Quote 1
Gil turned back to Candy. "You never did like Beau," he said. "You never liked any of us. Looking at us as if we were a breed below you. But we're not, Candy. We're all made of the same bone, the same blood, the same skin. Your folks had a break, mine didn't, that's all.
She looked past him, like he wasn't even there. She looked tired, but other than that she showed no expression.
"My God," Gil said. "My god, my God. Candy, if you only knew how sad, how pathetic you look."
She pretended not to even hear him. And maybe she didn't. (10.107-9)
Whoa. Gil says some pretty heavy stuff here. He's talking about class discrimination, but couldn't what he's saying apply to racial discrimination, too?
Quote 2
"They ain't got no more horses to break anymore. The tractors, the cane cutters, and I ain't been nothing ever since. They look at you today and call you trifling, 'cause they see you sitting there all the time doing nothing. They can't remember when you used to break all the horses. […] Well, I remember. And I know who took it from me, too."
"You ever heard of progress?" Mapes asked him. Mapes had been wiping his face and neck again.
"I ain't thinking "bout no progress. I'm thinking "bout breaking horses."
There's no denying it: Mapes just does not get it—or he just refuses to get it.
"Luke Will's days are over with, Papa," Gil said. "Luke Will's days are past. Gone forever."
"And mine?" Fix asked him. "Mine, Gi-bear?"
"Those days are gone, Papa, Gil said. […] These are the seventies, soon to be the eighties. Not the twenties, not the thirties, not the forties. People died—people we knew—died to change those things. Those days are gone forever, I hope." (12.138-9)
We've got to admit, these words Gil says to his dad took some serious courage, but they sure are powerful.
Quote 3
"Don't you know who did it?" Gil asked.
"I think I do," Mapes said. "I'm sure I do."
"Then why don't you arrest him?"
"They all say the same thing. They all say they did it."
"But you know who did it?"
"Yes," Mapes said. "I know who did it. But the others threatened to come to town if I take him in. She says the same thing. I don't want this crowd in Bayonne. Not the way people are working themselves up for that game tomorrow. If you just come from Baton Rouge, you know what I'm talking about.
"What do you plan to do, Mapes?"
"I'll handle it my way." (10.69-79)
Wow, who is Mapes kidding? He was barely in control at the beginning of this whole thing, and he's not really in control now.