Quotes: Character (15)

The idea in the bold-face print is a summary of the quote. The number is the page on which the quote was found.

Character (15)
Character 226 Without education, he probably does not have very deep feelings. "Roth [referring to Gallagher who has received the news of his wife’s death in childbirth]: He’s an ignorant fellow, no education, he probably doesn’t have so many feelings." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 258 He didn't like people and they sensed it quickly. "He [Hearn] liked very few people and most men sensed it uneasily after talking to him for a few minutes." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 265 He charts out the activities for his day. "He [Hearn] makes himself a schedule which charts everything down to the fifteen minutes he can allow himself to read the comic pages on Sunday morning, and the movie he can see on Saturday night." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 271 An incident in which he viciously tackles a helpless football player reveals much about his character. "One play he never quite forgets: a ball carrier on the opposing team breaks through a hole in the line, is checked momentarily, and is standing there stock upright, helpless, when Hearn tackles him…has charged with all his strength and the player is taken off the field with a wrenched knee…I’m sorry…only he knows he isn’t…there had been an instant of complete startling gratification when he knew the ball carrier was helpless, waiting to be hit." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 303 He made up for his lack of brilliance by hard work. "…what he could not supply in brilliance he was determined to produce in hard work." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 349 For some reason, he could never maintain friendships. "One of the main reasons for this wretchedness in the platoon was that his friendships never seemed to last: men with whom he would have long amiable conversations would wound him or disregard him the next day, and he never understood it." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 349 "He was unhappy because he felt continually betrayed." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 360 He felt like a servant who was superior to his master. "Martinez had the suppressed malice, the contempt, and the anxiety of a servant who knows he is superior to his master." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.


Character 447 He never liked anyone who, if he were lost, would cause him to feel hurt. "…he allowed himself to like no one so well that it would hurt if he was lost." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Character 455 He was running from the fear that he could be humbled. "He [Hearn] had been running away from fear, from vulnerability, from the admission that he was a man also and could be humbled. Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.