Tortilla Flat Friendship Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"I have all these friends?" he said in wonder. "And I did not know it. And I am a worry to those friends. I did not know, Pilon. I would not have worried them if I had known." (7.34)

Pilon is playing fast and loose with the term "friends" when he approaches the Pirate to try to find out where he keeps his stash of money. What's ironic is that the Pirate is so pure and gullible that he doesn't even suspect Pilon's real motives. He ends up moving in, dogs and all, and becoming part of the group of friends.

Quote #5

Wherefore the friends, in despair, organized a group, formed for and dedicated to her destruction. (9.44)

When Danny starts getting cozy with Sweets Ramirez, the rest of his friends realize that she is a threat to their gang. For one thing, if she were to get Danny to marry her, they'd be out of a house in a second. Also, he's spending more time and energy on her than on them, so they unite to destroy the threat to their friendship.

Quote #6

The bag of money had become the symbolic center of the friendship, the point of trust about which the fraternity revolved. (12.2)

It's kind of funny that, even though Danny cares much more about his friendships than about money, it's a sack of quarters that comes to symbolize that friendship. But this money isn't just any ordinary money: it's dedicated to a saint, which makes it kind of holy. So this suggests that Danny's friends form kind of a holy union. On top of that, these guys have to trust each other not to steal from the bag, which makes their bond that much stronger.