Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4 FANTASY: Mocking of Facts

For the next two days Carrie was preoccupied with fantasies. She fantasized about her privileges and pleasures. Had she been of noble birth, these ideas would have been more realistic. In her imagination, her pitiful four-and-a-half dollars a week had been lavishly spent and bought for her. What she wanted, what she saw at a glance. Really, those nights before going to bed, when she sat in the rocking chair and looked happily at the brightly lit street below, the money that hadn't come seemed The way has been opened for the future owner to acquire all the pleasures and all the baubles a woman would want. "I shall be very happy," she thought.

Though Carrie thought of all the pleasures that could be bought, her sister Minnie was ignorant of her fantasies. She busied herself scrubbing the wood and doors and windows in the kitchen, calculating what she could buy for Sunday's eighty cents. What. Carrie came home excitedly that day, radiant with her first success. Tired as she was, she wanted to talk about those job-seeking experiences that she now found interesting. But Minnie only smiled approvingly, and asked if she was A little money would be spent on the fare. This was beyond Carrie's thought, but it did not affect her mood for long. In her state of mind at the time, when she was vaguely calculating what the money would be used for, she drew A sum of money was spent on other things, and she didn't feel any reduction in the total. She was too happy.

When Hanson got home at seven o'clock, he was in a bad temper... as he usually did before dinner. He didn't say anything harsh, but when he walked about the room he kept a very serious face , without saying a word, and his air showed his bad mood. He had a favorite pair of yellow slippers. As soon as he got home, he took off his sturdy leather shoes and put on slippers. He changed shoes and washed his face before dinner. The only preparation. He washed his face with ordinary laundry soap until it glowed red. Then he picked up the evening paper and looked at it in silence. It was a very abnormal character for a young man. It affected Carrie's spirits. In fact, he affected the atmosphere of the whole house. Such things are often the case. In this atmosphere In the novel, his wife became cautious, tactful, and tried to avoid making fun of herself. Carrie announced that she had found a job, which brightened him a little.

"So you didn't waste any time, did you?" he said, with a slight smile on his face. "Of course not," answered Carrie proudly. He asked her a question or two more, then turned to tease the baby, and they did not continue the subject until Minnie brought it up at the dinner table. With regard to work and future prospects, Carrie certainly would not reduce her thoughts to those of ordinary people like her sister and brother-in-law. "It looks like a big business," she said in discussion, "with great plate glass for the windows, and a lot of clerks in it. The man I met said they always employed that many people."

"As long as you are pleasing to the eye," Hanson interrupted, "it is not very difficult to find a job now." Under the influence of Carrie's good spirits, and her husband's talkativeness today, Minnie began to tell Carrie about the sights worth seeing...things that you can feast your eyes on without spending money. "You must see Michigan Avenue. It's a fine street, with its many fine houses." "Where's the John's Theater?" interrupted Carrie. She was asking of a melodrama theater, which was then called the "Jacob." "Well, it's not far from here," answered Minnie. "On Halstadt Street, not far off."

"I'd love to see it there. I walked down Halstadt Street today, didn't I?" There was a slight pause in the conversation at this point, and no one answered her immediately. Thoughts are a strange thing that can spread. As soon as she heard the theater, Han Sheng's mind was very disapproving of such a money-spending thing, so Minnie The same thought arose in his head. This silent subtle change of feeling affected the atmosphere at the table. Minnie answered "Yes," but Carrie could feel that the idea of ​​a play was not in this family. Welcome. This topic will be left aside for the time being. It was not until Han Sheng finished his dinner and took the newspaper to the front room that they brought up the matter of going to the theater again.

When they were alone, their conversation was more casual. The sisters talked while they were washing the dishes, and Carrie hummed a little tune now and then. "If it's not too far away, I'd like to see Halstadt Street," said Carrie after a while, "why don't we go to a play to-night?" "I don't think Swan will go to-night," replied Minnie. "He's going to be up early in the morning." "He won't object . . . he will enjoy the play," said Carrie. "No, he doesn't go to plays very often," Minnie went on.

"Well, but I really want to," answered Carrie. "Let's go, the two of us." Minnie thought for a while, not whether she wanted to go or not, because she didn't have to decide whether she wanted to or not. What she had to worry about was how to lead her sister's thoughts to other things. "Let's talk about it later," she could only reply, seeing no reason to evade it. Carrie saw at once the reason for her objection. "I have some money," she said, "and you will come with me." Minnie shook her head. "He may go too," said Carrie.

"No," said Minnie softly. She made noise with the dishes to drown out their conversation. "He won't go." Minnie hadn't seen Carrie for several years. Carrie's character had developed somewhat in these years. Her natural timidity, and their family's lack of money and power, made her no effort in personal advancement. But her quest for pleasure became so intense that it became the dominant feature of her character. She wanted to talk of nothing but amusement. "Go and ask him," she begged softly. What Minnie thought was that Carrie would add to the family income by joining them. It would pay the rent and it would be easier to negotiate the household expenses with her husband. But if Carrie had thought of going everywhere Going to play, things were a little off. If Carrie wouldn't bear hardships and stand hard work, and put her head down to work, and only wanted to have fun, what good would it do the family if she came to the city? It wasn't out of her natural indifference that she thought so. .She is a hard-working, hard-working person who tries her best to adapt to the environment to make a living. These thoughts are the result of serious thinking of people in this situation.

She finally gave in and went to seek Hansheng's opinion. When she did so, she was full of reluctance, so she was very reluctant. "Carrie wants to take us to the theatre," she said to her husband, going in. Hanson looked up from the newspaper, and they exchanged a gentle look. The meaning of the two was clearly expressed in this look: "This One thing we didn't expect." "I don't want to go," he answered. "What does she want to see?" "A play at the Jogs," said Minnie. He looked down at the newspaper and shook his head disapprovingly.

Carrie was oppressed by a clearer idea of ​​their way of life, which was oppressed by the lukewarm response they received to her proposal, but she made no express objection. "I want to go downstairs and stand at the foot of the stairs for a while," she said after a while. Minnie made no objection to this, so Carrie put on her hat and went downstairs. "Where did Carrie go?" Hearing the closing of the door, Han Sheng asked as he returned to the dining room. "She said she wanted to go down to the landing," said Minnie, "and I guess she just wanted to look outside." "She shouldn't be thinking about paying for the theater now, don't you think?" he said. "I think she's just a little curious," said Minnie boldly. "It's all so new to her here." "I'm not sure," said Hanson, frowning slightly, and turned to look at the baby. He thought of all the vanities and luxuries of young girls, but could not understand how Carrie, so poor, should think of such things. Carrie went out alone on Saturday...first walked to the river which she was interested in, and then came back along Jackson Street. The street is lined with beautiful houses and lawns, so this street was later changed to a tree-lined street Avenue. These houses that symbolize wealth left a deep impression on her, although there is no property on this street that is worth more than 100,000 yuan. Leaving the apartment and taking a walk outside made her feel good, because she already felt that the house was narrow and monotonous, without Interest and joy. Her thoughts wandered freely, and she thought of Drouet from time to time, wondering where he would be now. She was not sure whether he would come on Monday night. She was afraid that he would come, On the one hand, I was looking forward to his arrival. She was up early on Monday, ready to go to work. She put on an old blue dot muslin blouse, a faded light coffee serge skirt, and a little straw hat she had worn all summer in Columbia City. She Her shoes are also old, and her tie is wrinkled and flat. Except for her appearance, she looks like an ordinary working girl. She is more beautiful than ordinary girls. She gives people a lovely, sweet, dignified and moving impression. Carrie usually didn't get up until seven or eight o'clock when she was at home, so it was not easy to get up early. At six o'clock in the morning, she caught a sleepy glimpse of Hanson eating out in silence at six o'clock in the morning. After breakfast, she began to understand a little bit what kind of life Han Sheng lived. When she got dressed, he had already left, and she, Minnie and the baby were left to have breakfast together. The baby was already sitting on a high chair fiddling with a saucer with a spoon. Now that it was coming to an unfamiliar job, she was depressed. All her beautiful fantasies were now but a few ashes . . . A few embers of hope that have not yet been extinguished. She was depressed, timid and uneasy, eating in silence, imagining the scene of the shoe factory, the working conditions and the attitude of the boss. She vaguely thought that she would be with those The big factory owners have some contacts, and those serious and well-dressed gentlemen sometimes visit the place where she works. "Well, good luck to you," Minnie said to her, as she was about to start. They had agreed to walk, at least the first day, and try to walk to work every day. . . ..A weekly fare of 60 cents is a lot of money in the current situation. "I'll tell you about it to-night," said Carrie. As soon as she reached the sunny street, Carrie felt a little more confident. The road was full of people going to work, and the stagecoach was crowded with clerks and servants who went to work in a large number, and the passengers crowded into the coach. Men and women have gone out to walk outside. Walking under the vast blue sky, bathed in the morning sun, fresh air rushing in, there is no place for fear and worry except for the desperate and hopeless. At night, Or in a dark room during the day, strong fears and doubts may come to mind. But once in the sun, even the fear of death may be forgotten for a while. Carrie went on until she had crossed the river, and then turned into Fifth Avenue. Here the street was like a deep canyon, lined with walls of brown stone and crimson brick. The large glass windows looked It was bright and clean, and a large number of trucks rumbled by. There were men and women, boys and girls among them. She saw girls of her age, and they looked at her, and seemed to be a little contemptuous of her shrinking expression. She felt the grandeur of life here. She was amazed by the imposing manner, and was also surprised to think how much knowledge and skills a person needs to be able to do something here. So a worry that she might not do well crept into her heart. She was worried that she would not learn, and worried I am slow. Isn’t it because she doesn’t know how to do things that other units reject her? They will criticize her, scold her, fire her, and make her lose face. She came to the shoe company at the corner of Adam Road and Fifth Avenue, stepped into the elevator, her knees were weak with nervousness, and she was a little breathless. When she got out of the elevator on the fourth floor, she saw no one, only Cheng The boxes were stacked up to the roof, leaving aisles in the middle. She stood there in fear and waited. After a while, Mr. Brown came. He didn't seem to know her. "What's the matter with you?" he asked. Carrie's heart sank. "You made me come to work this morning..." "Oh," he interrupted her, "yes, what's your name?" "Carrie Meebe." "Very well," said he, "you come with me." He walked ahead, through a dark passage among the piles of boxes, which smelled of new shoes, and at last came to an iron gate, which opened into the workshop. It was a large room with a low ceiling, in which rows of Looking at the rumbling machine. Beside the machine, a worker in a white shirt and blue waistband was working. She timidly followed behind, walked past the rumbling machine, her eyes were straight ahead, and her face was slightly red. They walked through The whole workshop, to the other end of the workshop, and then took the elevator to the sixth floor. Among the rows of machines and workbenches, Mr. Brown called a foreman to come over. "That's the girl," he said, turning to Carrie again, "you go with him." He turned and walked back, and Carrie followed her new boss to a little table in the corner where he office place. "You haven't worked in a factory like this before, have you?" he asked sternly. "No, sir," she answered. He seemed annoyed at having to deal with such a helper, but he took her name, and led her to a row of rattling machines, where a long row of women sat on stools in front of them. Work. He put his hand on the shoulder of a girl who was drilling holes in shoe uppers with a machine. "Well," said he, "teach this girl what you're doing. When you've taught her, come to me." The girl rose at this order, and offered her place to Carrie. "It's easy to do," she said, stooping, "you hold this like this, with this clamp, and start the machine." She demonstrated while talking, using a small adjustable clip to clamp the piece of leather, which is used to make the upper of the right half of men's shoes, and then push the small joystick next to the machine, and the machine jumped and began to punch holes. Make a sharp crackling sound, cut a small circle of leather on the edge of the upper, and leave a small hole for the shoelace on the upper. After the female worker watched her do it a few times, she was asked to operate independently. When she did a good job, she left. The skins were passed from the woman working the machine on her right, past her, and then to the woman on her left. Carrie saw at once that she must keep up with them, or the work would be backlogged at her, And the people in the following process will stop working and wait for materials. She has no time to look around and concentrate on her work. The female workers on the left and right of her understand her situation and mood, and try their best to help her, so they have the courage to secretly slowed down the pace of work. She worked like this for a while. In the monotonous and rigid movement of the machine, her mood relaxed a little, and she was no longer worried and nervous. Time passed minute by minute, and she began to feel that the light in the workshop was not bright enough. There was a strong smell of new leather in the air, but she didn't care. She felt that the other workers were watching her, and she was afraid that she might not move fast enough. Once, as a piece of leather was out of place, she was fumbling with the little clip again. Just then a large hand came up in front of her and clamped the leather tightly for her. It was the foreman. Her heart was pounding. Jumping straight, almost unable to go on. "Start the machine," he cried, "start the machine. Don't keep people waiting." These words cleared her mind, so she continued to work in a hurry, almost too nervous to take a breath. It was not until the figure behind her moved away that she took a deep breath. In the morning, as time went by, the workshop became hotter and hotter. She really wanted to take a breath of fresh air and drink water, but she dared not move. The stool she was sitting on had neither a back nor a foot, and she began to feel very Uncomfortable. After a while, her back began to ache. She twisted and shifted slightly from one position to another, but it didn't last long. She began to feel overwhelmed. "Why don't you stand for a while?" The woman worker on her right accosted her without being introduced, "They don't care." Carrie looked at her gratefully, and said, "Yes, I would like to stand a while." She got up from the stool and worked standing up for a while. But standing was more tiring, and she had to bend over, so that her head, neck and shoulders ached. The environment of this place gave her a rough feeling. She didn't dare to look around, but amidst the clicking of the machine, she occasionally heard some people's conversations, and she also noticed one or two small things from the corner of her eyes. "Did you see Harry last night?" said the woman worker on her left to the one next to her. "No." "You should have seen that tie he was wearing. Why, everybody laughed at him." "Hush..." Another female worker gave a warning, still immersed in her work. The first female worker immediately shut up and put on a serious look. The foreman came slowly and looked at the Every worker. As soon as he left, the conversation continued. "Hey," said the worker on her left first, "what do you think he said?" "I have no idea." "He said he saw us last night at the Martin's with Eddie Harris." "Fuck it." The two of them giggled. A young man with messy brown hair and a basket of leatherworking tools under his left arm was tucked against his stomach. He dragged his feet along the aisle between the machines. When he came near Carrie, he stretched out his right hand and twisted The arm of a female worker. "Pooh, let go!" she cried angrily, "you fool." He grinned in answer. "Fuck you!" While she was still looking at his back, he turned around and replied, not at all gentlemanly. At last Carrie could not sit still on the stool. Her legs began to ache, and she wanted to stand up and straighten up. Why was it not noon? She felt as if she had worked all day. She was not at all hungry, but I'm exhausted. My eyes are staring at the place where the shoe holes are punched, and I'm so tired. The girl on the right notices that she can't sit still, and feels sorry for her: she's too concentrated, but she doesn't have to be so nervous So much effort. But she couldn't help at all. The tops kept getting to Carrie, piling up. Her wrists ached, and then her fingers ached, and then her whole body was numb and sore. Repeating this simple mechanical movement over and over again, these movements became more and more annoying, and in the end, it was almost disgusting. While she was thinking about how this kind of hard work was endless, there was a burst of noise from the elevator passage. The dull ringing of the bell finally came to an end. Immediately there were buzzing voices and walking sounds, and all the female workers immediately got up from their stools and hurried to the next room. The male workers from some department walked through the door on the right Come in, and pass through the workshop. The sound of the turning wheels gradually subsided, and finally disappeared completely in the low hum. It sounds rather weird. Carrie got up to get her lunch-box. She felt stiff all over, dizzy, and very thirsty. She went to the little boarded-up room where the coat-bags and lunch were kept. When the foreman arrived, he stared at her. "How about it," he asked, "can it still be done?" "All right," she replied respectfully. "Well." He had nothing to say, and walked away. Under better conditions, this kind of work is actually not too tiring. But at that time, the factory had not yet adopted the new welfare system to provide workers with a comfortable working environment. The place is filled with the mixed smell of motor oil and new leather, coupled with the dirty and stale smell in the building, the air smells bad even in cold weather. Although the ground is swept every evening, it is still messy. For the sake of the working conditions of the workers. They only hope that the less benefits the better, and the heavier the work, the better. Dining rooms, factory-issued clean work aprons and curlers, and decent cloakrooms were things I hadn't even thought of at the time. Restrooms were crude, if not dirty, and the air was filthy. Carrie looked round. After drinking a tin can of water from a bucket in the corner, she tried to find a place to sit and eat. The girls had already sat down on the window-sills or on the benches the men had left, and each There were two or three girls crammed into every available place. She was too shy to join them, so she went to her machine, sat down on a stool, and put her lunch-box on her lap. Sitting there, listening to the conversations of the people around. Most of the words are stupid and boring, mixed with popular street slang. There are a few male workers in the room who are far away, bickering with the female workers. "Hey, Kitty," one called to a girl who was waltzing a few feet by the window, "will you dance with me?" "Beware, Kitty," cried another, "he'll mess up the back of your hair to make you look good." "Fuck you, fuck it," was all she said back. When Carrie heard such casual banter and teasing among the workmen and women, she instinctively distanced herself from them. She was not used to this sort of conversation, and felt that there was something cruel and vulgar in it. She was afraid that the boys would be against it too. She speaks obscenities.... Except for Drouet, the boys are all rude and ridiculous. She divides people into two categories by clothes according to the common female eyes: those who wear suits and dresses are worth, virtuous, and famous Those who wear short overalls are people with bad habits and low quality, and they are not worth paying attention to. She was glad that after half an hour, the wheels were turning again. Although the work was tiring, she could avoid being noticed. But this idea was immediately proved wrong. A young worker came from the aisle, He poked her ribs with his thumb indifferently. Her eyes were burning with anger, and she turned around. But the young worker had already walked away, so she just turned around and smiled. She was so angry that she wanted to cry. The female worker next to her noticed her emotion. "Don't take it to heart," she said, "this kid is too presumptuous." Carrie said nothing, but put her head down and set to work. She felt that she could hardly bear such a life. The work she had imagined was very different from all this. All the long afternoon, she thought of the city outside, with its magnificent appearance and people, Those beautiful buildings. She thought of Columbia City again, and thought of the benefits of her hometown. At 3 o'clock, she must have been 6 o'clock. At 4 o'clock, she suspected that they forgot to look at the clock and made everyone work overtime. Foreman Became a devil, constantly patrolling around, keeping her immobilized, nailed to her hapless job. She heard the conversations of people around her, and these words only made her sure that she didn't want to deal with any of them. My friend. It was six o'clock, and she hurried home. Her arms were sore, and her limbs were stiff from the same sitting position. When she came out of the hall with her hat in hand, a young machine tool worker was attracted by her beauty and boldly talked and laughed with her. "Well, girl," he cried, "wait a minute, I'll go with you." It was said directly in her direction, so she knew who it was addressed to, but she didn't even look back. In the crowded elevator, another young worker covered in dust and engine oil looked at her lustfully, trying to make a relationship with her. On the sidewalk outside, a young man who was waiting for someone saw her pass and grinned at her, "Won't you come with me?" he called jokingly. Carrie walked westward in low spirits. Turning the corner, she saw again through the large bright window the little desk where she had applied for the job. As she walked, she still showed a lot of energy and enthusiasm in her steps. She felt a little relieved, glad that she had escaped from the treatment there, so she felt very upset.