The Magic Barrel Appearances Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)

Quote #7

Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could at first not say. It gave him the impression of youth--spring flowers, yet age—a sense of having been used to the bone, wasted; this came from the eyes, which were hauntingly familiar, yet absolutely strange. (143)

Stella's familiarity is ultimate what draws Leo to her: like she can understand the pain he's going through. So appearances can signal a connection deeper than mere good looks. Stella isn't conventionally pretty, but she looks soulful.

Quote #8

Feature for feature, even some of the ladies of the photographs could do better; but she lapsed forth to this heart—had lived, or wanted to—more than just wanted, perhaps regretted how she had lived—had somehow deeply suffered: it could be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes, and from the way the light enclosed and shone from her, and within her, opening realms of possibility: this was her own. (143)

Again, we're seeing appearance as a reflection of the soul: a way of reaching through the trivial details and finding out who a person really is.

Quote #9

The door was opened by a think, asthmatic, gray-haired woman in felt slippers. (145)

This is, we assume, Mrs. Salzman. What is it about this brief passage that connects her to Salzman so completely? Is it her sadness? Her shabbiness? Her fuzzy slippers?