Red Harvest Criminality Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"You're going to have the mayor, or the governor, whichever it comes under, suspend the whole Poisonville police department, and let the mail-order troops handle things till you can organize another. […] It can be done, and it's got to be done. Then you'll have your city back, all nice and clean and ready to go to the dogs again." (26.40)

At the end of the novel, the Op gives a gangster-free Personville back to Elihu. But the real question is whether the city is truly rid of its crimes and criminals. How long will this state of peace last? The Op does say that the city will probably "go to the dogs again," so does he believe so little in his success that he's predicting the eventual decay of Personville later on down the line?