"How true it is that words are but vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes."
"Ah, the promise of the night. What does it not hold for the weary. What old illusion of hope is not here forever repeated!"
These were two of my favorite quotes from the excepts of Sister Carrie. I love the romantic ideals they hold. Sister Carrie wavers between a romantic and a realist at different times--her ideas about life often contrast each other. On the one hand, she imagines idyllic experiences--she allows her emotion to preside over reason; but on the other hand, when she is confronted with the realistic issues around her, she puts aside her emotion and lets logic win. She sets off on this journey to Chicago with fear and excitement; the realistic qualities in her keep reminding herself that Chicago is not that far away from her home--she can turn back at any time. She continues to reason with herself and rationalize her trip. The more she comforts herself about this decision to leave her home, the more she lets in romantic ideas about Chicago. "There were lights and sounds and a roar of things." Her fear begins to slip away and in its place there is excitement. Of course, the appearance of Drouet only heightens her excitement of all the new things she will encounter. However, her romantic thoughts are again interrupted by her job search. The real world confronts her with serious questions, like--How will you get a job with no experience? Although she gets discouraged for a time, she once again finds a way to get past the realistic obstacles and lets romanticism win over. "Ah, the long winter in Chicago--the lights, the crowd, the amusement. This was a great, pleasing metropolis after all."
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