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Nolan Quoyle
Partridge is Quoyle’s first (and for a long time, only) friend. They met when Partridge struck up a conversation with Quoyle at a laundromat. Partridge is a Black man who lives in Mockingburg, New York with his much-adored second wife Mercalia. He works for the local newspaper. He helps Quoyle get a job there, but he subsequently moves to California when Mercalia quits school and becomes a truck driver. Partridge’s two great loves in life are Mercalia and food—he’s an excellent cook. Together, Partridge and Mercalia represent a version of the American Dream; they work hard and make money that they use to fill their house with expensive belongings, but this fails to protect them from the chaos of modern life.
Partridge Quotes in The Shipping News
The The Shipping News quotes below are all either spoken by Partridge or refer to Partridge . 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:
).
Chapter 4: Cast Away
Quotes
Partridge back on the line two days later. Pleased to be fixing Quoyle’s life up again. Quoyle made him think of a huge roll of newsprint from the pulp mill. Blank and speckled with imperfections. But beyond this vagueness he glimpsed something like a reflection of light from a distant hubcap, a scintillation that meant there was, in Quoyle’s life, the chance of some brilliance. Happiness? Good luck? Fame and fortune? Who knows, thought Partridge. He liked the rich taste of life so well himself he wished an entrée or two for Quoyle.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36: Straitjacket
Quotes
“This guy sent an anonymous letter saying riots were necessary to purge the system and redistribute wealth and they didn’t print it. So he came down with a machine gun […] Quoyle, they shot at Mercalia on the freeway last week. Show you how crazy the scene is, I made a joke about living in California, about LA style. Fucking bullet holes through her windshield. Missed her by inches. She’s scared to death and I’m making jokes. It hit me after Edna called what a fucking miserable crazy place we’re in. There’s no place you can go no more without getting shot or burned or beat.”
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Partridge Quotes in The Shipping News
The The Shipping News quotes below are all either spoken by Partridge or refer to Partridge . 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:
).
Chapter 4: Cast Away
Quotes
Partridge back on the line two days later. Pleased to be fixing Quoyle’s life up again. Quoyle made him think of a huge roll of newsprint from the pulp mill. Blank and speckled with imperfections. But beyond this vagueness he glimpsed something like a reflection of light from a distant hubcap, a scintillation that meant there was, in Quoyle’s life, the chance of some brilliance. Happiness? Good luck? Fame and fortune? Who knows, thought Partridge. He liked the rich taste of life so well himself he wished an entrée or two for Quoyle.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36: Straitjacket
Quotes
“This guy sent an anonymous letter saying riots were necessary to purge the system and redistribute wealth and they didn’t print it. So he came down with a machine gun […] Quoyle, they shot at Mercalia on the freeway last week. Show you how crazy the scene is, I made a joke about living in California, about LA style. Fucking bullet holes through her windshield. Missed her by inches. She’s scared to death and I’m making jokes. It hit me after Edna called what a fucking miserable crazy place we’re in. There’s no place you can go no more without getting shot or burned or beat.”
