How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
[The captain] said that the man they called the charro had suffered from a failure of nerve out there among the ebony trees beyond the ruins of the estancia and this a man whose brother was dead at the hands of the assassin Blevins and this a man who had paid money that certain arrangements be made which the captain had been at some pains himself to make. (2688)
While the charro's loss of nerve may be understandable when faced with the opportunity to shoot a child, the captain frames the whole incident as a business transaction—a mere matter of arrangements, payment, etc.—and the whole morality of the incident seems alien to him. His mercenary character and lack of feeling come through strongly here.
Quote #5
This man came to me. I do not go to him. He came to me. Speaking of justice. Speaking of the honor of his family. Do you think men truly want these things? I dont think many men want these things. (2689)
For all his seeming villainy, the captain reveals a curious moral absolutism here: if they are to be truly held as ideals, honor and justice must be preserved by all means, even if that leads to shooting a 13-year-old child. Whether this cynicism is due to deeply held beliefs or just a defense mechanism against his own immorality is another question.
Quote #6
I was always with these older boys because I want to learn every thing. So on this night at the fiesta of San Pedro […] there was this woman and all these boys is go out with this woman and they is have this woman. And I am the last one. And I go out to the place where is this woman and she refuse me because she say I am too young or something like that.
What does a man do? You see. I can no go back because they will all see that I dont go with this woman. […]
Maybe they tell her to refuse me. So they can laugh. They give her some money or something like that. But I dont let whores make trouble for me. When I come back there is no laughing. […] That has always been my way in this world. I am the one when I go someplace then there is no laughing. (2706-9)
This story reveals a situation similar to Blevins' own, albeit with added misogyny: Blevins too hangs out with older boys who mess with him, and he also does not like to be laughed at. In some ways Blevins's pursuit of his honor and property mirrors that of the man who eventually kills him: these things seem so essential to who they are that they are willing to kill or do violence to get them (kinda like Black Friday shoppers, actually).