The Virgin Suicides

by

Jeffrey Eugenides

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Virgin Suicides makes teaching easy.

Sammy “The Shark” Baldino Character Analysis

Sammy “The Shark” Baldino is Paul Baldino’s father. Everyone in the neighborhood knows he’s a powerful mobster. He is arrested and taken away shortly after the Lisbon daughters’ group suicide, and the boys seem to associate this change with the broader feeling that something has fundamentally shifted in their neighborhood.

Sammy “The Shark” Baldino Quotes in The Virgin Suicides

The The Virgin Suicides quotes below are all either spoken by Sammy “The Shark” Baldino or refer to Sammy “The Shark” Baldino. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Paul Baldino said it was a barbecue, and we believed him. But, as time passed, we noticed that no one ever used it. The papers said the barbecue had cost $50,000 to install, but not one hamburger or hot dog was ever grilled upon it. Soon the rumor began to circulate that the tree trunk was an escape tunnel, that it led to a hideaway along the river where Sammy the Shark kept a speedboat, and that the workers had hung tarps to conceal the digging. Then, a few months after the rumors began, Paul Baldino began emerging in people’s basements, through the storm sewers.

Related Characters: The Neighborhood Boys (speaker), Peter Sissen , Paul Baldino , Sammy “The Shark” Baldino
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Virgin Suicides LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Virgin Suicides PDF

Sammy “The Shark” Baldino Quotes in The Virgin Suicides

The The Virgin Suicides quotes below are all either spoken by Sammy “The Shark” Baldino or refer to Sammy “The Shark” Baldino. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Paul Baldino said it was a barbecue, and we believed him. But, as time passed, we noticed that no one ever used it. The papers said the barbecue had cost $50,000 to install, but not one hamburger or hot dog was ever grilled upon it. Soon the rumor began to circulate that the tree trunk was an escape tunnel, that it led to a hideaway along the river where Sammy the Shark kept a speedboat, and that the workers had hung tarps to conceal the digging. Then, a few months after the rumors began, Paul Baldino began emerging in people’s basements, through the storm sewers.

Related Characters: The Neighborhood Boys (speaker), Peter Sissen , Paul Baldino , Sammy “The Shark” Baldino
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis: