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Ralph White
Rita is a gym teacher at Ewen high school. She is young and in her first year of teaching. It is in the locker room after Miss Desjardin’s gym class that the other girls mock Carrie when she has her first menstrual period. Miss Desjardin handles the situation poorly, yelling at Carrie before she realizes what is going on. She later expresses regret over her actions, although she admits that she understands the girls’ frustration toward Carrie, whose sheltered upbringing has left her unfathomably and embarrassingly naïve. Miss Desjardin punishes Carrie’s harassers with detention and threatens to revoke their prom privileges if they don’t attend. Later, she chaperones at prom and apologizes for the locker room debacle, telling Carrie to enjoy her night. When Carrie has pig’s blood dumped on her, Miss Desjardin runs toward her in an attempt to help, but Carrie telekinetically flings her away, knocking her unconscious. Miss Desjardin ultimately survives prom night, but she resigns as a teacher, citing her remorse for not doing more to help Carrie and possibly prevent the tragedy.
Rita Desjardin Quotes in Carrie
The Carrie quotes below are all either spoken by Rita Desjardin or refer to Rita Desjardin. 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:
).
Part 1: Pages 1-25
Quotes
There was a bright flash overhead, followed by a flashgun-like pop as a lightbulb sizzled and went out. Miss Desjardin cried out with surprise, and it occurred to her
(the whole damn place is falling in)
that this kind of thing always seemed to happen around Carrie when she was upset, as if bad luck dogged her every step.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Rita Desjardin Quotes in Carrie
The Carrie quotes below are all either spoken by Rita Desjardin or refer to Rita Desjardin. 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:
).
Part 1: Pages 1-25
Quotes
There was a bright flash overhead, followed by a flashgun-like pop as a lightbulb sizzled and went out. Miss Desjardin cried out with surprise, and it occurred to her
(the whole damn place is falling in)
that this kind of thing always seemed to happen around Carrie when she was upset, as if bad luck dogged her every step.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
