Motherless Brooklyn

by

Jonathan Lethem

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Motherless Brooklyn makes teaching easy.

Danny Fantl Character Analysis

Danny Fantl is one of the four Minna Men who work for Frank Minna as “detectives” and faux drivers at L&L, the car service Frank established long ago as a front for his unlicensed private investigation agency. Danny, like the other Minna Men, has known Frank most of his life, having started working for the man while still a teenager at St. Vincent’s orphanage in Brooklyn. Danny is Black, and thus he is the prejudiced Minna’s least-favored Minna Man. Collected, calm, and stoic, Danny plays things close to the chest and lies low for most of the novel—yet after the climactic revelations about the connections between The Clients, the Yorkville Zendo, and Frank and Gerard Minna’s decades of criminal dealings, Danny becomes the de facto leader of the legitimate detective agency that he, Lionel, and Gilbert grow in the wake of their mentor’s death.

Danny Fantl Quotes in Motherless Brooklyn

The Motherless Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by Danny Fantl or refer to Danny Fantl. 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:
Mystery and the Futility of Answers Theme Icon
).
Motherless Brooklyn Quotes

Minna was barely a man then himself, of course, though he seemed one to us.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl
Page Number: 40
Explanation and Analysis:

'You probably ought to know, Lionel's a freak," said Tony, his voice vibrant with self-regard.

"Yeah, well, you're all freaks, if you don't mind me pointing it out,” said Minna "No parents—or am I mixed up?"

Silence.

"Finish your beer," said Minna tossing his can past us, into the back of the van.

And that was the end of our first job for Frank Minna.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna (speaker), Tony Vermonte (speaker), Gilbert Coney, Danny Fantl
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:

"This is exciting for you, Ma? I got all of motherless Brooklyn up here for you. Merry Christmas."

Related Characters: Frank Minna (speaker), Lionel Essrog, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl, Alphonso Matricardi and Leonardo Rockaforte/The Clients, Carlotta Minna
Page Number: 71
Explanation and Analysis:
Interrogation Eyes Quotes

Minna Men wear suits. Minna Men drive cars. Minna Men listen to tapped lines. Minna Men stand behind Minna hands in their pockets, looking menacing. Minna Men carry money. Minna Men collect money. Minna Men don't ask questions. Minna Men answer phones. Minna Men pick up packages. Minna Men are clean-shaven. Minna Men follow instructions. Minna Men try to be like Minna but Minna is dead.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Auto Body Quotes

It all happened at once. There were six of them, a vision to break your heart. I was almost glad Minna was gone so he'd never have to face it, how perfectly the six middle-aged Japanese men of Fujisaki filled the image the Minna Men had always strained toward but had never reached and never would reach… […] They were all we could never be no matter how Minna pushed us: absolutely a team, a unit, their presence collective like a floating island of charisma and force.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl, The Fujisaki Corporation
Page Number: 274
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Motherless Brooklyn LitChart as a printable PDF.
Motherless Brooklyn PDF

Danny Fantl Quotes in Motherless Brooklyn

The Motherless Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by Danny Fantl or refer to Danny Fantl. 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:
Mystery and the Futility of Answers Theme Icon
).
Motherless Brooklyn Quotes

Minna was barely a man then himself, of course, though he seemed one to us.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl
Page Number: 40
Explanation and Analysis:

'You probably ought to know, Lionel's a freak," said Tony, his voice vibrant with self-regard.

"Yeah, well, you're all freaks, if you don't mind me pointing it out,” said Minna "No parents—or am I mixed up?"

Silence.

"Finish your beer," said Minna tossing his can past us, into the back of the van.

And that was the end of our first job for Frank Minna.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna (speaker), Tony Vermonte (speaker), Gilbert Coney, Danny Fantl
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:

"This is exciting for you, Ma? I got all of motherless Brooklyn up here for you. Merry Christmas."

Related Characters: Frank Minna (speaker), Lionel Essrog, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl, Alphonso Matricardi and Leonardo Rockaforte/The Clients, Carlotta Minna
Page Number: 71
Explanation and Analysis:
Interrogation Eyes Quotes

Minna Men wear suits. Minna Men drive cars. Minna Men listen to tapped lines. Minna Men stand behind Minna hands in their pockets, looking menacing. Minna Men carry money. Minna Men collect money. Minna Men don't ask questions. Minna Men answer phones. Minna Men pick up packages. Minna Men are clean-shaven. Minna Men follow instructions. Minna Men try to be like Minna but Minna is dead.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Auto Body Quotes

It all happened at once. There were six of them, a vision to break your heart. I was almost glad Minna was gone so he'd never have to face it, how perfectly the six middle-aged Japanese men of Fujisaki filled the image the Minna Men had always strained toward but had never reached and never would reach… […] They were all we could never be no matter how Minna pushed us: absolutely a team, a unit, their presence collective like a floating island of charisma and force.

Related Characters: Lionel Essrog (speaker), Frank Minna, Gilbert Coney, Tony Vermonte, Danny Fantl, The Fujisaki Corporation
Page Number: 274
Explanation and Analysis: