Brighton Rock (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Charles "Fred" Hale comes to Brighton on assignment to anonymously distribute cards for a newspaper competition (this is a variant of "Lobby Lud" in which the name of the person to be spotted is "Kolley Kibber"). The antihero of the novel, Pinkie Brown, is a teenage sociopath and up-and-coming gangster. Hale had betrayed the former leader of the gang Pinkie now controls, by writing an article in the Daily Messenger about a slot machine racket for which the gang were responsible. Ida Arnold, a plump, kind-hearted and decent woman, is drawn into the action by a chance meeting with the terrified Hale after he has been threatened by Pinkie's gang. After being chased through the streets and lanes of Brighton, Hale accidentally meets Ida again on the Palace Pier, but eventually Pinkie murders Hale. Pinkie's subsequent attempts to cover his tracks and remove evidence of Hale's Brighton visit lead to a chain of fresh crimes and to an ill-fated marriage to a waitress called Rose who unknowingly has the power to destroy his alibi. Ida decides to pursue Pinkie relentlessly, because she believes it is the right thing to do, and also to protect Rose from the deeply disturbed boy she has married.

Although ostensibly an underworld thriller, the book is also a challenge to Roman Catholic doctrine concerning the nature of sin and the basis of morality. Pinkie and Rose are Catholics, as was Greene, and their beliefs are contrasted with Ida's strong but non-religious moral sensibility.

Main characters

• Pinkie: The anti-hero of the story, merciless to his victims, simultaneously obsessed with and repelled by sex and human connection. He is the leader of 'the mob' despite being the youngest at 17.
• Dallow: Pinkie's second in command - the only member of the mob Pinkie feels he can confide in.
• Cubitt Another mob member who lives at 'Frank's' with Pinkie and Dallow. He leaves the gang when Pinkie reveals that he (Pinkie) killed Spicer.
• Spicer: An ageing mob member resident at Frank's From the beginning he expresses discomfort with the gang's increasing violence. Pinkie's mistrust of him leads to his murder by Pinkie for fear of him informing Ida Arnold or the police.
• Rose: A poor, modest, and naïve girl who becomes Pinkie's girlfriend and wife. She is also like Pinkie a Roman Catholic, and falls in love with him despite his advances to her being purely to keep her from giving incriminating evidence. Pinkie is usually repelled by her but later has the occasional feeling of tenderness towards her.
• Ida Arnold: Ida takes up the role of detective, hunting down Pinkie in order to bring justice to Hale, and later, when she finds out that Pinkie is marrying Rose, to save the girl. Ida represents the force of justice in this novel. She acquires information from Cubitt once he is cast out of the gang which significantly aids her investigation.