Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sister Carrie, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Urban Life and Decay
Morality and Instinct
Wealth and Class
Summary
Analysis
The narrator relates readers will realize “the negative influence on [Hurstwood] of the fact that he had tried and failed”; however, Carrie gets the wrong impression. Hurstwood had not related his experiences. Thus, Carrie “[imagines that] he had encountered nothing worse than the ordinary roughness—quitting so soon in the face of this seemed trifling.”
Hurstwood does not communicate the reasons for his unsuccessful return. He either cares little for her sympathy or does not think that she would be understanding. This lack of communication deepens the rift between Carrie and Hurstwood, as Carrie begins to think that Hurstwood is a man with no determination when, to a certain extent, he is.
Themes
Carrie has a part in a show as “one of a group of oriental beauties who […] were paraded by the vizier before the new potentate as the treasures of his harem.” On the day that Hurstwood is laboring, the “leading comedian and star, feeling exceedingly facetious,” asks “well, who are you?” at the point that Carrie happens to be “courtesying before him.” Carrie gives a witty response—“I am yours truly”—that causes the audience to “[laugh] heartily.” Carrie is scared “for her daring”; fortunately, the comedian likes the line and tells Carrie to “leave that in hereafter.” Everyone in the company sees that Carrie “got a start.”
Carrie has a natural flair for the stage. She knows what to say to please the audience, as seen by the audience’s laughter and the leading comedian’s approval of her line. Furthermore, her line was improvised on the spot, as the comedian’s question was not initially in the script. Carrie’s innovation allows her to get ahead of the other chorus girls. In this way, while Hurstwood is falling further behind, Carrie is rising in life. The two are beginning to have a disparity in class.
Themes
Seeing Hurstwood dampens Carrie’s mood again, “[replacing her merry thoughts] with sharp longings for an end of distress.” The next day, Carrie asks Hurstwood about his “venture” and Hurstwood responds that the car company doesn’t “want anybody just now.” Hurstwood continues to seem “apathetic” to Carrie. Hurstwood spends his days reading on end and daydreaming about his old life in Chicago. He also begins to avoid the “grocery man, baker, and coal man,” becoming “deft in excuse” before “[becoming] bold, [pretending] to be out, or [waving] them off.”
Hurstwood is slowly becoming the bane of Carrie’s existence. Without his presence, Carrie could be free to completely concentrate on her work and do as she likes. Hurstwood’s daydreaming recalls Carrie’s bouts of daydreaming earlier in the novel. Both dream about better times; however, where Carrie dreamt of potential luxury in the future, Hurstwood dreams about the luxury in his past.
Themes
Carrie’s friend Lola begins to cling to Carrie, realizing that she “could never of herself amount to anything.” Carrie is “strong in capability” and no longer relies on men, realizing “that men could change and fail.” Carrie expresses to Lola her dislike for the actors in the company.
Get the entire Sister Carrie LitChart as a printable PDF.
One day, Lola asks Carrie if she is willing to share an apartment, “the loveliest room and bath.” After Hurstwood’s apathetic return and her success with the comedic line, Carrie begins “to feel as if she must be free.” Carrie soon lands a part as a “modest sweetheart” after an actress gives leave, and receives a salary raise to thirty-five dollars a week. Lola tells Carrie that she is still being underpaid and that she ought to buy more clothes. Lola offers to lend twenty-five dollars to Carrie, which the latter refuses. With this development in her career and rent day drawing near, Carrie decides that she can no longer live with Hurstwood, who “said less and drooped more than ever.”
Carrie keeps rising on the socioeconomic ladder while Hurstwood stays at a steady low. With the gap between them growing wider, Carrie cannot help but feel that she must soon leave him. Furthermore, Carrie is maturing while Hurstwood is aging. The fact that Carrie lands a bigger part shows that she is quite a talented actress: she has distinguished herself from the rest of the chorus girls. Carrie is finally getting the recognition and the distinction that she craved earlier in the novel.
Themes
One day, Hurstwood expresses to Carrie that he thinks they are paying too much rent and ought to get a “smaller place.” This is the last straw for Carrie and “that very day” she agrees to move in with Lola. They decide to move on Friday, which is two days away. Carrie begins to feel “very much like a criminal,” as “along with the disagreeableness of [Hurstwood’s] attitude, there was something pathetic.” Carrie notices his “old and poor” appearance and his pride—he never takes more of Carrie’s money than is needed for groceries.
Hurstwood’s request to move into an even smaller place shows that he has no intentions of finding another job and expects to keep declining. Carrie feels guilty about leaving Hurstwood because he has become an object of pity—he has become a sort of dependent that she feels somewhat responsible for. The way that Carrie views Hurstwood is almost more akin to how one would view a bothersome, aging father rather than a former lover.
Themes
Carrie borrows $25 from Lola that she had refused earlier, claiming that she “[wants] to get some other things.” On Friday, Hurstwood goes out after lunch. Carrie asks if he will be back for lunch and Hurstwood says he won’t. Hurstwood spends the day idling warm weather before heading back to the apartment at half past five. He sees that Carrie is gone and finds an envelope, enclosing a good-bye letter and $20. In the letter, Carrie is honest: “I wouldn’t mind helping you, if I could, but I can’t support us both, and pay the rent. I need what little I make to pay for my clothes.”
The way that Carrie leaves Hurstwood $20 parallels the way that Drouet once gave her $20 in Chicago. However, while the money that Drouet gave her was a sort of greeting and beginning, the money that Carrie gives Hurstwood is a goodbye and an ending. Carrie has come full circle from being the suppliant to the dispenser of charity. Carrie’s note marks the most honest and open communication that she and Hurstwood have had for a long while.
Themes
Hurstwood looks around the apartment and finds that all of Carrie’s things are gone. The flat seems to him “wonderfully deserted.” Hurstwood tells himself, “I’ll get out of this.” The “sheer loneliness of his situation” rushes upon Hurstwood and he spends the rest of the night sitting in his rocking chair. Hurstwood comforts himself by thinking that at least he “tried.” At midnight, Hurstwood is still in his chair, “staring at the floor.”
Hurstwood’s loneliness and determination to escape mirrors Carrie’s loneliness and determination to escape while she was living with Minnie and Hanson. The fact that Hurstwood spends the rest of the day sitting in his rocking chair shows that his determination to escape is only an empty promise to himself—he has no solid plans for action.
Themes
