How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
In their sexual relations she convinced him that the result was not quite satisfactory to her, that if he were a better man he could release a flood of unbelievable reaction in her. Her method was to keep him continually off balance. (9.2.5)
If you need to know one thing about Cathy, know that she is manipulative. In this scenario, she keeps giving Mr. Edwards a B- so that he's constantly freaking out about her finding someone who is an A+ in the sack. It keeps him in line, and it keeps her in charge.
Quote #5
"What do you want?"
"What do you think? Move over a little."
"Where's Adam?"
"He drank my sleeping medicine by mistake. Move over a little."
He breathed harshly. "I already been with a whore."
"You're a pretty strong boy. Move over a little."
"How about your broken arm?"
"I'll take care of that. It's not your worry."
Suddenly Charles laughed. "The poor bastard," he said, and he threw back the blanket to receive her. (11.6.46-54)
We've got a feeling that Charles and Cathy would have made a great pair. They probably would have killed one another, but they just seem to be cut from the same cloth, you know? Charles is always saying that he recognizes something in Cathy, and Cathy is always thinking that Charles is like her. We're meant to see them as a match made in heaven (or hell, more like it) in this scene where they consummate their sexual tension; we're also meant to see that Cathy is just about the least fit person on earth for someone as naïve as Adam.
Quote #6
"Over across the tracks down by Chinatown there's a row of whorehouses."
"I know that."
"Everybody knows it. If we closed them up they'd just move. The people want those houses. We keep an eye on them so not much bad happens. And the people that run those houses keep in touch with us." (18.2.52-54)
Kids, this is called a mutualistic relationship, which means you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. You might think that whorehouses are an unsavory business, but the sheriff is a man of practicality and he knows that he is not going to single-handedly wipe out the world's oldest profession. So he simply treats the houses as if they were any other business. His actions are a far cry from the prudishness that Steinbeck describes earlier in the novel; remember Charles talking about a local schoolteacher who got run out of town for showing her ankles?