It Happened One Night Society and Class Quotes

This is Peter's verdict before he gets to know Ellie. The film, of course, proves him wrong in more ways than one.

This is from another of the speeches Peter delivers against the rich. He's hell-bent on reminding Ellie how spoiled she is, and this reveals his biases. And yet, the dude has a point, as Ellie herself seems to see, eventually, when she changes her ways.

Peter makes fun of Ellie for not knowing how to dunk a donut the right way. She's a quick study, though, and she thanks him for the pointers. Donuts here stand for simple food, and the viewer can imagine that Ellie's used to much fancier breakfasts.

Like donuts, piggybacking stands for simple people and their ways; it's what Ellie hasn't really experienced and has yet to learn. It's a bit ironic, actually, given that the rich could be seen to be "piggybacking" on the hard work of the lower classes.

When Ellie gives the hungry boy on the bus money, Peter's impressed, because she really seems to have undergone a change. She can now see past her own troubles and acknowledge other people's suffering and needs. She can be generous as well as humble. It's almost as if part of the problem with Ellie before this trip was that, surrounded by luxury and other rich people, she never actually saw suffering herself. But when she does see it, she changes her ways.