sister carrie

Chapter 37 (1)

Chapter 22 The Explosion of Gunpowder: Family and Carnal Conflict (1)
The misfortune of the Hurstwoods lies in the fact that jealousy, which springs from love, does not die with it.Mrs. Hurstwood harbored envy in such a way that subsequent influences would convert it into hatred.Physically, Hurstwood was worthy of her wife's love for him as she had once loved him, but socially it did not satisfy her.With his affection gone, so was his ability to show her all sorts of courtesies, which are far worse to a woman than open insults.Our self-interest determines how we distinguish between good and evil in others.Mrs. Hurstwood's self-interest colored her husband's indifferent character.In her opinion, all kinds of things and all kinds of words have ulterior motives because they tend to be indifferent to her.

The result was resentment and suspicion in her, and jealousy made her notice how neglectful he was in the small, pleasant things of conjugal relations, and how he remained gracious in the affairs of society.She could see from his attention to personal appearance that his interest in life had not diminished in the slightest.There was in every gesture, in every look, some joy in his affection for Carrie, some passion for it.Mrs. Hurstwood sensed something, smelt some change, as animals can smell danger ahead from afar.

Hurstwood's actions, by their immediate or latent nature, reinforced that feeling.We have seen that he expresses his distaste for any trivial matter that no longer arouses his interest or satisfies him, even though he shirks it; especially recently, he is particularly disgusted and blatantly rants against all kinds of accusations against him.These little squabbles are actually fueled by the fact that the air is full of disagreements.It goes without saying that, since the sky is full of dark clouds, it is bound to rain cats and dogs.Thus, Mrs. Hurstwood walked away from the table that morning without being angry at his open indifference to her plans.She saw Jessica combing her hair slowly in the dressing room.By this time Hurstwood had left the house.

"I want you not to come down to breakfast so late in the future," she said to Jessica, fiddling with her net purse. "It's cold and you haven't eaten yet."

She was in a rage when a storm blew by, and the end of the storm inevitably affected Jessica.

"I'm not hungry," she replied.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier, so that the maid could take it away, so that she wouldn't have to wait all morning."

"She doesn't care," Jessica replied coldly.

"Well, if she doesn't mind, I do," her mother replied, "I don't like it when you talk to me like that, anyway. You're too young to act like that to your mother."

"Oh, Ma, don't fight," Jessica said. "What the hell happened this morning?"

"It's nothing, and I don't want to quarrel. Don't think that I pamper you in some things, so you tell everyone to wait for you. I don't agree with this."

"I didn't keep everyone waiting," said Jessica sharply, and her cynical indifference to everything, once touched, became sharply defensive, "I said I wasn't hungry. I Don't have any breakfast."

"Be careful how you talk to me, miss. I don't take that. Listen, I don't take that."

Jessica, walking out of the room and listening to the last words, gave her self-assertive, insouciant demeanour, by turning her head up so slightly, and giving her pretty dress a little swing.She doesn't want to argue with anyone.

Petty quarrels of this kind are common, the result of the growth of such traits as self-assertion and selfishness.As for little George, he was more irascible and more exaggerated in matters of his own interest.He deliberately made everyone think that he was an adult and should enjoy the rights of an adult-this kind of self-righteous attitude was actually groundless and meaningless to a boy of nineteen years old.

Hurstwood, a man of prestige, and a man of some finer sentiments, now found himself less and less grasping and less understanding of things around him, and was restless in his heart.

Right now, the mention of such trivial matters as going to Huakexia earlier is enough to make him realize his position.In front of him, he was told to follow others instead of leading them forward.Coupled with encountering someone who seems to be irritable, and in the process of crowding out his authority, he also adds shocking spiritual stimulation, such as snorting or cynically laughing, so that he can't restrain himself temper.He had uncontrollable tantrums and said he wished he could never do anything about the house.All my wishes and opportunities for development were all dragged down by my family.

Even so, despite his wife's efforts to resist, he still maintains the status of the head of the family on the surface.The reason for her tantrum and open disapproval was simply that she thought she could do it herself? She had no real evidence to justify herself--to show that she had any knowledge, that she could This authority, or can be used as an excuse.These are all lacking, so there is no good reason to find any excuse for my unwarranted dissatisfaction.To actually justify a public quarrel these days would have to find a chill that would turn the low cloud of doubt into a downpour of anger.

It just so happened that Hurstwood had suffered some of the symptoms of the accident.On the occasion that Hurstwood and Carrie were going west on Washington Boulevard, Bill, a dashing private practitioner nearby, happened to go for a drive too, only from the east.He recognized Hurstwood, but not until he passed him.As for Carrie, he couldn't quite make out--he thought it was Mrs. Hurtwater, or their daughter.A few days later Dr. Beale met Mrs. Hurstwood at her door.

"Why don't you say hello to your friends when you go out for a drive?" he joked to Mrs. Hurstwood.

"I'd say hello if I saw you. Where was I?"

"Oh, Washington Avenue," he replied, expecting her eyes to flash and recall.

She shook her head.

"Yeah, up and down Horner Avenue. You're with your husband."

"I see you are mistaken," she replied.Then, remembering that it had something to do with her husband, a series of fresh doubts aroused at once, but she was silent.

"I know I've seen your husband," he went on. "I'm not so sure about you. Maybe it's your girl."

"Perhaps so," said Mrs. Hurstwood, though she knew she was not, for Jessica had been with her for weeks, and she was roused to inquire about some details.

"In the afternoon?" she asked tactfully, pretending to know the matter well.

"Yes, about two or three o'clock."

"It must be Jessica," said Mrs. Hurstwood, not wanting to make the matter seem of importance.

The doctor himself thought it unnecessary to talk about it, at least not to him.

During the hours and even days after this Mrs. Hurstwood pondered over the news.She thought the doctor had met her husband; also that he had been in a carriage, and probably with other women, and after telling her how he was (busy).This made her recall with even more indignation the many times he had refused to accompany her to sight-see, to take part in excursions, or to attend some interesting society for her amusement.He had been seen at the theater with other people whom he said were friends of Moai's.Now that he was seen going for a ride again, this time there was likely to be another excuse.Maybe there was someone else she hadn't heard of, otherwise, why had he been so busy and indifferent lately? For the last six weeks, he'd been strangely irritable--strangely picked up The hat comes out, regardless of what is going on at home, why is that?
She also recalled that he no longer looked at her with satisfaction or approval in his eyes as he used to, and this aroused in her indescribable feelings.Evidently, among other things, he thought her old and uninteresting.Maybe he saw the wrinkles on her face.She was emaciated.But he is still maintaining his demeanor, his youth.He was still an active member of the world of pleasure-seeking, but she--but she didn't think about it any further.She just found the whole experience very bitter, so she hated him terribly.

At the time, the accident had no consequences.This is because, in fact, the evidence is not strong enough to warrant a discussion.Only an atmosphere of mistrust and mutual dislike was thus deepened, so that later it was often easy to give rise to petty quarrels, and sometimes anger.The excursion to Waukexia was but one in a series of events of the same kind.

On the second day of Carrie's stage at Avery, Mrs. Hurstwood went with Jessica and a young man of her acquaintance, Mr. Bart Taylor, the son of the proprietor of a local furniture company. Watch the horse races.Their early departure in the carriage happened to meet some of Hurstwood's friends, members of the Secret Society, two of whom had been at the performance the night before.Ninety-five out of ten times the subject of acting would not have been brought up if Jessica's young friends had not been courting her so much that he took up his time.In this way, Mrs. Hurstwood had nothing to do, and the original conversation with the acquaintance was just a greeting, and the original conversation became a long conversation.Among them, one of them was only out to exchange pleasantries, but he provided this interesting news.

"I say," said the man.He was wearing very fashionable sports clothes, with a telescope hanging from his shoulder, "You didn't go to see that little funfair last night."

"No?" said Mrs. Hurstwood inquiringly, wondering why he mentioned in such a tone that she had not been to a society of which she knew nothing beforehand.Such words came out of her mouth, "What's the matter?" And he continued, "I saw your husband." She suddenly changed from doubt to suspicion.

"Yes," she said cautiously. "Is it fun? He didn't tell me much."

"It was fun. Honestly, it was the most successful private show I've ever seen. There was an actress who surprised everybody."

"Really?" said Mrs. Hurstwood.

"Honestly, it's a pity you didn't go. It's rather disturbing to hear you're not well."

Not very well! Mrs. Hurstwood was on the verge of screaming after him.But she resisted her double urge to deny illness and to inquire, and just said irritably:
"Yeah, that's too bad."

"It looks like it's going to be crowded here today, isn't it?" said her acquaintance, before turning to other topics.

The manager's wife wanted to inquire again, but she didn't find a chance.For a moment, she had no idea what was going on.What she was anxious about was that she should think everything through, and she thought that he didn't know what new deception trick he was playing, that he would spread such a word, saying that she was sick, but in fact she was well.This was another instance of not wanting her company at a social event, and an excuse was given.She was determined to make things clearer.

(End of this chapter)