel with their nerves.’ , ‘He couldn’t
understand her; it was as if he was listening to a foreign language.’
‘All the good times he’d had in the old days with nails and splinters: the tricks he’d learnt with a
razor blade.’
‘He had no dreams. His sleep was functional.’
‘There was poison in his veins, though he grinned and bore it... he was ready for more deaths.’
‘He began to pull off the legs and wings one by one.’
‘I’d killed Spicer and I’m marrying the girl.’
‘He knew what he was good at: he was at the top: there was no limit to his ambition.’
‘He was filled with awe at his own powers.’ ‘It ought to be easy to quiet her. We quieted Fred
and Spicer an’ she’s only a kid...’
‘I got the car all ready. We could go out into the country where no one would hear.’
‘He discovered in himself an odd sense of nostalgia for the darkest act of all.’
COLLEONI:
‘I’d have been carved if I hadn’t paid Colleoni.’
‘Colleoni’ll have my blood, Pinkie.’
‘Nothing you might try to do to my men could affect me. I’ve got two of them in hospital now. It
doesn’t matter. They have the nest attention. Flowers, grapes... I can afford it. I don’t have to
worry.’
, VICTIMS:
Example questions:
1. “In crime writing there are always victims.” Explore the ways that victims are presented in
two crime texts you have studied.
2. “In crime writing, both the criminals and victims suffer.” Explore the significance of suffering
in two crime texts you have studied.
Fred Hale- V of Pinkie
‘Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.’
‘With his inky fingers and bitten nails, his manner cynical and nervous, anybody could tell he
didn’t belong.’
‘Nobody paid any attention to Hale; no one seemed to be carrying a messenger.’
‘He only felt his loneliness after his third gin.’
‘The boy rose furiously, and giving way to a little vicious spurt of hatred... it was then that Hale
realised that they meant to murder him.’
‘H was scared sick.’
‘It was always easy to kill a man at a railway station.’
‘His hands were shaking. This was real now.’
‘She could feel his nerves, jumping under her hand.’
‘I’m going to die. I’m scared.’
‘He hadn’t got any folks to make a fuss.’
‘Nobody there to ask questions.’
Spicer-V of Pinkie
‘He looked with nausea at the brown crackling slab of fish the girl set before him.’
‘Spicer was restless these days.’
‘He had come out in spots, too, round his mouth, and that also was caused by Hale’s death. Fear
upset his bowels, and the spots came: it was always the way.’
‘The police station: it was like an abscess jetting its poison through the nerves.’
‘But the others would never let him go: he knew too much about too many things. He was in the
mob for life now.’ ‘You ought to take a holiday.’
‘The body, spread-eagled like Prometheus at the bottom of Frank’s stairs.’
Rose- V of Pinkie, Ida and society
V of Pinkie-
‘He wasn’t a bit like the photograph.’
‘I’ve got a memory for faces.’
‘You an’ me have things in common.’
‘She goggled hopelessly at the boy.’
‘Thrust it under her nose.’
‘You won’t go home. You’ll come with me, I want exercise.’
‘She belonged to him like a room or a chair.’
‘I don’t care what you do... wherever you go, I’ll go too!’
‘She felt terror, the idea of pain shook her.’
V of Ida-
‘Rose backed away, but Ida detained her, grasping firmly her black cotton sleeve.’
‘He doesn’t love you.’
V of society-
‘When she wasn’t living in the future she was living in the past- as for the present, she got
through that as quickly as she could, running away from things, running towards things.’
‘In Nelson Place from which she had emerged like a mole.’
CRIMINALS
Example questions:
1. “Any sympathy for fictional criminals is always muted.” Explore the presentation of criminals
in two crime texts you have studied.
2. “Crime writing presents human nature as fundamentally dark and selfish.” Explore the
presentation of human nature in two of the crime texts that you have studied.
3. “In crime writing, criminals rarely show remorse for their actions.” Explore the significance of
guilt in the two crime texts you have studied.
4. “In crime writing, both the criminals and victims suffer.” Explore the significance of suffering
in two crime texts you have studied.
PINKIE:
‘He watched Hale all the time closely and with wonder: you might expect a hunter searching
through the jungle for some half-fabulous beast to look like that- at the spotted lion or the
pygmy elephant-before the kill.’
‘Suddenly the little spur of vicious anger rose again in the Boy’s brain and he smashed a salt-
sprinkler down so hard that the base cracked.’
‘He smiled at her stiffly; he couldn’t use those muscles with any naturalness.’
‘When people do one murder, I’ve read they sometimes have to do another- to tidy up.’
‘The word conveyed no more to him than the word ‘box’, ‘collar’, ‘giraffe’ .’
‘He couldn’t see through other people’s eyes, or feel with their nerves.’ , ‘He couldn’t
understand her; it was as if he was listening to a foreign language.’
‘All the good times he’d had in the old days with nails and splinters: the tricks he’d learnt with a
razor blade.’
‘He had no dreams. His sleep was functional.’
‘There was poison in his veins, though he grinned and bore it... he was ready for more deaths.’
‘He began to pull off the legs and wings one by one.’
‘I’d killed Spicer and I’m marrying the girl.’
‘He knew what he was good at: he was at the top: there was no limit to his ambition.’
‘He was filled with awe at his own powers.’ ‘It ought to be easy to quiet her. We quieted Fred
and Spicer an’ she’s only a kid...’
‘I got the car all ready. We could go out into the country where no one would hear.’
‘He discovered in himself an odd sense of nostalgia for the darkest act of all.’
COLLEONI:
‘I’d have been carved if I hadn’t paid Colleoni.’
‘Colleoni’ll have my blood, Pinkie.’
‘Nothing you might try to do to my men could affect me. I’ve got two of them in hospital now. It
doesn’t matter. They have the nest attention. Flowers, grapes... I can afford it. I don’t have to
worry.’
, VICTIMS:
Example questions:
1. “In crime writing there are always victims.” Explore the ways that victims are presented in
two crime texts you have studied.
2. “In crime writing, both the criminals and victims suffer.” Explore the significance of suffering
in two crime texts you have studied.
Fred Hale- V of Pinkie
‘Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.’
‘With his inky fingers and bitten nails, his manner cynical and nervous, anybody could tell he
didn’t belong.’
‘Nobody paid any attention to Hale; no one seemed to be carrying a messenger.’
‘He only felt his loneliness after his third gin.’
‘The boy rose furiously, and giving way to a little vicious spurt of hatred... it was then that Hale
realised that they meant to murder him.’
‘H was scared sick.’
‘It was always easy to kill a man at a railway station.’
‘His hands were shaking. This was real now.’
‘She could feel his nerves, jumping under her hand.’
‘I’m going to die. I’m scared.’
‘He hadn’t got any folks to make a fuss.’
‘Nobody there to ask questions.’
Spicer-V of Pinkie
‘He looked with nausea at the brown crackling slab of fish the girl set before him.’
‘Spicer was restless these days.’
‘He had come out in spots, too, round his mouth, and that also was caused by Hale’s death. Fear
upset his bowels, and the spots came: it was always the way.’
‘The police station: it was like an abscess jetting its poison through the nerves.’
‘But the others would never let him go: he knew too much about too many things. He was in the
mob for life now.’ ‘You ought to take a holiday.’
‘The body, spread-eagled like Prometheus at the bottom of Frank’s stairs.’
Rose- V of Pinkie, Ida and society
V of Pinkie-
‘He wasn’t a bit like the photograph.’
‘I’ve got a memory for faces.’
‘You an’ me have things in common.’
‘She goggled hopelessly at the boy.’
‘Thrust it under her nose.’
‘You won’t go home. You’ll come with me, I want exercise.’
‘She belonged to him like a room or a chair.’
‘I don’t care what you do... wherever you go, I’ll go too!’
‘She felt terror, the idea of pain shook her.’
V of Ida-
‘Rose backed away, but Ida detained her, grasping firmly her black cotton sleeve.’
‘He doesn’t love you.’
V of society-
‘When she wasn’t living in the future she was living in the past- as for the present, she got
through that as quickly as she could, running away from things, running towards things.’
‘In Nelson Place from which she had emerged like a mole.’
