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Étienne
Keaty is a friend of Richard’s at the beach who owns a Game Boy and who works on the gardening duty. His transfer from gardening to fishing upsets the fragile balance of life on the beach, showing how delicate the camp society really is. Richard includes Keaty in his escape plan and keeps in touch with him after leaving the beach.
Keaty Quotes in The Beach
The The Beach quotes below are all either spoken by Keaty or refer to Keaty. 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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Chapter 26 Quotes
One face stuck out. It belonged to a black guy sitting alone, his back against a storeroom hut. He looked around twenty, he had a shaved head, and his eyes were fixed intently on a small grey box in his hands — the Nintendo Game Boy I’d spotted earlier.
[…]The schoolyard atmosphere was telling me to stick with the people I knew, but then I looked back at the Nintendo guy. His face suddenly screwed up and over the murmur of talking I heard him hiss, “Game Over.”
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Chapter 32 Quotes
I stubbed out the cigarette. “And the zeros. What are they about?”
Keaty smiled. “That was Daffy’s idea. It’s a date.”
“A date? The date of what?”
“The date they first arrived.”
“I thought that was eighty-nine.”
“It was.” Keaty stood up and patted the stabilizer fin. “But Daffy used to call it year zero.”
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Chapter 53 Quotes
It took me over two hours to get to sleep that night, and the thoughts that kept me awake were as unusual as the rest of the day had been. For the first time since arriving on the beach, I started thinking about home. Almost, in fact, wishing I could return. Not to leave the beach permanently — just to contact a few important people and let them know I was still alive and OK. My family particularly, and a few of my friends. I suppose it may have had as much to do with my earlier conversation with Françoise as with the subsequent unsettling events. The thought of parents had hovered in the back of my mind, reluctant to fall under the beach’s amnesiac spell.
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Chapter 63 Quotes
His face contorted as though he was going to yell at me. I looked at him impassively while he held the expression, then he gurgled and another stream of shit splashed on to the ground. “No!” he wailed, then his legs buckled and he slipped backwards.
I took a step sideways to keep clear of the spreading dark puddle. “Jesus, Bugs. Can’t you hold on?”
Bugs whimpered and doubled up into the fetal position, tried to straighten, and doubled up again.
I continued watching him, still breathing into my elbow though it did nothing to block the stench. The giddy feeling was getting stronger, mixing with intense rushes of irritation.
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Chapter 67 Quotes
Then I heard Sal call behind me, “What’s happened?’, and at once Karl began yelling at the top of his lungs. For a minute he yelled non-stop, filling the longhouse with high, frantic sound that made some people cover their ears or yell equally loudly, for no apparent reason other than to block him out. It was only after Keaty had grabbed him, shouting at him to shut up, that he managed to form an intelligible word: “Shark.”
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Keaty Character Timeline in The Beach
The timeline below shows where the character Keaty appears in The Beach. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 26
Back at the camp, Richard sees a Black man of about 20 (Keaty), sitting alone playing the Game Boy Richard saw earlier. The man says “Game Over” under...
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Chapter 27
...the next couple weeks, Richard feels good and starts singing songs to himself, which drives Keaty (the man with the Game Boy) crazy, but eventually Keaty is singing too.
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Chapter 28
...like waiting at the same time to go to the beach every day with Étienne, Keaty, and sometimes Françoise. After a swim, they have breakfast, then move on to their jobs...
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Chapter 29
...On the fourth Sunday, Sal organizes a huge game of football, although both Richard and Keaty stay out of it. They talk about spear-fishing and how though it seems difficult, it...
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Chapter 30
...down, Richard sinks deep enough to get a good look at the coral. He sees Keaty swimming above him and as a joke, uses his fingernails to mimic a fish biting...
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Keaty says he’s been at the beach for two years. He met Sal on a hike,...
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Chapter 32
...They already have enough fish for the day, so Richard goes to meet up with Keaty and find the tree by the waterfall.
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Keaty shows Richard a tree by the waterfall that has some carvings on it. It has...
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Keaty arrived in 1993, when most of the others were already there. In the time since,...
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Chapter 33
Richard goes to Keaty’s tent to play Game Boy. He thinks about how in video games, bosses follow patterns,...
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Chapter 36
...know much about Jed and has barely spent any time with him until now. While Keaty was wary of Jed, Unhygienix has always liked him, which reassures Richard.
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...and jumped the waterfall. Jed does special work around the camp that Sal calls “missions.” Keaty’s theory is that because Jed wasn’t formally recruited, Sal fears Jed might leave and give...
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Chapter 41
...he doesn’t need Richard’s help with the rice, so he goes to get batteries for Keaty’s Game Boy and do some other minor shopping errands. Richard overhears a conversation among some...
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Chapter 46
...to catch the rain, and a resident named Jesse, a New Zealander who works with Keaty in the garden, jokes to Richard that maybe after so much carpentry, Bugs thinks he’s...
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Chapter 47
...the dead shark. Everyone in the camp congratulates him, grilling the shark for a meal. Keaty encourages him to tell the shark story for the whole camp. Jed is also very...
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Chapter 51
Sal opens up to Richard about problems with Keaty, who wants to get off the garden duty to do fishing instead. It’s difficult logistically...
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Chapter 52
Keaty says he feels bad that his getting transferred to fishing duty means that Richard got...
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Jesse comes up to Keaty and Richard and says he heard Richard was reassigned and commiserates with him. After, Keaty...
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Chapter 53
...to go to Sal right away. When Gregorio is unsuccessful, Richard mostly feels bad for Keaty, who still blames himself for getting Richard reassigned. They all speculate on what Jed does...
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Chapter 56
...a map, but it’s harder for him to lie to his old fishing friends and Keaty. Still, while Richard tells Keaty about the spying on strangers that he does with Jed,...
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Chapter 58
...and that Bugs is lying about finding it himself. Richard then finds Jesse, who says Keaty left a note for him. The note says “Smoke this quick! Phosphorescence! Keaty!” Richard is...
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Chapter 59
Richard smokes the joint Keaty left and heads for the beach. It’s Sunday, one of the few times when the...
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His fantasy over, Richard arrives at the beach, and Keaty wants to show him something in the water. Richard struggles to see it at first...
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Chapter 61
...others and find Ella, who explains there’s been a mass outbreak of food poisoning after Keaty put an already-dead squid into the food. Richard goes to see Keaty, who protests he...
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Chapter 62
Keaty wants to spend some time alone, so Richard goes by himself to see Étienne and...
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Chapter 64
...As he’s about to fall asleep, he remembers hearing Sal going around trying to find Keaty. Jed wakes Richard the next morning and offers him a rice ball, since he didn’t...
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Chapter 65
Richard finds Keaty sleeping away from the camp, where Richard left him the previous night. The three Swedish...
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Eventually, Richard goes back to wake Keaty. Richard says Keaty needs to go out fishing. Keaty is surprised that they still want...
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Chapter 67
...Ella is gutting fish and Jed is talking with her. Ella complains that everyone except Keaty has gotten delayed with bringing in fish for her to cook. Richard has a sense...
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...people are on the other side. Moshe and the Yugoslavian girls seem to be neutral. Keaty explains that the cause of the conflict is that Bugs hit him, apparently because Keaty...
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Richard wants to go fight Bugs on Keaty’s behalf, and Jesse is ready to join in. Françoise encourages them all to stop. Bugs...
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Chapter 71
...with trying to create the perfect footprint on the beach with several other camp residents. Keaty observes Richard’s work and thinks Richard might be going insane. Richard can tell that he’s...
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Chapter 73
...camp’s birthday, and it requires a trip to Ko Pha-Ngan for supplies. Sal suggests that Keaty and Bugs should go on the trip together, as a symbolic show of unity. Sal...
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Chapter 76
...just that morning. It seems like a typical day, with Unhygienix playing Game Boy while Keaty watches. Cassie comments on how good Sal’s speech was and asks Richard how he’s feeling....
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Chapter 80
Richard goes to the clearing and finds Françoise, Étienne, and Keaty arguing again. Keaty, playing Game Boy, thinks it’s good that Karl can still take water,...
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When Keaty and Richard are alone, Richard asks Keaty how he feels about having to do a...
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Chapter 88
...supply. Jean says Richard should come see the garden again someday—he hasn’t been back since Keaty was transferred to fishing, and now the garden is much larger. Richard wants Jean to...
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Chapter 89
Soon after Richard gets in bed that night, he hears Bugs and Keaty returning with supplies for Tet. Richard eventually falls asleep and is greeted by Daffy. Daffy...
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Chapter 92
...to leave the beach with anyone else, but Richard has been considering bringing Jed and Keaty. He feels he has to make the offer to them, in spite of the risks....
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Chapter 93
Richard thought that Keaty would be the hardest to convince to leave, since he has been at the beach...
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Chapter 94
Keaty is getting paranoid, so Richard tells him to distract himself by playing Game Boy while...
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Chapter 96
...camp residents all drink an alcoholic beverage made from fermented coconut milk. During the festivities, Keaty tells Richard in private that he’s afraid of Sal watching him. Françoise, meanwhile, seems relaxed...
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Chapter 97
Richard and Keaty comment on how everyone who ate the stew seems to be tripping. It’s becoming harder...
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Chapter 98
...to be hallucinating things, but Jean blames it on the coconut alcohol. Richard notes to Keaty that everyone seems to be reacting to something more potent than just eating dope, but...
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Chapter 99
...goes out to follow Daffy, telling Étienne to stay with the others where they are. Keaty wants to know exactly what Richard plans to look for. He grabs Richard, drawing attention,...
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...repeats “the horror.” Daffy gets away from Richard and disappears. Richard comes back and tells Keaty, Étienne, and Françoise that it’s time to leave.
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Chapter 102
Richard, dazed after his hit, eventually calls out to Keaty to help him. Françoise comes to help too. Everyone seems weirdly paralyzed. When Richard gets...
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Chapter 103
...believe that Richard brought the strangers in. The others advance on Richard, separating him from Keaty and Françoise. Someone stabs him in the leg, not too hard, but soon he feels...
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Chapter 104
...occurrence and that eventually Richard will get evacuated. Eventually, he feels the stabbing stop. Jed, Keaty, Étienne, and Françoise are helping him. Jed yells for everyone else to get back, and...
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Chapter 105
Richard, Jed, Keaty, Étienne, and Françoise all eventually get to go home. They take the raft, and Richard...
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In Ko Samui, no one has money, but Keaty and Richard sell watches, and Étienne steals a wallet. They all make it to Bangkok,...
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...never saw Étienne or Françoise again but hopes he might one day. Meanwhile, he sees Keaty and Jed more often. Keaty and Jed see each other even more frequently, since it...
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