Fargo Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Fargo.

Quote #1

WADE: He just ate—he didn't finish! He's goin' to McDonalds instead of finishin' here.

JEAN: He sees his friends there. It's okay.

WADE: It's okay? Whaddya think they do there? They don't drink milkshakes, I assure you.

JEAN: It's okay, Dad!

Wade's a domineering grandfather, it seems—a patriarch, an authority. Here, he's stridently questioning a pretty mild parenting decision on Jean's part. Wade's used to getting his way in the family, something which will cause major problems later on.

Quote #2

JERRY: I'm askin' you here, Wade. This could work out real good for me and Jean and Scotty.

WADE: Jean and Scotty'll never have to worry.

Wade implies that he doesn't really care about Jerry. Wade's daughter and grandson won't need to worry, since he'll support them. This shows us that Jerry doesn't need the money from the kidnapping to help support his family. He's just trying to dig himself out of some trouble he got himself into that he can't reveal to his wife. Carl asks Jerry a good question: why doesn't he just ask Wade for a loan rather than arranging his wife's kidnapping? The answer's complicated.

Quote #3

[A morning-show host in an apron stands behind a counter on a kitchen set. Jean Lundegaard is curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee, watching the television.]

The Coens write the character of Jean as a stereotypical housewife. Scotty's off to school and Jerry's at work, and she's knitting and watching daytime TV. It's a very conventional family. That is, if you define conventional as a wife who gets kidnapped and murdered and a husband who arranges it. This is part of the absurd humor of the film. Highly unusual events intrude into a very commonplace life.