How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Along the road the shadows from oak-branches were inked on the snow like bars of music. Then the sled came out on the surface of Minniemashie. (17.1.4)
Just when Carol thinks her life can't get worse, she hops into a sleigh with her husband and his friends and heads out into nature. There's something about the experience that's completely intoxicating to her, and it's little wonder why she spends so much of her time walking in nature for the rest of the book.
Quote #8
The words and the light blurred into one vast indefinite happiness, and she believed that some great thing was coming to her. (17.1.6)
While riding in the sleigh with Will and his friends, Carol nearly passes out with happiness. Being in nature has a way of making her life seem worthwhile, as she imagines that there's hope for the future and that something great will soon come to her. Life in Gopher Prairie seems small and silly compared to the vastness of nature and all it seems to promise.
Quote #9
Across the track was a pasture of dwarf clover and sparse lawn cut by earthy cow-paths; beyond its placid narrow green, the rough immensity of new stubble, jagged with wheat-stacks like huge pineapples. (29.1.8)
When Carol hangs out with her emotional companion Erik Valbourg, she tends to take him out into nature. After all, she can never be sure that neighbors aren't spying on her house at all times and wondering what she's up to, so she uses nature as a getaway.