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General Sternwood
General Sternwood’s eldest daughter, Vivian Regan’s current husband, Rusty Regan, has been missing for some time at the start of the novel. When the General hires Philip Marlowe to investigate why Arthur Gwynn Geiger is blackmailing his younger daughter, Carmen, Mrs. Regan believes her father is trying to locate Rusty. She worries Marlowe will uncover the truth: that she hid Rusty’s body after Carmen shot him in a rage. Mrs. Regan had asked the disreputable Eddie Mars to help the sisters hide the body, and then kept Rusty’s death a secret from her father. Vivian is rich, beautiful, and “trouble,” according to Marlowe. Like the detective, she drinks heavily; she also regularly gambles at Mars’s casino. She tells Marlowe that she covered up Rusty’s murder to protect her father, so he would not know his blood is “rotten.” This image of decay symbolizes that of wider society, as even the elites are without morals or scruples.
Vivian Regan Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Vivian Regan or refer to Vivian Regan. 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 11
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He didn’t know the right people. That’s all a police record means in this rotten crime-ridden country.
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Chapter 18
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I’ve done all my office permits—and maybe a good deal more—to save the old man from grief. But in the long run it can’t be done. Those girls of his are bound certain to hook up with something that can't be hushed, especially that little blonde brat. They ought not to be running around loose. I blame the old man for that.
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Chapter 21
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I wish old Sternwood would hire himself a soldier like you on a straight salary, to keep those girls of his home at least a few nights a week.
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Chapter 23
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“We’re his blood. That’s the hell of it.” She stared at me in the mirror with deep, distant eyes. “I don’t want him to die despising his own blood. It was always wild blood, but it wasn’t always rotten blood.”
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That makes you just a killer at heart, like all cops.
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Chapter 25
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You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women. Women made me sick.
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Vivian Regan Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Vivian Regan or refer to Vivian Regan. 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 11
Quotes
He didn’t know the right people. That’s all a police record means in this rotten crime-ridden country.
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Chapter 18
Quotes
I’ve done all my office permits—and maybe a good deal more—to save the old man from grief. But in the long run it can’t be done. Those girls of his are bound certain to hook up with something that can't be hushed, especially that little blonde brat. They ought not to be running around loose. I blame the old man for that.
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Chapter 21
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I wish old Sternwood would hire himself a soldier like you on a straight salary, to keep those girls of his home at least a few nights a week.
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Chapter 23
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“We’re his blood. That’s the hell of it.” She stared at me in the mirror with deep, distant eyes. “I don’t want him to die despising his own blood. It was always wild blood, but it wasn’t always rotten blood.”
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That makes you just a killer at heart, like all cops.
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Chapter 25
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You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women. Women made me sick.
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