Brighton Rock
Chapter One, Part One
Brighton Rock begins with the introduction of the “nervous” outsider Fred Hales who has been in Brighton for three
hours however is aware that “they meant to murder him.” Hale is in Brighton as “Kolley Kibber” to promote his
newspaper to the Whitson holiday crowd. The “day-trippers” are characterised by Greene as having animalistic
features and qualities as they progress “two by two… with sober and determined gaiety.” Hale's attitude towards the
holiday makers is described as being “cynical”, yet the atmosphere still nevertheless “pulled at his heart.” Greene
introduces the character of Ida as a woman in “the late thirties or early forties… of big blown charms and rich
Guinness voice” who is “accommodating” to the group of men who surround her. She is not referred to by her name
instead by “Lilly” suggesting she is a type of female rather than a person (intentionally dehumanises her by
disrespectfully not even calling her by her name.) Hale watches Ida “covetously” (envious/ jealousy.) However, at this
point, the reader is introduced to Pinkie - a 17 year old boy with the face of “hideous and unnatural pride” who calls
Hale's name. Hale denies his identity clearly in an attempt to prevent his inevitable fate however, Pinkie’s focus upon
him is still nevertheless described by Greene as being predatory. Pinkie notices Hale's interest in Ida to whom he
himself looks at with an expression of “furious distaste.” (We would later learn that this is related to her sexualisastion
which Pinkie feels disgusted by.) Hale feels that Pinkie’s shifted hatred towards Ida is “like handcuffs” has been
“loosened” and “fastened around another’s wrists.”
- Greene’s characterisation of Pinkie is oxymoronic as the “fair, smooth skin” of youth is juxtaposed with the
description of his eyes which have an “effect of heartlessness like an old man’s in which feeling has died.”
Although he is physically a juvenile, his eyes are portrayed as being inhumane and void which is ironic as it
suggests that his appearance conceals the nature of his wicked and cold nature. An idea which becomes more
apparent as the novel progresses.
- Pinkie’s hatred for Ida allows her to be characterised as “that buer” (a demon used to describe overly
sexualised women) by his character, suggesting that he has an automatic hatred for people who excite his
‘distaste.’
- Hale gazes at Ida in her “vulgar” summer dress as though he “were gazing at life itself… the big tipsy
mouth, the magnificent breasts.” Greene comments upon Ida’s name as “the old and vulgarised Grecian
name.”
- Greene further describes other female day-trippers with equally derogatory characteristics “bright brass hair
and ermine coats, heads close like parrots exchanging metallic confidences… they flashed their painted nails
at each other and cackled.”
- Hale believes his safety depends on finding a companion that is one of the “clerks, shop girls, hairdressers”
with “new and daring perms” with “bleached and perfumed hair.”
Chapter Two, Part One
In this chapter, Pinkie searches the holiday crowd for Hale where he wins a doll on a shooting stall who he describes
as having a “glassy innocence, like virgins in a church repository.” He takes the doll “by the hair… his fingers pulled
absentmindedly at the dolls hair detaching the brown wool” which is ironic as he sees the doll as being a
representation of the Virgin Mary which shows that although he is Catholic, his perspective of the religion is
untraditional, an idea which Greene develops as the narrative proceeds through the awareness that Pinkie believes in
Hell but not Heaven. However, although Pinkie appears to be aggressive with the doll, the Virgin Mary is the only
women who he does not call a “buer” or a “deroga.” In this chapter, Pinkie’s eyes are described by Greene as
possessing an “annihilating eternity from which he had come and to which he went” as well as “his ageless eyes.”
The description of Pinkie’s eyes suggests that he is a personification of evil to which Greene as a practising Catholic,
would have believed entered the world as a result of Satan’s temptation of Adam to eat from the tree of knowledge.
Pinkie’s thoughts alternate between violence and phrases from Catholic liturgy. Spicer has left one of Hale’s cards in
the coffee shop, to which Pinkie and his gang realise will connect them to the murder of Hale if discovered, Pinkie
retrieves the card however “you couldn’t tell if he was scared his young ancient poker face told nothing.” In the novel,
Greene uses the motif of the mouth and in these scene, he connects the mouth to the world by writing “a great vox
humana trembled across the crumby stained desert of used cloths; the world’s wet mouth lamenting over life.” Upon
entry, Pinkie discovers that his assigned waitress, Rose, is in possession of Spicer’s card and in an attempt to prevent
justice, Pinkie flirts with the girl despite how he “despide her quiet, her pallor, her desire to please.” Greene
characterises Rose as appearing to be “afraid of her own footsteps” and Pinkie looks at her with “dangerous and
unfeeling eyes.” He charms her by telling her that they will meet again because “you and I have things in common”
,which is ironic when considering the only factor which unites the couple is their shared catholicism, however
nevertheless, their interpretations still nevertheless contrast one another.
Chapter Three, Part One
Ida meets Clarence, a male friend in a pub who transparently suggests that he would like to continue their sexual
relationship. The nature of their relationship is specified when Ida comments about her estranged husband Tom to
which Clarence replies stating “there’s been more than one Tom in your life” to which Ida responds stating “you
should know.” During this scene, Ida reads a newspaper article which reports the death of Hale to which Ida
reminisces about the short time they spent together. The narrator comments “the cheap drama and pathos of the
thought weakened her heart towards him.” When their relationship had previously begun, Clarence was a married man
however, during the narrative, he is a widowed man who wants to begin a relationship again with Ida. However, Ida
rejects his advancement by stating that she would “like to start something fresh.” Her warmth is described by Greene
as “gunness kindness” which “winked up at her, a bit sly, a bit earthy.” Ida’s feelings towards Hale and her need to
avenge his death is motivated by her “friendly and popular heart.” Ida attends Fred’s cremation in a “bare cold scholar
chapel which could be adapted quietly and conventionally to any creed” - the idea of chapel being “bare” suggests that
this is a protestant funeral as Catholic churches are typically well decorated and vibrant with the likes of stained glass
windows and music. The funeral scene is inspired by Greene’s mother-in-law’s even being given the same address by
the clergymen. Following his attendance of his mother-in-law’s funeral, Greene wrote the cremation was a method of
“disposal” in the “last remains”, which like Hale’s body, enter the furnace to be “dropped in indistinguishable grey ash
on the pink blossom: he became part of the smoke nuisance over London.” Ida’s life philosophy is captured; she
defines life in terms of sex (“sunlight on bedposts”), drinking (“ruby port”) and the thrill occasioned by backing the
winning horse at the races (“the leap of the heart when the outsider you have backed passes the post.”) Ida’s character
is not religious which juxtaposes that of Rose and Pinkie who are Catholic. Ida’s lack of religion is instrumented by
Greene to suggest how morally wrong she is and how ‘lost’ she is. She is described as feeling “an enjoyable distress
over Hale’s death and her optimistic outlook on life containing something “dangerous and remorseless.” Greene uses
an ironic voice when stating that Ida “took life with a deadly seriousness” as in actuality, she is anything but serious
and lives her life searching for thrills rather than security. Greene comments that “man is made by the place in which
he lives” and goes on to describe London’s West End which is illuminated with neon signs which advertise products to
persuade individuals to purchase. During the 1930s when the novel is set, Britain was becoming a consumerist society
. Ida’s mind is characterised by Greene as “[working] with the simplicity and regularity of a sky-sign: the ever tipping
glass, the ever-revolving wheel, the plan questions flashing on and off.” This description suggests that Ida is the
personification of a product which she physically advertises. This may be used by Greene to suggest that she is a
whore, or, in an attempt to further dehumanise and humiliate her character.
- Ida is not religious, yet a Biblical quotation is used to communicate her tenacious will. “Vengeance was
Ida’s, just as much as reward was Ida’s” which suggests that Ida’s interference with justice, has characterised
her as being this Godly individual however demanding a “reward.” The reader learns that Ida’s involvement
in the investigation is not influenced by her need to avenge Hale but contrastingly in an attempt to achieve
fun - an idea which is understood in the quotation “the only rewards there was. Fun.”
- Ida decides she wants to know the truth regarding Hale’s death, despite how “it always costs money if you
want to know the truth.” This quotation demonstrates how corrupted the novel’s criminal system is, an idea
which is further supported when considering Colleoni’s prerogative over the force.
- Ida describes the seedy “old fashioned” con man Charlie Moyne as being a “sporting gentlemen” and goes
on to define what she believes the word means. “Gentleman, freehanded gentlemen, real gentlemen” to
which Greene uses to emphasise the poor criteria of Ida’s judgement as the word traditionally means
somebody of independence or belonging to a class of immaculate wealth.
Chapter One, Part Two
Pinkie meditates upon murder reflecting that “when people do one murder they sometimes have to do another - to tidy
up.” Greene comments that Pinkie’s lack of strength lies in his lack of imagination as “he couldn’t see through
people’s eyes, or feel with their nerves.” This characterisation of being unable to feel however also looking at murder
as being a requirement, suggests Pinkie’s role as a psychopath. A modern psychologist would define Pinkie as having
a personality disorder. A recent British study suggested that 26% of prison inmates are psychopaths. In this chapter,
Spicer asks Pinkie if he is carrying a gun to which the reader learns he is not and instead carries “vitriol… scares a
plony more than a knife.” Vitriol is an archaic language meaning sulphuric acid. Greene comments that Pinkie finds a
“sexual pleasure” from the acid’s touch. Upon their date, Rose tells Pinkie that the man who left the card was not Fred
, Hales and comments “I’ve got a memory for faces”, this quotation sealing her fate. Pinkie attempts to scare Rose into
staying away from the mob, or himself, by recalling the story of a woman who became involved in the gang who
“spoilt her looks. She lost one eye.” In this knowledge, Rose feels both “horror and admiration.”
- The word knowledge is used to characterise Pinkie. This may have multiple connotations such as
intelligence being a key characteristic of both psychopaths and criminals. It also could be suggested as
further relating Pinkie to being a personification of the devil through association of knowledge to the story of
Adam and Eve.
- Greene characterises Rose as avoiding living in the present through the use of the quotation “when she
wasn’t living in the future she was living in the past… running away from things, running towards things.”
This quotation emphasises how lost Rose is during the narrative as somebody who longs to be saved
however feels burdened by her family and the Church. This also further suggests that Rose is enduring
somewhat of an identity crisis as she runs from herself towards “things” like Pinkie.
- Rose juxtaposes Pinkie in the quotation “the eyes which had never been young starred with grey contempt
into the eyes which had only just begun to learn a thing or two.” This further demonstrates how contradicting
the two are as one is naive and one is experienced. One is sensitive and one is numb.
- Greene presents Pinkie as a multidimensional character who is misogynistic and an emotionless killer;
however, there are references to a Pinkie who did have feelings, who did enjoy music, and whose religious
beliefs were so influential that he even vowed to become a priest. “The boy stared at the spotlight: music,
love, nightingale, postmen: the words stirred in his brain like poetry.” Pinkie endures temptation; he looks
and feels the vitriol with almost lust. Evil is presented in the novel as a force which Pinkie is incapable of
resisting - “you can’t always help it. It sort of comes that way.”
- Pinkie asks Rose whether she has ever been in love to which she says yes. “With sudden venom” Pinkie
belittles her stating “you would have been. You’re green. You don’t know what people do… you don’t know
anything.” Once again, Pinkie uses his ‘knowledge’ with the intention to hurt Rose as he mocks and
stereotypes her, however, ironically it is her feeling of love which humanises her in juxtaposition to him.
- Pinkie digs his nails into Rose’s skin with a “sensual rage” to which Rose interprets as being an act of
passion telling him to continue to hurt her if he “liked it.” This characterises Rose as being a masochist and
finding pleasure in the harm that she finds herself to be in.
- Pinkie experiences a conflicting mixture of anger and pleasure upon inflicting pain as he feels “anger like a
cold coal in his belly” whilst simultaneously asking himself “what would be the fun if people didn’t squeal?”
- Pinkie catches sight of Rose’s rosary beads and realises that like he, she is a Roman Catholic. He remembers
the Latin from the mass which he had attended as a choir boy and “in his voice a lost world moved.” Greene
personifies in Pinkie the pathos of a fallen man as the sense of evil which resides in everybody who
annihilated Pinkie’s ‘original’ personality.
- Greene presents the loss of Pinkie’s childhood faith as being influenced by his present evilness. Pinkie’s
recollection of his “lost world” generates a sense of compassion for his character who became the product of
evil following the occurrence of a tragic-backstory. Although the novel’s criminal, Pinkie is nevertheless the
victim to a force which is visibly out of control to which is luring him towards greater acts of hatred and
violence yet bringing no peace.
- Spicer jokingly suggests that to “make her safe” Pinkie would need to marry Rose to which Pinkie responds
“I don’t need to marry a squirt to make her safe.”
- The absence of peace is strong in the narrative comments about Pinkie. All expressions of joy or human
animation seem to have been excised leaving symptoms of sickness. When Dallow endeavours to exchange
banter with him the narrator describes “the ague wringing his face.”
- Dallow shows his loyalty to Pinkie as “he felt as physically weak but cunning schoolboys feel who attached
to himself in an incriminating fidelity the strongest boy in school.” Although Dallow is physically strong,
Pinkie is the “brains of the outfit.” The two combined make the idealistic criminal.
Chapter Two, Part Two
The chapter begins with Pinkie writing a “business letter” to one of his ‘customers.’ Greene comments that Pinkie’s
sleep is “functional. He had no dreams” which works to further characterise his behaviour as inhuman and suggests
that he does not live but instead just exists. Collonei writes to Pinkie asking him to meet him at the Cosmopolitan
Hotel (the word meaning ‘knows the world’ suggesting Colleoni’s maturity which foils Pinkie’s naivety as a youth.)
Pinkie watches himself in the mirror with his image being described as “smooth, never shaven cheek, soft hair” which
further juxtaposes his social image as well as his “old eyes.” The Cosmopolitan is described with great detail by
