The Price of Salt, or Carol Chapter 9 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
And she thought suddenly of the times she had gone to bed with him, of her distance then compared to the closeness that was supposed to be, that everyone talked about. It hadn't mattered to Richard then, she supposed, because of the physical fact they were in bed together. (9.118)
It seems that Therese believes that Richard, as a man, cares only about the physical aspect of sex, whereas she, as a woman, finds it more emotional—and she doesn't feel powerful emotions with Richard.
Quote 2
"Do people always fall in love with things they can't have?" (9.41)
A forbidden aspect almost always enhances the feelings of love. See: Romeo and Juliet. Carol and Therese also have a forbidden-love aspect to their relationship because being a lesbian isn't socially acceptable.
Quote 3
"I'm nothing."
"The hardest thing to be." (9.80-9.81)
Carol and Richard are the proto-hipsters hipsters of the 1950s, aspiring to be nothing because somehow having no identity counts as having an identity.
Quote 4
Therese glanced at him. Richard's aversion to the wealthy, to the bourgeois, was automatic. (9.100)
We get a few small tastes of class differences here and there. Richard's family isn't in poverty at all, so we're not sure what his "aversion" is, and it isn't explored. But there is a significant class difference between Carol and Therese that occasionally causes tension, like when Carol offers to pay for things.