How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Jaws.
Quote #7
VAUGHN: Look, we depend on the summer people here for our very lives. […] And if you close those beaches, we're finished! […] I don't think either one of you are familiar with our problems!
Mayor Vaughn is turning the island's economic survival into a literal life-or-death situation. Brody and Vaughn are responding to two very different demands. Hooper, who's a complete outsider, doesn't care one bit about the economic consequences of closing the beaches. He's more rational than either of the other two.
Quote #8
VAUGHN: [T]omorrow is the Fourth of July! And we will be open for business. It's gonna be one of the best summer we ever had! Now if you fellas are concerned about the beaches, you do whatever you have to to make them safe. But those beaches will be open for this weekend!
Some film analysts have likened the Mayor's cover-up of the shark attack to the Watergate cover-up that had taken place a few years earlier. So Vaughn would be a stand-in here for powerful politicians who strong-arm people into doing their bidding. Brody sure doesn't want to lose his new job in this island paradise.
Quote #9
QUINT: You got city hands, Mr. Hooper. You've been counting money all your life.
HOOPER: All right, all right. Hey! I don't need this! I don't need this working class hero crap!
Here's a really explicit reference to the class divide between Hooper and Quint. Which of the two do you think is more intimidated? What other factors complicate the class issues at play between Hooper and Quint?