Ship Breaker Greed Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

Nailer's father smiled, feral and pleased. "But you just bought your guts back, girlie." He showed her his knife. "And if your dad won't pay enough, we'll pig-open you and see how you squeal." He turned to his crew. "All right, boys and girls. Let's get the scavenge off. I don't want to share too much with Lucky Strike." (12.110-111)

The greed that Nailer and Pima experience is different from Nailer's father's greed. Richard Lopez is willing to use violence in morally suspect ways; Nailer isn't. And while Nailer and Pima recognize that if Nita is alive, the ship is hers, Richard is more than happy to cheat his boss Lucky Strike out of whatever scavenge he can. So greed is connected to morality and ethics.

Quote #8

Pima's mother studied Nailer. "You run and Richard Lopez will hunt you forever. You can never come back […] Broker a deal and sell the girl to those people down there, and Richard will forget. You don't think so, but money will make him forget plenty." (14.119)

After Nailer kills Blue Eyes, Sadna assures him that satiating his father's greed will allow Nailer to stay at Bright Sands Beach. And Nailer has to weigh this wish for peace against the awfulness that is his dad. For Nailer, morality wins out.

Quote #9

"Pyce is avoiding carbon taxation because of territory disputes in the Arctic, and then when it goes to China, it's easy to sell it untraceably. It's risky and it's illegal, and my father found out about it. He was going to force Pyce out of the family, but Pyce moved against him first."

"Billions in Chinese red cash," Nailer said. "It's worth that much?" (16.18-19)

As Nita explains why she's being chased, we see very little difference in the greed of Richard Lopez and Pyce's greed. Both men are willing to break written and unwritten laws to increase their profits, and neither man cares about the morality of their actions.