How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
'My object was a complicated one…A matter of family disputation, painful to relate, which accounts for my having made the crossing solo' (I.1.51).
Before we dig into the complicated overlapping mysteries that are really the central concern of the novel, we get Moody's family drama. In fact, Moody offers it up precisely so the men in the Crown smoking room (who were clearly in the middle of some kind of powwow before Moody entered) will open up to him. He plays hard to get at first, though, and isn't super inclined to go into a lot of details about the family sitch that prompted him to haul booty to Hokitika in search of gold.
Quote #2
'Everyone's from somewhere else,' Balfour went on. 'Yes: that's the very heart of it. We're all from somewhere else. And as for family: you'll find brothers and fathers enough, in the gorge' (I.1.54).
Assuring Walter that being in Hokitika means a new start, Balfour lets him know that pretty much everyone there is a foreigner—and so, families look a bit different in this town. In fact, they rise up in the gorge as everyone is looking for gold. Hmm, sounds kind of nice…you mean, people don't get all greedy and weird and murderous when gold is around? Let's see how that idea plays out …
Quote #3
'Your father! But what have I told you already? You'll find fathers enough, I said, down in the gorge! That's no turn of phrase—it's custom, and necessity—it's the way that things are done! Let me tell you what counts for shame on the diggings. Cry a false field—that's worthy. Dispute the pegging on a claim—that's worthy. Rob a man, cheat a man, kill a man—that's worthy. But family shame! Tell that to the bellmen, to cry up and down the Hokitika-road—they'll think it news! What's family shame without a family?' (I.1.73).
Balfour continues to try to convince Walter that Hokitika really can be a new beginning for him, since his family shame can basically just be left in the past. There are other things to focus on in a gold town, he says, rather than worrying about that. Everyone is starting over, so no one really cares about your origins quite as much …