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Inspector Pratt is an employee of the U.S. border office. When Cecil and the bearded guard can’t convince the narrator’s mother to claim American or Canadian citizenship, they ask her to park outside the office and come inside to speak with Inspector Pratt. When she approaches the narrator and his mother, the narrator immediately focuses on the gun at her hip, which is engraved with what is likely her name: “Stella.” Civil but firm, Inspector Pratt eventually tells the narrator’s mother that if she won’t declare herself either American or Canadian, she and the narrator will have to return to Canada.
Inspector Pratt Quotes in Borders
The Borders quotes below are all either spoken by Inspector Pratt or refer to Inspector Pratt. 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:
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Borders Quotes
We sat on a wood bench for about an hour before anyone came over to talk to us. This time it was a woman. She had a gun, too.
“Hi. I’m Inspector Pratt. I understand there is a little misunderstanding.”
“I’m going to visit my daughter in Salt Lake City. We don’t have any guns or beer.”
“It’s a legal technicality, that’s all.”
“My daughter’s Blackfoot, too.”
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[Inspector Pratt’s] gun was silver. There were several chips in the wood handle…and the name “Stella” was scratched into the metal butt.
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The woman’s name was Carol…and I don’t guess she was any older than Laetitia.
“Wow, you both Canadians?”
“Blackfoot.”
“Really? I have a friend I went to school with who is Blackfoot. Do you know Mike Harley?”
“No.”
“He went to school in Lethbridge, but he’s really from Browning.”
It was a nice conversation and there were no cars behind us, so there was no rush.
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Pride is a good thing to have, you know. Laetitia had a lot of pride, and so did my mother. I figured that someday, I’d have it too.
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Inspector Pratt Character Timeline in Borders
The timeline below shows where the character Inspector Pratt appears in Borders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Borders
...come inside. They sit in a waiting room for about an hour before a woman, Inspector Pratt , approaches them. The narrator’s eyes are drawn to the silver gun at her hip....
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Inspector Pratt explains the law that mandates declaration of citizenship at border crossings to the narrator’s mother....
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The narrator’s mother thanks Inspector Pratt , brings the narrator back to the car, and drives the hundred yards back to...
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