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Nolan Quoyle
Partridge is Quoyle’s first (and for a long time, only) friend. They met when Partridge struck up a conversation with Quoyle at a laundromat. Partridge is a Black man who lives in Mockingburg, New York with his much-adored second wife Mercalia. He works for the local newspaper. He helps Quoyle get a job there, but he subsequently moves to California when Mercalia quits school and becomes a truck driver. Partridge’s two great loves in life are Mercalia and food—he’s an excellent cook. Together, Partridge and Mercalia represent a version of the American Dream; they work hard and make money that they use to fill their house with expensive belongings, but this fails to protect them from the chaos of modern life.
Partridge Quotes in The Shipping News
The The Shipping News quotes below are all either spoken by Partridge or refer to Partridge . 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 4: Cast Away Quotes
Partridge back on the line two days later. Pleased to be fixing Quoyle’s life up again. Quoyle made him think of a huge roll of newsprint from the pulp mill. Blank and speckled with imperfections. But beyond this vagueness he glimpsed something like a reflection of light from a distant hubcap, a scintillation that meant there was, in Quoyle’s life, the chance of some brilliance. Happiness? Good luck? Fame and fortune? Who knows, thought Partridge. He liked the rich taste of life so well himself he wished an entrée or two for Quoyle.
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Chapter 36: Straitjacket Quotes
“This guy sent an anonymous letter saying riots were necessary to purge the system and redistribute wealth and they didn’t print it. So he came down with a machine gun […] Quoyle, they shot at Mercalia on the freeway last week. Show you how crazy the scene is, I made a joke about living in California, about LA style. Fucking bullet holes through her windshield. Missed her by inches. She’s scared to death and I’m making jokes. It hit me after Edna called what a fucking miserable crazy place we’re in. There’s no place you can go no more without getting shot or burned or beat.”
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Partridge Character Timeline in The Shipping News
The timeline below shows where the character Partridge appears in The Shipping News. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Quoyle
...the classroom, in social situations, and at work. By adulthood, Quoyle has only two friends: Partridge—a small, feisty Black man who works as a copyeditor at the local newspaper—and Partridge’s second...
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Partridge also helped Quoyle get his on-again, off-again job at the Mockingburg Record. Quoyle isn’t very...
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Then, one night, Partridge tells Quoyle that he and Mercalia are moving to California. The news breaks Quoyle’s heart....
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Chapter 4: Cast Away
...$50,000 after her death, more than enough to help Quoyle get a fresh start. And Partridge—now retired from the newspaper business and driving a truck himself—still has enough industry connections to...
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Chapter 23: Maleficium
...more time by herself. One Saturday, Quoyle decides to make calamari linguini in honor of Partridge, whom he misses. Agnis wishes for a fresh salad and starts plotting a garden for...
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Chapter 27: Newsroom
Recently, Quoyle received a letter from Partridge, describing his and Mercalia’s grand life in California. They’ve gotten into wine and built a...
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Chapter 33: The Cousin
...forward to the delicious cuisine. He describes his favorite dish, something Quoyle has eaten because Partridge once made it. Nutbeem also has bad news: the family who owns the trailer refuses...
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Chapter 35: The Day’s Work
...his name on it as managing editor goes to print, he mails a copy to Partridge.
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Chapter 36: Straitjacket
As winter wanes, Partridge calls Quoyle to tell him about the madness engulfing the United States. There are riots...
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