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Mr. Hedlie
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:
).
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.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Sammy “The Shark” Baldino Character Timeline in The Virgin Suicides
The timeline below shows where the character Sammy “The Shark” Baldino appears in The Virgin Suicides. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...house himself and see things even more extraordinary than Peter did. Everyone knows Paul’s father, Sammy “the Shark” Baldino , is a mob boss. The family lives in a mansion, and Paul is used...
(full context)
...nothing more than a barbecue pit, they know it must have something to do with Sammy “the Shark” Baldino ’s escape tunnel.
(full context)
As rumors circulate about Sammy “the Shark” Baldino building an escape tunnel, Paul Baldino starts appearing in his neighbors’ basements, crawling up next...
(full context)
Chapter 5
Around this time, Sammy “The Shark” Baldino is arrested. Without the looming presence of his father, Paul Baldino no longer seems intimidating...
(full context)
