Sister Carrie Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1

Carrie is introduced. She meets Mr Drouet on the train to Chicago.

Chapter 2

Carrie goes to her sister, Minnie’s, flat and assesses the living situation.

Chapter 3

Carrie goes looking for a job. She is told to return to a shoe factory in the morning.

Chapter 4

Carrie’s first day at work is tough.

Chapter 5

Drouet and Hurstwood meet at ‘Rector’s’. The metaphor of moths is used.

Chapter 6

Carrie realises she won’t be able to live at her sister’s for long. Tension grows between Carrie and
her sister and brother in law, the Hansons. Carrie meets Drouet again and he promises to help her.

Chapter 7

Drouet gives Carrie money to buy clothes. She rents a room and quietly moves out of the Hansons’
apartment.

Chapter 8

Drouet takes Carrie out, buys her thing and spoils her. He arranges for her to meet Mr Hurstwood.

Chapter 9

Hurstwood’s home life is outlined. He is married and has two children. He is not particularly happy.

Chapter 10

Carrie meets Hurstwood and is impressed by his manner.

Chapter 11

Carrie goes to the theatre with Hurstwood & Drouet. She begins to admire Hurstwood.

Chapter 12

Hurstwood and Carrie have a moment whilst Drouet is away on business.

Chapter 13

Hurstwood declares his love for Carrie and they kiss.

Chapter 14

Drouet returns home from his trip.

Chapter 15

Hurstwood promises to marry Carrie.

Chapter 16

Drouet gets Carrie a part in a play for his secret society.

Chapter 17

Carrie tells Hurstwood about the play.

Chapter 18

Hurstwood’s influence ensures a full audience for the play.

Chapter 19

The play begins badly, but Carrie improves her performance quickly and becomes the star of the
show. Hurstwood decides he must marry Carrie, but Drouet has the same thought.

Chapter 20

Drouet finds out that Hurstwood visited Carrie frequently whilst he was away.

Chapter 21

Carrie agrees to marry Hurstwood on Saturday.

Chapter 22

Mrs Hurstwood learns of Carrie and tells Hurstwood she is leaving him.

Chapter 23

Drouet confronts Carrie and tells her that Hurstwood is married. They argue. Drouet storms out.

Chapter 24

Carrie fails to meet Hurstwood for lunch. Mrs Hurstwood sends her husband a message that she
wants money. He goes home to try to speak to her, but finds he has been locked out.

Chapter 25

Hurstwood receives a letter from his wife’s lawyer.

Chapter 26

Carrie looks for a job and writes to Hurstwood to let him know she is aware of his deception.

Chapter 27

Hurstwood considers stealing money from his employers, Fitzgerald and Moy. He plans to run away
and lies to Carrie that Drouet is in hospital.

Chapter 28

Hurstwood convinces Carrie to go to Montreal and New York with him.

Chapter 29
Carrie and Hurstwood “marry”. Hurstwood uses the fake name ‘Wheeler’ so he is not arrested for
bigamy. The pair head to New York.

Chapter 30

Hurstwood invests in a business, but it isn’t successful.

Chapter 31

Carrie meets her new neighbours, the Vances. She is impressed by them and feels shabbily dressed
by comparison. She feels she is not up to their standard.

Chapter 32

Carrie meets Mrs. Vance's cousin, Bob Ames, who's visiting from Indianapolis. Carrie goes to the
theatre with the Vances and Ames. When Carrie returns to her apartment, she finds Hurstwood
already in bed. She can't bring herself to get into the bed with him so she goes to the dining room to
curl up in the rocking chair and think.

Chapter 33

Carrie and Hurstwood move to a smaller flat, but Hurstwood gets bad news about his business and
their future looks bleak.

Chapter 34

Hurstwood’s business closes and he half-heartedly searches for a new job.

Chapter 35

Hurstwood begins to age and gives up looking for a job. Carrie begins to resent him.

Chapter 36

Mrs Vance visits and Carrie is humiliated. She rows with Hurstwood and he goes out. He plays Poker
and loses most of their money.

Chapter 37

Carrie decides to find an acting job. She learns an agent will cost $50.

Chapter 38

Carrie gets a part as a chorus girl and Hurstwood comes to depend on her income.

Chapter 39

Carrie is rewarded for her efforts at the theatre by being made Head Chorus Girl.

Chapter 40

Hurstwood takes advantage of the strike and decides to apply for a job.

Chapter 41

Hurstwood gets a job as a mailman driver. His car is attacked on his first run. He finds it exciting, but
then he is beaten by protesters. A shot is fired, Hurstwood is terrified and flees down a side street.
He goes home and reads of the riots breaking out across the city.

Chapter 42
Carrie gets a new job with a higher salary. She agrees to move in with Lola to a shared
accommodation so she can spend more money on clothes. She doesn’t tell Hurstwood that she is
leaving. Instead, she waits for him to go out before packing up her belongings and leaving him a
farewell note.

Chapter 43

Carrie enjoys her new life with Lola and is successful in her acting career. She is promoted and earns
an increase in her wages.

Chapter 44

Carrie is inundated with fan mail from rich men wanting to marry her. Moreover, she gets her first
really big paycheck: $150. She's thrilled to be raking it in now, as she thinks back to earlier days
when she was only making a pittance. But things aren't perfect: Carrie is lonely, as she tells Lola, but
Lola tells her she just needs to go out more.

Chapter 45

Hurstwood runs out of money, gets ill, looks for a job and ends up begging on the streets. He ends
up homeless and starving.

Chapter 46

Drouet goes to see Carrie at the theatre. When Drouet asks about Hurstwood, Carrie only says that
she thinks he's still in New York. Drouet fills her in about Hurstwood having stolen the money back in
Chicago, and she's shocked. Hearing the news actually makes her feel sorry for Hurstwood.

The next night on her way into the theater, Carrie runs smack into Hurstwood, who's hanging around
waiting for her. She hardly recognizes him because he looks so bad, and when he asks for money,
she immediately gives it to him. She asks what's wrong with him and he says that he's been sick and
that he's living in a room in the Bowery. Then he leaves.

Chapter 47

Hurstwood continues to struggle and suffer. This is contrasted with news that Carrie is staying at the
Waldorf. Hurstwood pays for a room at the Bowery, turns on the gas and lies down. He commits
suicide and we're told "[Carrie] was not even aware." As the book ends, we leave Carrie in her
rocking chair by the window.