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Miss Lonelyhearts
Shrike is Miss Lonelyhearts’s boss and editor at the newspaper. Unlike Miss Lonelyhearts, Shrike doesn’t take the readers of the advice column seriously, having begun the column merely as a way to increase the newspaper’s circulation. Shrike encourages Miss Lonelyhearts to share advice that he doesn’t believe in, and he even discourages Miss Lonelyhearts from offering suicide as a solution simply because this would cause the newspaper to lose a reader. Additionally, Shrike often makes Miss Lonelyhearts the butt of his jokes as he ridicules him for his Christian beliefs, and he openly cheats on his wife Mary with women such as Miss Farkis. In contrast to Miss Lonelyhearts, who is haunted by the suffering of those around him, Shrike seemingly has no emotions of his own. However, in a moment of potential genuine feeling, Shrike tells Miss Lonelyhearts that people like Miss Lonelyhearts and Mary aren’t the only ones who suffer and that he suffers in his own way, too. This moment suggests that Shrike has some level of emotional awareness and might also act out as a result of his own inner turmoil.
Shrike Quotes in Miss Lonelyhearts
The Miss Lonelyhearts quotes below are all either spoken by Shrike or refer to Shrike. 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:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Shrike again began to shout and this time Miss Lonelyhearts understood that he was making a seduction speech.
“I am a great saint,” Shrike cried, “I can walk on my own water. Haven’t you ever heard of Shrike’s Passion in the Luncheonette, or the Agony in the Soda Fountain?”
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Chapter 6
Quotes
“My good friend, your accusation hurts me to the quick. You spiritual lovers think that you alone suffer. But you are mistaken. Although my love is of the flesh flashy, I too suffer. It’s suffering that drives me into the arms of the Miss Farkises of this world. Yes, I suffer.”
Chapter 13
Quotes
Miss Lonelyhearts stood it with the utmost serenity; he was not even interested. What goes on in the sea is of no interest to the rock.
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Shrike Quotes in Miss Lonelyhearts
The Miss Lonelyhearts quotes below are all either spoken by Shrike or refer to Shrike. 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:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Shrike again began to shout and this time Miss Lonelyhearts understood that he was making a seduction speech.
“I am a great saint,” Shrike cried, “I can walk on my own water. Haven’t you ever heard of Shrike’s Passion in the Luncheonette, or the Agony in the Soda Fountain?”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
“My good friend, your accusation hurts me to the quick. You spiritual lovers think that you alone suffer. But you are mistaken. Although my love is of the flesh flashy, I too suffer. It’s suffering that drives me into the arms of the Miss Farkises of this world. Yes, I suffer.”
Chapter 13
Quotes
Miss Lonelyhearts stood it with the utmost serenity; he was not even interested. What goes on in the sea is of no interest to the rock.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
