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Mother Beal
Gertie Hellmann is a Jewish woman who owns a restaurant in the West Side Flats of Saint Paul, Minnesota. She lives with her partner, Flo Waters, and is well-known among the local community, whose members include John Kelly, Calvin, and Truman Waters. Forrest sends Odie, Albert, Mose, and Emmy to stay with Gertie on their way to Saint Louis. Though gruff, Gertie’s dedication to her neighborhood highlights the importance of community, especially in times of hardship.
Gertie Hellmann Quotes in This Tender Land
The This Tender Land quotes below are all either spoken by Gertie Hellmann or refer to Gertie Hellmann. 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 52
Quotes
We did his route together, tramping up one street and down the next, the houses all white columns, gingerbread trim, fancy shutters, and ornate wrought-iron fences, everything screaming wealth, and I thought about the world as I knew it then. There seemed to me two kinds of people—those with and those without. Those with were like the Brickmans, who’d got everything they had by stealing from those without. Were all the people sleeping in the great houses on Cathedral Hill like the Brickmans? If so, I decided I’d rather be one of those without.
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Gertie Hellmann Quotes in This Tender Land
The This Tender Land quotes below are all either spoken by Gertie Hellmann or refer to Gertie Hellmann. 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 52
Quotes
We did his route together, tramping up one street and down the next, the houses all white columns, gingerbread trim, fancy shutters, and ornate wrought-iron fences, everything screaming wealth, and I thought about the world as I knew it then. There seemed to me two kinds of people—those with and those without. Those with were like the Brickmans, who’d got everything they had by stealing from those without. Were all the people sleeping in the great houses on Cathedral Hill like the Brickmans? If so, I decided I’d rather be one of those without.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
