13 quotes
Uncertainty Amidst Disparity and Danger
Dr. Raymond Perez
Something is happening. You ask me what and I can only say I do not know. I merely consider this. We are five whites. Two of them are women and one is a helpless child. And around us are two thousand black. Fully three-quarters of these are hill bandits - fugitives from Haiti.
[Rada drums beating in the background]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Assessing Worth in Relationships and Employment
Stephen Lane
Who is he? What's he like?
Gail Hamilton
He's the most wonderful man in the world.
Stephen Lane
They all say that; but, has he got a job?
Gail Hamilton
Yes. A good job.
Stephen Lane
When's the wedding?
Gail Hamilton
No wedding.
Stephen Lane
What's wrong?
Gail Hamilton
What's wrong with all the wonderful men? Just one little thing a girl keeps running into. They're married.
Stephen Lane
What are you gonna do about it?
Gail Hamilton
Well, I'm not going to live in sin. Partly because he hasn't asked me to. And partly because I'm not cut out for that sort of thing. And I doubt very much that I'll kill myself. So, I'm ducking.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Love vs. Jungle Sorcery
Taglines
Love battling against the sorcery of the jungle!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Voodoo Drums and Returning Presence
John Macklin
The voodoo drums are going. They started when the natives found out that you were coming back. For the first time in years, there was a sacrifice that night.
Juanita Perez Lane
Well, you don't mean to tell me that my coming has anything to do with the voodoo drums?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflict Over Past Choices and Present Circumstances
Juanita Perez Lane
Orders! Who is he to give me orders?
John Macklin
He's only the man who saved you from a living death. Those natives never thanked him for sending you away from the island and they've never forgotten it.
Juanita Perez Lane
Neither have I.
John Macklin
How can you say that? You've a fine husband and a beautiful child. She looks just as you did - before that black woman Ruva got hold of you and filled you with the sound of the drums and the sight of blood. Poisoned you with the voodoo!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Life on St. Christopher Island
Stephen Lane
What kind of an island is St. Christopher?
Lunch McClaren
Oh, a nice island. Got to learn to like it, though. Same thing all the time. Same thing gets kinda tiresome, all the time. Still, I gotta good job. I runs this boat. Good eatin'. Store bought clothes, once in awhile. Gotta nice little girl too. Of course, she's a monkey-chaser.
Stephen Lane
Monkey-chaser? What's a monkey-chaser?
Lunch McClaren
Oh, just a nickname they give the natives down there.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Significance of Rada Drums at Sunset
Dr. Raymond Perez
Listen. The sun is just setting.
Stephen Lane
What is it?
Dr. Raymond Perez
Drums. Rada drums.
Stephen Lane
Rada drums?
Dr. Raymond Perez
Blood worship. Sacrifice to the black gods. You call it voodoo.
Stephen Lane
What does it mean?
Dr. Raymond Perez
Who knows. But, this I do know, never have the drums beat so on St. Christopher without trouble.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Consequences of Misplaced Trust and Carelessness
Dr. Raymond Perez
Those years I grew careless. I trusted Juanita to a native nurse, Ruva. She taught her the Rada of the blacks. At night, when I thought she was asleep, she was taken with native children to watch the sacrifice. She tasted blood!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflict Over Natives' Presence in the House
Dr. Raymond Perez
You know that no natives except the servants are allowed into the house!
Juanita Perez Lane
He's a holy man. A priest. Their leader. He's above any servant! I've known him since I was a child.
Dr. Raymond Perez
Then, let him remain in the hills where he belongs. If I ever find him in this house ever again, I'll have him whipped!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Observation of Cultural Background and Influence
Stephen Lane
Hear that? This may sound silly and have no bearing on the case, but she's always playing with drums. Not toy drums, but, native drums - from the island of St. Christropher. She was born there. There are two white people there - her uncle and an overseer and a couple a thousand blacks.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Trouble in the Mind of Lunch McClaren
Stephen Lane
What's the matter?
Lunch McClaren
There's trouble in my mind.
Stephen Lane
What kind of trouble?
Lunch McClaren
Gal trouble.
Lunch McClaren
Don't laugh, Mr. Lane. My gal done got mixed up with that Rada stuff.
Stephen Lane
You mean the voodoo?
Lunch McClaren
Them voodoo priests want to kill her.
Stephen Lane
Kill her? Why?
Lunch McClaren
One of dem things. Same thing thats keepin you on this island, sir.
Stephen Lane
What's that?
Lunch McClaren
Voodoo.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Historical Struggles and Superstitions Explored
Dr. Raymond Perez
We've been prepared for the last 100 years. Six times the blacks have tried to wipe us out. I suppose you're acquainted with the negro superstition that seven is their lucky number.
[Showing Stephen Lane his stock of guns]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Memory and the Weight of the Past
Juanita Perez Lane
The past is dead! The natives have forgotten long ago.
Dr. Raymond Perez
The natives never forget!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.