The Westing Game Wealth Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

He sure could have used half of that ten thousand dollars, but he wouldn't admit it, not to her. The forfeited money upset her more than the murder of her uncle, if he was her uncle. (8.10)

This tells us a lot about Jake and Grace's relationship with each other, as well as their individual relationships with money. Jake's a gambler, so $5,000 would come in super-handy when he gets into tight spots. But as much as he feels upset about losing the money, he's not willing to tell Grace about it. He's disturbed by how Grace seems more upset by him not getting that $5,000 than she is about Westing dying (which also tells us about how Grace feels about money).

Quote #5

Only one of the players thought the clues told how the ten-thousand-dollar check was to be spent. Take stock in America, the will said. Go for broke, the will said. (8.27)

In a way, Turtle's decision that the winning player will be the one who wins the most money in the stock market is no more of a misreading than the other players' idea that whoever finds the murderer will be the winner. They're all based on ideas from the will, and they're all wrong. At least Turtle comes out of it with an extra thousand bucks.

Quote #6

His face reddened around old scars as he rejected a folded five dollar bill. "No tips, judge, please, not after all you've done for the wife and me." The judge had given him the entire ten thousand dollars. (14.10)

The judge (like Theo) is almost too good to be true. She's the best tipper. Technically, this phrasing also makes her sound even more generous than she is. Each pair gets ten thousand to divide between themselves, and most of the other teams split it fifty/fifty. So the judge really only had $5,000 to give Sandy. It's still really generous, but it's actually about equal to Theo giving his share to his parents.