Brighton Rock Chapter Summaries
PART ONE:
Chapter 1-
5 key quotations:
1. “Hale knew, before they had been in Brighton three hours, that they
meant to murder him.”
2. “A boy of about seventeen watched him from the door- a shabby smart
suit, the cloth too thin for much wear, a face of starved identity, a kind of
hideous and unnatural pride.”
3. “He watched Hale all the time closely and with wonder: you might expect
a hunter searching through the jungle for some half-fabulous beast to
look like that- at the spotted lion or the pygmy elephant-before the kill.”
4. “A mounted policeman came up the road, the lovely cared-for chestnut
beast stepping delicately on the hot macadam, like an expensive toy a
millionaire buys for his children… it never occurred to Hale watching the
policeman pass; he couldn’t appeal to him.”
5. “She was a sticker.”
Plot development:
• Hale is consumed by anxiety and speaks with ambiguity about how “they are
going to murder him”.
• Brighton is described in a positive light, featuring tourists enjoying the
seaside delights, but this is juxtaposed by Hale’s uneasiness and sense of
urgency to not be alone for fear of being murdered.
• Pinkie, described as “the boy”, approaches Hale in the saloon bar and Hale is
then certain that he is going to be murdered.
• Hale meets Ida, who is singing in the saloon, and invites her to go out with
him, but she declines. Hale then leaves the saloon and tries to encourage a
woman he sees to spend the day with.
• Pinkie appears and Hale is forced to rush off, where he is then spotted by Ida,
who refers to him as “lonely heart”.
• Hale gives Ida the tip of “Black Boy”.
• Ida agrees to stick with Hale this time and Hale informs her that he is “going
to die”, before taking back his words.
• Ida goes to the toilet and when she comes back Hale is nowhere to be seen.
Character development:
• Hale is presented as wracked with nerves, “his bitten nails”, and as lonely
through related references to his “loneliness”.
• Pinkie is portrayed as having “a face starved of identity”, reflecting his lack
of upbringing and childhood. He is later described metaphorically as a
hunter searching through the jungle for his prey, which can be interpreted
as an indication that Hale is in deep danger.
,• This is then followed up by the description of Pinkie’s “grey inhuman
seventeen-year old-eyes”, presenting his lack of empathy and how his
features and mannerisms greatly contradict his youthful age.
• Ida is sexualised throughout the chapter and presented as somewhat
promiscuous. There are repeated references to her “big breasts”.
Furthermore, she is characterised as a well-known individual who doesn’t go
unnoticed because of her “loud laugh” and how she exudes confidence- a
possible reason why Hale feels he will be safe from being murdered if he is
in her company.
Links to the wider crime genre:
• An unconventional opening- Hale is beknown to the fact that he is going to
get murdered and who by; typically, the victim in crime fiction novels is
unaware of their unfortunate fate.
• Pinkie is very young to be the notorious criminal he is conventionally, the
lead criminal in crime novels is not a teenager.
• Ida, who assumes the role of the novel’s detective, is a female (detective
fiction is dominated by males), and the way in which she is described
subverts societal expectations of how women should behave in the
contemporary society.
Chapter 2-
5 key quotations:
1. “The water washed round the piles at the end of the pier, dark poison
bottle green, mottled with seaweed…”
2. “You couldn’t tell if he was scared; his young ancient poker-face told
nothing.”
3. “Suddenly the little spurt of vicious anger rose again in the Boy’s brain
and he smashed a salt sprinkler down on the table so hard that the base
cracked.”
4. “He smiled at her stiffly; he couldn’t use those muscles with any kind of
naturalness.”
5. Rose to Pinkie: “I’d know him. I’ve got a memory for faces.”
Plot development:
• Although not explicitly described, Hale has been murdered.
• Pinkie tries to force Spicer to eat, but he has so appetite and claims he’ll “be
sick”.
• Pinkie is angry that Spicer placed one of the cards in Snow’s in case he was
recognised and it didn’t fit with the gang’s alibi. Pinkie orders him to go back
and retrieve the card.
• Spicer refuses to go back so Pinkie goes himself.
• At Snow’s, Pinkie fiddles with the tablecloth trying to find the card. Rose
sees him and tells him “there’s nothing there”, before telling him about her
finding of the card.
, • Rose tells Pinkie how the man she saw was nothing like the man in the
newspaper photograph and tells Pinkie she’s “got a memory for faces”.
• Pinkie tells her that they ought to get together one evening because they
“have things in common”.
Character development:
• Spicer is introduced as being a nervous wreck and wracked with guilt over
Hale’s murder.
• The fact that he puts one of the cards at Snow’s (the wrong place) presents
how he is sloppy at his job.
• There is more description on Pinkie’s eyes which are referred to as
“ageless” and he is described as having a “young ancient poker face”.
• Pinkie is also presented as authoritative and in charge by the way in which
he conducts the mob. Despite the fact that he is a great deal younger than
the other mob members, he speaks to them in imperative commands with
little respect. Moreover, he is presented as slightly unhinged with an
inability to control his anger.
• Rose is introduced as the waitress at Snow’s who found the card. She
speaks with Pinkie and is unbeknown to who he is or what he has done in
relation to Hale.
Links to the wider crime genre:
• Spicer is presented as an atypical criminal due to his nerves and loss of
appetite over the murder of Hale. Spicer’s characterisation greatly
juxtaposes to that of Pinkie’s.
• “Brighton Rock” features a “mob” of criminals, rather than just one criminal
as in many other crime fiction novels.
Chapter 3-
5 key quotations:
1. “She remembered how his hand had shaken in the taxi and how he had
implored her not to leave him, just as if he had known he was going to
die before she came back.”
2. “She had instincts, and now her instincts told her there was something
odd, something which didn’t smell right.”
3. “She wasn’t religious. She didn’t believe in heaven or hell, only in ghosts,
ouija boards, tables which rapped and little inept voices speaking
plaintively of flowers.”
4. “It’s the least you can do for anyone- ask questions, questions at
inquests questions at seances. Somebody had made Fred unhappy, and
somebody was going to be made unhappy. An eye for an eye.”
5. Ida to Old Crowe: “I believe in right and wrong.”
Plot development:
