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Annie
The unnamed infant son of Little Chandler and Annie appears in the last part of the story. At the end of their meeting, Gallaher congratulates Little Chandler for fathering a son: “Bravo! […] I wouldn’t doubt you, Tommy.” It is implied that Little Chandler is proud of his small family when he invites Gallaher to spend an evening with them. However, the child ends up representing Little Chandler’s imprisonment by life. Little Chandler is charged with caring for the baby while Annie runs an errand, but grows so frustrated with his crying son that he shouts at the infant, making him cry even more. At the very end of the story, the baby stops crying just as Little Chandler starts to cry himself, suggesting a symbolic role reversal wherein Little Chandler is reduced to a fragile, pathetic child. Like his infant son, Little Chandler is small and helpless. Unlike an infant, though, Little Chandler is aware of his helplessness, leading to his devastating sadness and sense of resignation.
The Baby Quotes in A Little Cloud
The A Little Cloud quotes below are all either spoken by The Baby or refer to The Baby . 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:
).
A Little Cloud
Quotes
He looked coldly into the eyes of the photograph and they answered coldly. Certainly they were pretty and the face itself was pretty. But he found something mean in it. Why was it so unconscious and ladylike? The composure of the eyes irritated him. They repelled him and defied him: there was no passion in them, no rapture. He thought of what Gallaher had said about rich Jewesses. Those dark Oriental eyes, he thought, how full they are of passion, of voluptuous longing!...Why had he married the eyes in the photograph?
He caught himself up at the question and glanced nervously round the room. He found something mean in the pretty furniture which he had bought for his house on the hire system. Annie had chosen it herself and it reminded him of her. It too was prim and pretty. A dull resentment against his life awoke within him. Could he not escape from his little house? Was it too late for him to try to live bravely like Gallaher? Could he go to London?
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—What have you done to him?” she cried, glaring into his face.
Little Chandler sustained for one moment the gaze of her eyes and his heart closed together as he met the hatred in them. He began to stammer:
—It’s nothing.... He ... he began to cry.... I couldn’t ... I didn’t do anything.... What?
Giving no heed to him she began to walk up and down the room, clasping the child tightly in her arms and murmuring:
—My little man! My little mannie! Was ’ou frightened, love?... There now, love! There now!... Lambabaun! Mamma’s little lamb of the world!... There now!
Little Chandler felt his cheeks suffused with shame and he stood back out of the lamplight. He listened while the paroxysm of the child’s sobbing grew less and less; and tears of remorse started to his eyes.
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Get the entire A Little Cloud LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Baby Quotes in A Little Cloud
The A Little Cloud quotes below are all either spoken by The Baby or refer to The Baby . 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:
).
A Little Cloud
Quotes
He looked coldly into the eyes of the photograph and they answered coldly. Certainly they were pretty and the face itself was pretty. But he found something mean in it. Why was it so unconscious and ladylike? The composure of the eyes irritated him. They repelled him and defied him: there was no passion in them, no rapture. He thought of what Gallaher had said about rich Jewesses. Those dark Oriental eyes, he thought, how full they are of passion, of voluptuous longing!...Why had he married the eyes in the photograph?
He caught himself up at the question and glanced nervously round the room. He found something mean in the pretty furniture which he had bought for his house on the hire system. Annie had chosen it herself and it reminded him of her. It too was prim and pretty. A dull resentment against his life awoke within him. Could he not escape from his little house? Was it too late for him to try to live bravely like Gallaher? Could he go to London?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
—What have you done to him?” she cried, glaring into his face.
Little Chandler sustained for one moment the gaze of her eyes and his heart closed together as he met the hatred in them. He began to stammer:
—It’s nothing.... He ... he began to cry.... I couldn’t ... I didn’t do anything.... What?
Giving no heed to him she began to walk up and down the room, clasping the child tightly in her arms and murmuring:
—My little man! My little mannie! Was ’ou frightened, love?... There now, love! There now!... Lambabaun! Mamma’s little lamb of the world!... There now!
Little Chandler felt his cheeks suffused with shame and he stood back out of the lamplight. He listened while the paroxysm of the child’s sobbing grew less and less; and tears of remorse started to his eyes.
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