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Chapter 5
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
Carrie returns to the flat weary and disappointed, which irritates Hanson. Minnie is also disturbed. Carrie finds dinner “exceedingly gloomy,” as she realizes that the Hansons view her “complaint as unwarranted.” The narrator notes that a happy, welcoming environment and an appetizing meal would have brought Carrie relief. Minnie is too old to be a companion for Carrie and Hanson too emotionless and distant. There is no one to respond to Carrie’s youthful feelings.
Carrie’s idealism clashes with Hanson and Minnie’s pragmatism. Indeed, in the eyes of the hardworking couple, Carrie has little reason to complain. However, Hanson and Minnie are excessively cold in their complete lack of sympathy for Carrie—they neglect to take into account her youth and inexperience. The apartment is an altogether unbearable place for the likes of Carrie.
Themes
Literary Devices
After seeing Minnie and Hanson’s unresponsiveness, Carrie decides to go outside and watch the passersby, and meet Drouet there if he comes. After she leaves, Hanson instructs Minnie to tell Carrie to keep the job and to stop standing downstairs. Hanson goes downstairs, and upon seeing Carrie, tells her he is buying bread, but Carrie realizes he’s suspicious of her and feels “the first shade of real antipathy to him.” After waiting and realizing that Drouet will not come, she returns to the flat and retires to bed.
Hanson is controlling of the women around him. He already has Minnie completely under his influence, and he also wants Carrie to adopt his pragmatic ways. Furthermore, he also has a suspicious personality, as seen by the fact that he goes down to check on Carrie. For a woman like Carrie with a mind of her own, Hanson is an obstacle to her freedom.
Themes
Carrie continues through the week, disgusted with her job and lonely at the flat. The narrator notes that it would have been easier on Carrie had she “not secured a position so quickly.” One day, it rains, and Carrie, finding Minnie’s umbrella shabby, buys a new one, a purchase for which Minnie chastises her. As Carrie’s board costs $4, she only has 50 cents a week for “clothes and amusement,” putting her “in a state of mental rebellion.” At work, she realizes that even her seemingly crude female coworkers have young men who take them on dates. Of course, Carrie views these young men to be beneath her.
Carrie seems to believe that a good appearance is essential to her dignity, hence splurging on an umbrella to keep herself dry. In this respect, she clashes with Minnie, who holds little regard for personal appearance. Minnie’s frugality and her lack of sympathy for Carrie lead to a rift between the two sisters. Carrie also feels a rift between her and her coworkers. There appears to be little reason for this, as these coworkers are most likely from the same background and social class as Carrie. Indeed, the only thing that sets Carrie apart from her coworkers is her condescending attitude and unrelenting idealism.
Themes
Literary Devices
As “the first premonitory blast of winter [sweeps] over the city,” Carrie realizes she has no winter clothes. Minnie allows her to keep a part of her money to buy a hat. However, without the protection of a jacket, Carrie falls sick one day after walking in the cold wind. Minnie is distressed and Hanson suggests that perhaps Carrie should go home. After three days, Carrie gets better, but missing work means that she’s lost her position. She begins looking for another job, but her search this time around is even more difficult than the last. At the flat, Hanson’s demeanor is cold, and Carrie realizes that soon, she will have to go home if she fails to find work.
Hanson does not have a lot of patience for Carrie. After something as small as a brief sickness, he desires for Carrie to return to Wisconsin. It is clear that Carrie is only wanted in the flat to help pay the rent. The job market is equally unforgiving—there is no such thing as a sick leave, and workers are simply fired if they miss their shifts. Carrie begins to grow desperate between these two unforgiving forces. Evidently, she does not want to return home to Wisconsin despite how much she’s struggling in Chicago.
Themes
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On the fourth day of her job search, a subdued Carrie encounters Drouet, who treats her to a lavish meal as she relays her present difficulties. With Drouet, Carrie feels cared for and begins to cheer up. Carrie contemplates Drouet’s ostensible wealth and “[wonders] at his friendship and regard for her.” Drouet lends her $20, instructs her to buy clothing, and tells her to meet him tomorrow for a matinée at the theater. Carrie, after a few protests, accepts his invitation. She leaves him “feeling as though a great arm had slipped out before her to draw off trouble.”
Drouet’s kindness forms a stark contrast with Hanson’s coldness. Carrie is too naïve to realize that such generosity does not mean much for a dandy in Drouet’s economic situation and, consequently, she suspects that he has a special regard for her. Carrie’s gratefulness towards Drouet’s small gesture highlights just how coldly she has been treated by Hanson and Minnie, who are supposed to be her family. The fact that Carrie accepts such help from a virtual stranger highlights her desperation.
Themes
