Sister Carrie · Chapter
XXXIV: The Grind of the Millstones: A Sample of Chaff explained
Carrie reflects on her situation as Hurstwood's business closes, fearing a return to poverty.
What happens
Carrie reflects on her situation as Hurstwood's business closes, fearing a return to poverty. Hurstwood struggles to find new work, his confidence waning as he searches for a saloon position. Their relationship grows strained, with Carrie becoming distant and Hurstwood increasingly gloomy. The chapter ends with Hurstwood closing the Warren Street saloon and beginning a desperate job hunt.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Survival
Carrie's fear of returning to poverty and Hurstwood's desperate job search highlight the grinding struggle for survival.
Social Class and Mobility
Carrie's exposure to the Vances' wealth makes her own declining circumstances unbearable, emphasizing class barriers.
Determinism vs. Free Will
Hurstwood's self-justification and sense of being trapped by his past actions reflect the tension between choice and fate.
Characters to notice
- Caroline Meeber
Carrie dreads the return of poverty, contrasts her life with the Vances' glamour, and grows distant from Hurstwood as his business fails.
- George Hurstwood
Hurstwood anxiously searches for new work, worries about his savings, and justifies his past theft to himself. He becomes irritable and gloomy, straining his relationship with Carrie.
- Charles Drouet
Mentioned in Carrie's thoughts as a contrast to Ames and Hurstwood.
- Robert Ames
Carrie recalls Ames's ideals about riches not being everything and the value of the stage, which influences her discontent.
- Mrs. Vance
Carrie's experiences with the Vances have unfitted her for her current poverty, highlighting the allure of high society.
- Shaughnessy
Hurstwood's business partner in the Warren Street saloon; they divide the assets and close the business.
Key passages
“Her mind went back to her early venture in Chicago, the Hansons and their flat, and her heart revolted. That was terrible! Everything about poverty was terrible.”
Carrie recoils at the memory of her impoverished start in Chicago with the Hansons, finding the prospect of returning to such poverty unbearable.
Carrie's dread of poverty motivates her growing alienation from Hurstwood.
“Once the World came out with a flaring announcement about '80,000 people out of employment in New York this winter,' which struck as a knife at his heart.”
A newspaper headline about mass unemployment in New York deeply distresses Hurstwood, highlighting his fear of joining the jobless.
The statistic underscores the widespread economic hardship and Hurstwood's personal anxiety.
“He tried to put on an air of deliberation, as one who might really buy; but his eyes showed gloom. He wound up by saying he would think it over, and came away.”
Hurstwood pretends to consider buying a saloon partnership, but his despair is evident, and he leaves without committing.
Hurstwood's failed attempt to invest reveals his dwindling resources and pride.