Previous
Somerset
Gray is a childhood friend of Larry and Isabel. Following his father, Henry, Gray becomes a successful businessman. He marries Isabel and seems to provide her with the wealth and comfort she had been searching for until the Wall Street Crash of 1929. That crash bankrupts Gray, leading the family to forfeit their assets and sell their valuables. Somerset describes Gray, with a hint of acidity and sarcasm, as the “quintessential Regular Guy.” In many ways, Gray is depicted as the opposite of Larry. While Larry feels compelled to investigate life’s mysteries, Gray seems to display little if any curiosity about anything aside from golf, business, and his own finances. Notably, after the Wall Street Crash financially ruins Gray, he begins experiencing debilitating headaches. Based on skills Larry learned through years of pursuing spiritual insight, he cures Gray of his headaches, paving the way for Gray to secure and hold down a job again. With that in mind, the financial good fortune Gray finds at the end of the novel is predicated on Larry’s spiritual insight, showing again the novel’s contention that spiritual wisdom is a higher, more lasting, and more worthwhile form of meaning than wealth.
Gray Quotes in The Razor’s Edge
The The Razor’s Edge quotes below are all either spoken by Gray or refer to Gray. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 4, Chapter 1
Quotes
“D’you wish you had married [Larry]?”
She smiled engagingly.
“I’ve been happy with Gray. He’s been a wonderful husband. You know, until the crash came we had a grand time together. We like the same people, and we like doing the same things. He’s very sweet. And it’s nice being adored; he’s just as much in love with me as when we first married […]”
I asked myself if she thought she’d answered the question.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4, Chapter 6
Quotes
“Are you very much in love with Larry?”
“God damn you, I’ve never loved anyone else.”
“Why did you marry Gray?”
“I had to marry somebody. He was mad about me and Mamma wanted me to marry him. Everybody told me I was well rid of Larry.”
Get the entire The Razor’s Edge LitChart as a printable PDF.
Gray Quotes in The Razor’s Edge
The The Razor’s Edge quotes below are all either spoken by Gray or refer to Gray. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 4, Chapter 1
Quotes
“D’you wish you had married [Larry]?”
She smiled engagingly.
“I’ve been happy with Gray. He’s been a wonderful husband. You know, until the crash came we had a grand time together. We like the same people, and we like doing the same things. He’s very sweet. And it’s nice being adored; he’s just as much in love with me as when we first married […]”
I asked myself if she thought she’d answered the question.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4, Chapter 6
Quotes
“Are you very much in love with Larry?”
“God damn you, I’ve never loved anyone else.”
“Why did you marry Gray?”
“I had to marry somebody. He was mad about me and Mamma wanted me to marry him. Everybody told me I was well rid of Larry.”
