# XIII: Very Cold explained — Barriers Burned Away

> Chapter companion for Barriers Burned Away by Edward Payson Roe.

## What happens

Christine returns from New York and resumes her routine, feeling a deep sense of unrest despite her wealth, beauty, and artistic ambitions. She persuades her father to let her rearrange the store artistically, treating employees as machines. Dennis observes her from a distance, fascinated by her beauty and artistic passion, but troubled by her coldness and pride. He dreams of bridging the social gulf between them through his own growing love of art.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Barriers

Dennis feels the gulf between himself and Christine due to his lowly position, yet believes his birth and education entitle him to her acquaintance, highlighting class tensions.

### Art and Ambition

Christine's determination to achieve celebrity as an artist and Dennis's awakening artistic soul drive their interactions and inner conflicts.

### Materialism vs. Spirituality

Christine has wealth and beauty but feels a 'palace of ice' and a life without God or love, contrasting material success with spiritual emptiness.

## Character check-ins

### Christine Ludolph

Returns from New York, feeling restless and dissatisfied despite her advantages. She persuades her father to let her rearrange the store, treating employees with cold sovereignty.

### Dennis Fleet

Observes Christine from a distance, fascinated by her beauty and artistic interest, but troubled by her coldness. He dreams of bridging the social gulf through shared love of art.

### Mr. Ludolph

Grants Christine permission to rearrange the store after being won over by her arguments. He is proud and ambitious but does not truly love or trust her.

### Mr. Schwartz

The stolid, obsequious prime-minister of the store, who worships Christine from a distance and is occasionally pricked by her caustic remarks.

## Key lines

> She was the world’s ideal of a queen. And yet she was not truly happy. There was ever a vague sense of unrest and dissatisfaction at heart.

Christine appeared to have everything, but she felt a persistent inner unhappiness and restlessness.

_Highlights the theme of materialism vs. spirituality and Christine's internal conflict._

> She seemed to be living in a palace of ice, and at times felt that she was turning into ice herself; but her very humanity and womanhood, deadened and warped though they were, cried out against the cold of a life without God or love.

Christine felt emotionally frozen in a luxurious but loveless life, and her innate humanity rebelled against this spiritual coldness.

_Emphasizes the emotional and spiritual barrenness beneath Christine's polished exterior._

> She treated all the clerks, save old Schwartz, as if they were animated machines; and by a quiet order, as if she had touched a spring, would set them in motion to do her bidding.

Christine regarded the clerks as automatons, giving orders that they followed without question.

_Illustrates Christine's imperious and detached manner toward those beneath her social station._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/barriers_burned_away_se/chapters/xiii-very-cold
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/barriers_burned_away_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/barriers_burned_away_se/chapters