Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) Character Analysis in An Abundance of Katherines

Katherine I is the daughter of Colin’s tutor, Krazy Keith. She was Colin’s first love interest, and she broke up with him after two minutes. Colin remembers her throughout most of the novel as the first girl he kissed, but later, he tells Lindsey that Katherine V was actually the first girl he kissed. In the wake of Katherine I, Colin exclusively dates girls named Katherine. Katherine XIX, who breaks up with Colin just before the action of the novel begins, is Colin’s longest-term girlfriend. They dated for almost a year, and Colin is determined to use the Theorem to prove his genius and win her back. It eventually becomes clear that Katherine XIX is the same girl as Katherine I, bringing Colin’s dating life full circle.

Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) Quotes in An Abundance of Katherines

The An Abundance of Katherines quotes below are all either spoken by Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) or refer to Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Crying adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was some horrible opposite of crying. It was you, minus something.

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Page Number and Citation: 7

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All I ever wanted was for her to love me and to do something meaningful with my life.

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Page Number and Citation: 9

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Driving was a kind of thinking, the only kind he could then tolerate. But still the thought lurked out there, just beyond the reach of his headlights: he’d been dumped. By a girl named Katherine. For the nineteenth time.

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Page Number and Citation: 15

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He could just never see anything coming, and as he lay on the solid, uneven ground with Hassan pressing too hard on his forehead, Colin Singleton’s distance from his glasses made him realize the problem: myopia. He was nearsighted. The future lay before him, inevitable but invisible.

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Page Number and Citation: 35

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She tried to get out as quickly and painlessly as possible, but after she begged curfew, he began to cry. She held his head against her collarbone. And even though he felt pitiful and ridiculous, he didn’t want it to end, because he knew the absence of her would hurt more than any breakup ever could.

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Page Number and Citation: 40

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[I]t is important to know things because it makes you special and you can read books that normal people cannot read, such as Ovid’s Metamorphosis, which is in Latin.

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Page Number and Citation: 46

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And the moral of the story is that you don’t remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened. And the second moral of the story, if a story can have multiple morals, is that Dumpers are not inherently worse than Dumpees—breaking up isn’t something that gets done to you; it’s something that happens with you.

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Page Number and Citation: 207-8

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Colin’s skin was alive with the feeling of connection to everyone in that car and everyone not in it. And he was feeling not-unique in the very best possible way.

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Page Number and Citation: 215

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Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) Character Timeline in An Abundance of Katherines

The timeline below shows where the character Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) appears in An Abundance of Katherines. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...his parents sitting on his bed. Colin hopes that they are there to tell him Katherine XIX has called to ask for him to come back to her. He is a pessimistic... (full context)

Colin finds out that Katherine XIX has called, but only to report that she is worried about him. Colin’s parents hug... (full context)

...pays greatest attention to over the course of the fourteen hours is the one from Katherine XIX . She signed the note, “yrs forever, K-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e.” After staring at it a while, Colin... (full context)

...I could fly into outer space on the fluffy backs of giant penguins and screw Katherine XIX in zero gravity.” In response to Hassan’s insistence that Colin needs God, Colin mutters that... (full context)

...serious and asks his friend what the problem is. Colin says the problem is that Katherine XIX dumped him, meaning that he is “alone again,” and a failure. He describes himself as,... (full context)

Hassan wants to know if the problem is the genius thing or the Katherine XIX thing. Colin answers, “I just love her so much,” but internally, as the narrator reflects,... (full context)

...that romance always ends in either breakup, divorce, or death, but he nonetheless felt that Katherine XIX would be different. Colin is frustrated with himself that he can’t get over it, but... (full context)

The narrator provides more of Colin’s backstory in a section subtitled, “ Katherine I : The Beginning (of the Beginning).” When Colin was about two years old, he read... (full context)

...of barely-connected thoughts that occur to him in response to his surroundings. These thoughts include Katherine XIX , ruby mining, Winston Churchill, bald politicians (Churchill and Gandhi) and mustachioed dictators (Hitler, Stalin,... (full context)

...says that he doesn’t think much of Kentucky. Forlorn, Colin says it reminds him of Katherine XIX . He talks about how the two of them were going to go to Paris... (full context)

...they shouldn’t because neither of them is Christian and because it will remind him of Katherine XIX . When Hassan protests that Katherine was an atheist, Colin says she used to wear... (full context)

...Lee Wells. Methodist. Me neither.” Colin keeps noticing her smile even as he thinks about Katherine XIX and his missing piece. (full context)

...Katherines whose bras he has seen (“four, unless you count straps, in which case seven”). Katherine XIX wore a purple bra when she dumped him. Colin thinks that people misunderstand why he... (full context)

...year into their relationship. He remembers driving to dinner in Satan’s Hearse. They bickered, and K-19 told Colin it was good he was not a child prodigy anymore because he was... (full context)

...negative = breakup by m, and y positive = breakup by f: my relationship with K-19.” (full context)

...highest compliment he can give Colin. Lindsey looks at the notebook and asks what a K-19 is. Colin briefly describes his relationship history. Lindsey laughs and says she has dated only... (full context)

In a section called “The Middle (of the Beginning), Colin reflects on how Katherine I became his first girlfriend. He was in third grade when his parents decided that his... (full context)

...she could be his girlfriend.” This Katherine eventually became to Colin “The Great One,” “ Katherine I ,” and “Katherine the Magnificent.” (full context)

...about him. He will do so by using his past to inform the future, impress Katherine XIX , and “make the world safer for Dumpees everywhere.” (full context)

...says they can all go back to the store, and her voice reminds Colin of K-19. TOC kisses Lindsey and says he can’t go back to the store because Hollis is... (full context)

...Dumpee. As he tries to find an equation to represent his simplest romance with the Katherine I , he begins to sweat with exertion but feels even more confident that he can... (full context)

...excited enough for the both of them. Colin grows quiet because KranialKidz reminds him of Katherine XIX . After a silence, Hollis speaks to say Colin and Hassan should work for her... (full context)

...on a lot. Colin tries to connect what Lindsey is saying to his memories of Katherine I , and she tells him that the first rule of stories is no interrupting. She... (full context)

...section subtitled, “The End (of the Beginning),” Colin recalls how after his first kiss with Katherine I , he kept trying to translate Ovid but couldn’t focus. After three minutes, Katherine said... (full context)

...bed, listening to the intermingling of the rooster’s crows and Hassan’s morning prayers, thinking about Katherine XIX , and making anagrams of “rooster.” (full context)

Colin begins anagramming “dingleberries,” and Hassan says maybe that’s why Katherine XIX dumped him. Colin responds, “Dingleberries.” Hassan changes the subject to breakfast. On the way down... (full context)

...that he lost the jaw to cancer. The smell of the house reminds Colin of Katherine XIX ’s basement, and he loses himself in the feeling of his aching gut. (full context)

In a section subtitled, “The Beginning (of the End),” Colin recalls how Katherine XIX became the XIX. He had been wanting to kiss her for a while but was... (full context)

...pictures. He determines that he will also have picture of his fiftieth wedding anniversary with Katherine XIX and that he will also leave behind something more. Colin loses track of them time... (full context)

...think He gives a shit about whether you’re a good person.” Colin begins thinking about Katherine XIX again, who works every summer at a camp for disabled kids. He wants to call... (full context)

...that he likes. After dinner, he looks at his phone for any missed calls from Katherine XIX and ends up calling his parents. On the phone, he tells his father the truth... (full context)

...Colin recalls how his pattern dating Katherines started. He was not especially hung up on Katherine I , but he saw her periodically because her father was his tutor. At first his... (full context)

...thinks she looks extra pretty because she is not wearing makeup. He thinks again of Katherine XIX without makeup and reflects that “She was the nexus of all the connections his brain... (full context)

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...attractive and “sexily older” at twenty-two, but Colin is not interested in her because of Katherine XIX . (full context)

...around until Colin decides, against Hassan’s protests, to trudge out into a field to call Katherine XIX . He gets her voicemail and leaves a message about how much he loves her.... (full context)

...by going out with Marie, but he came home from school that day to find Katherine I on his doorstep, asking him for tutoring in French. Colin thought about how even if... (full context)

...and Monday while Colin works on the Theorem, which he still can’t get right for Katherine I II or Katherine XIX. Hassan comes home on Monday night and reports to Colin that... (full context)

Before dinner, Colin continues working on the Theorem. He realizes that his problem with the Katherine XIX graph is that he has been attempting to graph a reunion. It will only work,... (full context)

In a section subtitled, “The End (of the Middle),” Colin recalls sitting with Katherine I in Café Sel Marie and telling her about his Katherine pattern, all starting with her.... (full context)

...a good girl voice, and he focuses too much on himself. Still, she can imagine Katherine XIX , and she thinks Colin likes her because she’s a little mean to him. Linsey... (full context)

...like the Katherines always dump him right when they start to see inside him, except Katherine XIX . He doesn’t think anyone would love him if they saw him the way he... (full context)

...to take a nap while Colin keeps a lookout. While Hassan naps, Colin thinks about Katherine XIX and decides against calling her again. He wants to wait until he completes the Theorem.... (full context)

When Hassan wakes, Colin tells him about Katherine I II, and how she dumped him at the end of “smart kid camp.” She was... (full context)

...he notes, is the least recent Dumpee in the house. Colin realizes that he wants Katherine XIX to call, but he no longer wants her back. (full context)

...they go missing: dating TOC did not fix the Alpo dog food prank, and getting Katherine XIX back would not fill the hole in Colin’s gut. Lindsey says that maybe no girl... (full context)

Colin and Lindsey seem to grab each other’s hand. Colin tells her how he dumped Katherine I II and changed his memory of the event. Lindsey says that makes sense because she... (full context)

...subtitled, “The Beginning, and the Middle, and the End,” Colin tells Lindsey about each Katherine. Katherine I was his tutor’s daughter. Katherine II was an eight-year old whose romance with Colin was... (full context)

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Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) Character Analysis

Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) Quotes in An Abundance of Katherines

Katherine Carter (Katherine I/XIX) Character Timeline in An Abundance of Katherines

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