Mort: I don't care. I'm just gonna smoke. I'm just gonna totally smoke. I'll finish these, go to the store and get a brand-new pack, smoke the shit out of that one.
Mort: I buried my dog, mister.
John Shooter: You strike me as the kind of guy who's on the lookout for a head he can knock off with a shovel.
Mort: I'm a dairy farmer from Mississippi.
John Shooter: Thought you didn't smoke.
Mort: I took it up recently, for my health.
Mrs. Garvey: You're a good man, Mr. Rainey.
Mort: You too, Mrs. Garvey.
Ken Karsch: What happened? You finally bang one of your groupies? Omaha Barnes and Noble? I'm sorry. Rotten profession.
Mort: What do you think it means, you ignorant hick? I'm in the middle of a divorce. D-I-V-O-R-C-E DEEE-VORCE.
Mort: Gee, Ted, I'm sorry you had to miss that. I know how much you like my things.
Mort: You know, the only thing that matters is the ending. It's the most important part of the story, the ending. And this one... is very good. This one's perfect.
Ted: Maybe I should take a walk around the block.
Amy: Yes, that'd be good.
Mort: Aw heck, Ted, live a little - make it two. Rubbernecker.
Ted: You and I are going to have a little talk.
Mort: Oh, I'm in trouble.
Mort: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't on the verge of doing snoopy dances.
Mort: What do you want? You wanna kill me? Why don't you just do it? Just kill me.
John Shooter: No, sir.
Mort: Shit, shit, shit, shit. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Amy: Will you call me if you need anything?
Mort: I doubt it.
Mort: I have the magazine, you lunatic. I have the magazine. I have THE goddamn magazine.
Answer: Mort Rainey buys the salt, butter, and napkins for eating the corn he grew in the garden above Ted and Amy's graves. The "Morton" brand of salt uses the advertising slogan, "when it rains, it pours." Mort Rainey's name can be translated to "raining death." The "Vanity Fair" napkins could be a refernce to Mort's personality.
raywest ★
The term Vanity Fair was coined (I believe first) by John Bunyan in 1678, as a place in a story called ‘The Pilgrim's Progress'. Mort is referred to as ‘Pilgrim' by a few different characters in the film, including himself, without much explanation until the serviettes. Brilliant. Vanity Fair in John Bunyan's story is a never-ending fair of frivolity, which is similar to Mort's charade of denial. Found this info when I searched the meaning of Vanity Fair on vocabulary.com.
Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress was also the inspiration for William Thackeray's 1847 novel, "Vanity Fair."
raywest ★