How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"You ain't got to be white to have some self-respect! You reckon I slave in this house like I do so you and them common n*****s can sit here every afternoon throwing ashes all over the floor?" (2.1.106)
The problem with Florence's reaction to Frank's lack of ambition is that she ends up reinforcing the racism she is trying to fight against. When she uses a racial slur she forgets that she is included in it by the white people around her.
Quote #8
There was silence; he whistled again a few bars of his song; and then he yawned, and said: "Is you coming to bed, old lady? Don't know why you keep wasting all your time and my money on them old skin whiteners. You as black now as you was the day you was born."
"You wasn't there the day I was born. And I know you don't want a coal-black woman." But she rose from the mirror, and moved toward the bed. (2.1.141-42)
Florence's bedtime ritual reveals how race affects beauty standards. She uses whiteners to make her dark skin lighter, and even though Frank tells her she doesn't need to, she is sure that he would prefer a lighter-skinned woman to a dark-skinned one.
Quote #9
[…] "I just mean you better be careful, son. Ain't nothing but white folks in town today. They done killed… last night…"
[…]
"I know," he said abruptly, "but they ain't going to bother me. They done got their n***** for this week. […]" (2.2.318-21)
When Gabriel bumps into Royal in town, he is terrified for the boy's life. A group of white people murdered and tortured a black soldier the night before, and so most of the black people in the community are hiding out at home. Royal is cocky, though, treating the murder as a common, weekly occurrence that he can't fight.