How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The picture hurt the big Greek's feelings and he refused to be reconciled until Singer had made his face very young and handsome and his hair bright yellow and his eyes china blue. (1.1.14).
What a revealing scene. Whiteness, for Antonapoulos here, and for many other characters as well, is prized at the expense of all other ethnicities. Antonapoulos seems to have internalized this racial hierarchy, which is both sad and a little disturbing. What's even more disturbing is that Singer gives in.
Quote #2
"Don't you know you can't bring no n***** in a place where white men drink?" someone asked him. [...]
"I'm part n***** myself," [Blount] called out as a challenge. (1.2.68, 70)
Jake is probably one of the least racist characters in the entire novel, and we admire his rising to the occasion in this scene. But we can't help but feel a little sad that such a tolerant dude ends up in such a whopper of an argument with Copeland later in the novel.
Quote #3
"Me? You say I favor him?"
"I don't mean in the face or in any kind of looks. I was speaking about the shape and color of your souls. (1.3.114-15)
Portia is all about digging deeper. She places a high value on what someone is like on the inside, rather than their outer appearance. Of course that's hard to do in a novel like this, where so many characters judge each other by their looks.