Brighton Rock - Characters

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Pinkie Brown

  • Criminal - the main one in the novel.
  • Roman Catholic - believes in Hell and Damnation.
  • Anti Social - struggles in social situations.
  • Sexually Repressed - mainly due to his parents previous doings, which also explains why he is repulsed by Sylvie and Rose's sexual desires.
  • Violent Tendencies - short temper,  murdering Hale and Spicer, carrying a razor and a bottle of Vitriol, as well as manipulating Rose to commit suicide. 
  • Marriage - Rose and himself are wedded underage.
  • Abstinence - he does not drink or smoke, which relates to his religion. 
  • Kite - Previous leader of the gang, now dead, who acted as Pinkie's father figure.
  • Knowledge - Pinkie's knowhow of crime stems from him reading crime books, which is ironic considering how the criminals are stereotypically punished/found etc.
  • Poverty - grew up in extreme poverty.
  • Contrast - old, grey eyes juxtapose his otherwise young features.
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Rose

  • Victim - the main victim in the novel.
  • Roman Catholic - believes in Heaven and angels, which is the opposite to Pinkie.
  • Plain - she is ordinary with no stand out features, and can also be applied to her personality; Pinkie hates this about her.
  • Poverty - brought up in the extreme, much like Pinkie.
  • Naive - likes Pinkie despite the fact that he's terrifying.
  • Abuse - let's Pinkie physically abuse her, push her around etc.
  • Maternal - she wants 
  • Witness - sees the death of Hale, which then explains the ongoings with Pinkie and why he is so 'protective' over her.
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Ida Arnold

  • Detective - an amateur one, but main detective in the novel.
  • Spiritualist - atypically believes in Ouija Boards and ghosts, depsite being a detective.
  • Hedonistic - lives to 'feel good' and does not see the harm in casual sex with married men.
  • Gluttonous - hence the chocolate eclair scene, excessive drinking at the same bar and loves money.
  • Morals - believes in right & wrong moral compass, wheras Pinkie believes in good & evil.
  • Motive - solves the case because she partially believes it is fun, and also because it is the right thing to do. 50/50. 
  • Delusion - she thinks she was/is the only person to care about Hale.
  • Manipulation - tricks dallow to help her.
  • Backstory - this is unknown, possibly to blur her motives.
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Spicer

  • Nottingham - wants to retire and move for a better, calmer life.
  • Loyal - has always been faithful to Kite and Pinkie, but is betrayed (killed) by the latter. This is ironic as he survives Colleoni's gang attack, only to be killed by one of his own.
  • Kolley Kibber - he was in charge of the cards before Hale's death.
  • Death - Pinkie loosens the banister in the house, to make it look like an accident.
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