“I’ve got more in common with these gooks than I do my own rotten family. Happy birthday.”
When over at the Vang Lors' house for a barbecue, Walt runs upstairs to cough blood into the sink. Before leaving the bathroom, he looks at himself in the mirror and says the quoted passage aloud, realizing that he has more in common with the Hmong family next door than he does his own flesh and blood. The passage is significant because it speaks to Walt's ability, despite his advanced age and gruffness, to discover new things about himself and the world. Although he had never expected he would get along with the poor Hmong family next door, he finds that he enjoys their humble company far more than he does that of his entitled family.
"I worked at Ford for fifty years and he sells Japanese cars."
When discussing his children with Thao, Walt laments the fact that his son works as a salesman for a Japanese automaker. Having fought in Korea and having worked for Ford, Walt sees his son's job as a betrayal of his American values, particularly because of the Japanese automotive industry's displacement of American-made cars. The passage is significant because it speaks to why Walt is alienated from his own family, who clearly don't respect him.
“How many swamp rats can you get in one room?”
In an early scene in the film, Walt watches his new neighbors, the Vang Lors, move in. He scowls at the Hmong family and mutters this quote to himself. The passage is significant because it reveals Walt's casual racial prejudice against his neighbors, who he refers to as "swamp rats," an antiquated anti-Asian slur likely learned during his time in the Korean War.
“Why’d the chinks have to move in here?”
In another quote that Walt mutters to himself, Walt laments the Vang Lors having moved into the house next door. Walt uses a derogatory term for Chinese people, erasing the Vang Lors' Hmong ancestry in his ignorant collapsing of ethnic differences among Asian people. The passage is significant because it makes Walt's unlikely later affection for the Vang Lors and the Hmong community even more unexpected.
“Well I think you’re an over-educated 27-year-old virgin who likes to hold the hands of old ladies and promise them eternity.”
When Father Janovich comes to Walt's house to pressure him into going to confession, Walt is his usual openly hostile self. The priest asks Walt what his problem with the priest is. Pulling no punches, Walt replies in a way that belittles the priest, insulting his inexperience and insinuating that there is something creepy and morally corrupt about his work as a priest. The passage is significant because it conveys the depths of Walt's contempt for anyone who tries to make him be vulnerable. At the end of the film, the priest will quote Walt's words to the mourners assembled for Walt's funeral, speaking of his appreciation for Walt's straight-talking style.
“Sounds like you know a lot more about death than you do about living."
While having a drink with Walt in the veterans' bar, Father Janovich continues to press Walt into fulfilling Dorothy's wish that he attend confession. After Walt says the priest knows nothing about life and death, and speaks of the atrocities he committed in Korea, the priest asks Walt what he knows about life. Walt can only say that he married, had children, and survived the war. With this comment about Walt's lack of familiarity with life and overfamiliarity with death, the priest momentarily breaks through Walt's icy exterior. Rather than respond with an insult or defensiveness, Walt agrees the priest may be right.
"It's been ten dollars for five years you hard-nosed Polack son of a bitch."
At the end of a visit to his foul-mouthed barber, Walt complains over the price of his ten-dollar haircut, asking the Italian-descended barber if he is "half-Jew." The barber casually replies with an insult of his own, also citing Walt's heritage as he does. The passage is significant because it shows how Walt's masculine pride means that he is inclined to keep people at a distance, even those he likes. By filling every exchange with his barber with mock hostility, Walt enjoys companionship and camaraderie while ostensibly refusing to be in any way affectionate to a man he clearly likes and respects. In this passage, the barber playfully goes along with the act.
“Just keep your hands off my dog."
“No worries, we only eat cats.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m kidding, moron.”
When Sue invites Walt to a barbecue at the Vang Lor house, Walt responds to Sue's generosity with the same affectionate hostility he earlier showed his barber, invoking the racial stereotype of Asian people eating dogs. Sue plays along, replying that they only eat cats. Walt's ignorance about Hmong culture is on display as he fails to understand that Sue is obviously joking. The passage is significant because it shows how Sue can relate to Walt despite their differences in age and cultural background.
"Excuse me, Sir, I need a haircut if you ain't too busy, you old Italian son of a bitch prick barber. Boy, does my ass hurt from all of the guys at my construction job."
In this scene, Walt is trying to teach Thao how to comport himself when speaking with other men. Thao's attempt to speak with Walt's barber fails spectacularly when Thao's mix of emulated statements come together in an absurd hodgepodge. The passage is significant because it offers a moment of comic relief in which Thao endears himself to the audience by accidentally confusing the term "riding my ass" with gay sex. The quote shows not only the language barrier Thao is having to contend with, but also the cultural unfamiliarity he has with the American masculine culture Walt comes from.
“[Don't] chop-top the roof like one of those beaners, don’t paint any idiotic flames like some white-trash hillbilly, and don’t put a spoiler on the rear end like you see on all the other zipperheads’ cars. It just looks like hell. If you can refrain from doing any of that, it’s yours.”
In one of the last lines of the film, a lawyer reads Walt's will to his family and the Vang Lors. After apologizing for the language he is about to read, the lawyer says that Walt wanted to leave his Gran Torino to Thao. However, Walt includes the quoted conditions. The passage is significant because it captures Walt's peculiar mix of racist hostility, contempt for other humans, and endearing generosity. While the words on paper sound like an insult directed at Thao (among other groups disparaged), Thao smiles, understanding the inherent affection behind Walt's crudeness.
