How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Carrie] was sad beyond measure, and yet uncertain, wishing, fancying. Finally, it seemed as if all her state was one of loneliness and forsakenness, and she could scarce refrain from trembling at the lip. She hummed and hummed as the moments went by, sitting in the shadow by the window, and was therein as happy, though she did not perceive it, as she ever would be. (12.35)
Wait, she's desperately lonely and yet she's "as happy […] as she would ever be." What is that supposed to mean?
Quote #2
[Hurstwood] was striking a chord now which found sympathetic response in [Carrie's] own situation. She knew what it was to meet with people who were indifferent, to walk alone amid so many who cared absolutely nothing about you. Had not she? Was not she at this very moment quite alone? Who was there among all whom she knew to whom she could appeal for sympathy? Not one. (13.48)
Loneliness is often regarded as a bad thing, a feeling to be avoided at all costs. But this passage suggests it can also make a person more sympathetic and understanding. Perhaps there is some value to be found in so-called negative emotions, after all.
Quote #3
[Hurstwood] did not even detect the shade of melancholy which settled in [Carrie's] eyes. Worst of all, she now began to feel the loneliness of the flat and seek the company of Mrs. Vance, who liked her exceedingly. (31.45)
Why doesn't Carrie just tell Hurstwood already that she feels lonely? Is she waiting for him to pick up on some subtle eye flicker? Then again, why doesn't he ever sense how she's feeling? Why is this all so hard, guys?
Quote #4
[Carrie] thought of going down and buying a few copies of the paper, but remembered that there was no one she knew well enough to send them to. Only Lola, apparently, in all the world was interested. (43.26)
Near the end of the novel, Carrie is quite unhappy about lacking fulfilling relationships and friendships. It's totally fair to ask what responsibility she holds in contributing to that outcome, though. After all, by this point she's invested so much energy into her pursuit of material success, it's little wonder there's not much else in her life.
Quote #5
The metropolis is a cold place socially, and Carrie soon found that a little money brought her nothing… She could feel that there was no warm, sympathetic friendship back of the easy merriment with which many approached her. All seemed to be seeking their own amusement, regardless of the possible sad consequences to others. (43.27)
Why you gotta be so cold, city people? What is it about the city or "metropolis," as it's represented in the novel, that prevents people from forming "warm, sympathetic friendship"?
Quote #6
So peculiar, indeed, was [Carrie's] lonely, self-withdrawing temper, that she was becoming an interesting figure in the public eye—she was so quiet and reserved. (46.97)
Well at least Carrie doesn't turn into an obnoxious diva. What does being a celebrity have to do with Carrie's sense of loneliness and isolation?
Quote #7
[Hurstwood] was beginning to find, in his wretched clothing and meager state of body, that people took him for a chronic type of bum and beggar. Police hustled him along, restaurant and lodging-house keepers turned him out promptly the moment he had his due; pedestrians waved him off. He found it more and more difficult to get anything from anybody. At last he admitted to himself that the game was up. It was after a long series of appeals to pedestrians, in which he had been refused and refused—every one hastening from contact. (47.20-21)
It's one thing to feel lonely and friendless as Carrie does, but it's quite another to be a social outcast like Hurstwood is by the novel's end. This passage suggests, in fact, that it's the pedestrians's refusals and rebuffs that finally send him over the edge and solidify his resolve to commit suicide.
Quote #8
And now Carrie had attained that which in the beginning seemed life's object, or, at least, such fraction of it as human beings ever attain of their original desires. She could look about on her gowns and carriage, her furniture and bank account. Friends there were, as the world takes it—those who would bow and smile in acknowledgment of her success. For these she had once craved. Applause there was, and publicity—once far off, essential things, but now grown trivial and indifferent. Beauty also—her type of loveliness—and yet she was lonely. (47.115)
It's sometimes been claimed that women define themselves through their relationships, while men define themselves through their achievements. Is Carrie's loneliness emphasized in the novel because she's female?
Quote #9
Sitting alone, she was now an illustration of the devious ways by which one who feels, rather than reasons, may be led in the pursuit of beauty. (47.124)
Descartes (a.k.a. Mr. I-think-therefore-I-am) would've never had these problems. So can Carrie's isolation really be explained by the fact that she "feels, rather than reasons?" How does that work?
Quote #10
Know, then, that for you is neither surfeit nor content. In your rocking-chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. (47.125)
There seems to be some connection implied here between Carrie's endless longing (check out our analysis in the "Characters" section for lots more on this) and her isolation. What might that connection be?