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Terms
“Grifter” is a slang term for a petty thief or low-ranking criminal. Joe Brody and Harry Jones are both examples of grifters. They both aspire to run their own racket. However, both Brody and Jones end up murdered in their respective attempts to step up in the criminal world. They are unwittingly caught up in a much more complex web than they imagined, and their limited intel and resources mean they cannot keep up with the leaders of L.A.’s criminal underworld.
Grifter Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Grifter or refer to Grifter. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 14 Quotes
“What?” the blonde yelped. “You sit there and try to tell us Mr. Geiger ran that kind of business right down on the main drag? You’re nuts!” I leered at her politely. “Sure I do. Everybody knows the racket exists. Hollywood's made to order for it. If a thing like that has to exist, then right out on the street is where all practical coppers want it to exist. For the same reason they favor red light districts. They know where to flush the game when they want to.”
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Philip Marlowe is in Joe Brody’s house, interrogating the grifter and his lover Agnes Lozelle about their involvement in Arthur Geiger’s death. Geiger ran an illegal pornographic store on the “main drag” of town, a racket (criminal business venture) that Joe and Agnes then tried to steal off Geiger. At first, Joe and Agnes aim to deny all knowledge of the racket, but Marlowe doesn’t believe their fake outrage. Instead, Marlowe posits why the police allow such stores to run, the explanation itself implying that the authorities are neglecting their duties. The fact that “everybody knows” about Geiger’s illicit store Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima
Chapter 21 Quotes
Eddie Mars would have been very unlikely to involve himself in a double murder just because another man had gone to town with the blonde he was not even living with … If there had been a lot of money involved, that would be different. But fifteen grand wouldn't be a lot of money to Eddie Mars. He was no two-bit chiseler like Brody.
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Thinking back over his recent case, private detective Philip Marlowe considers whether Eddie Mars has killed Rusty Regan for running off with his wife Mona Mars. Marlowe thinks it unlikely, because the $15,000 Rusty always wore in his clothes would not have been enough of a draw for Mars to kill him. Mars belongs to a higher social class of criminals, known as racketeers, rather than the lowly criminals known as grifters, like Joe Brody, who scrape by on petty blackmailing schemes. This well-developed ecosystem of criminals highlights the depths of 1930s L.A.’s moral depravity, as interconnecting layers of criminality—murders, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. In
Chapter 25 Quotes
She’s a grifter, shamus. I’m a grifter. We’re all grifters. So we sell each other out for a nickel.
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Self-professed grifter, or low-ranking petty criminal, Harry Jones sums up his existence to private detective Philip Marlowe by describing his and his comrades’, including Agnes Lozelle’s, obsession with money. These grifters prioritize money over their relationships, and over anyone else. Their total focus on making money leaves them isolated, with no true allies. As such, grifters represent the depressing fallout of a morally corrupt society. Additionally, grifters’ approach to money is not so different from the higher-level criminals known as racketeers, who have the same criminal heart, but a more impressive exterior. Jones’s statement, then, takes on wider significance, as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequu
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Grifter Term Timeline in The Big Sleep
The timeline below shows where the term Grifter appears in The Big Sleep. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 25
Harry Jones introduces his history as a grifter, at which Marlowe scoffs. Marlowe tells Jones to get to the point, saying he must...
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...and in love with Mona Mars, Eddie’s wife. The way Jones talks tells Marlowe the grifter has brains and the vocabulary to match.
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...herself, and will tell Marlowe where when she has the money, after all she’s a grifter too. Marlowe likes Jones’ manner, and agrees to the deal, but he needs to get...
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