--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and…" description: "\"Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband, who loved her more than he knew, was sometimes reminded by her lean face of a tenement doorw..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg" --- # Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband… ![“Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband, who loved her more than he knew, was sometimes reminded by her lean face of a tenement doorway on a rainy day, for her countenance was long, vacant, and weakly lighted, a passage for the gentle transports and miseries of the poor.” quote by John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg) > “Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband, who loved her more than he knew, was sometimes reminded by her lean face of a tenement doorway on a rainy day, for her countenance was long, vacant, and weakly lighted, a passage for the gentle transports and miseries of the poor.” [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The description paints a bleak, almost ghostly portrait of a woman whose appearance reflects hardship and melancholy, suggesting how environment shapes perception. **In simple terms:** A woman looks sad and worn, reflecting poverty. Key Takeaway Notice how surroundings affect how we see people. Themes loneliness poverty perception Mood melancholy reflective Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - urban life - family dynamics - mental health - artistic observation Key Concepts existentialism social realism Questions to Reflect On - How does setting influence character judgment? - Can we see beyond appearance? A Different Perspective The portrayal may romanticize suffering, overlooking personal agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Countenance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countenance/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Doorway Rainy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doorway-rainy-3110787/) [Doorways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doorways/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Gentle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentle/) [Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hair/) [Husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husband/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Malloy Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malloy-dark-3110786/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Miseries Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miseries-poor-3110788/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Passages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passages/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Rainy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainy/) [Rainy day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainy-day/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Stringy Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stringy-hair-3105653/) [Tenements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenements/) [Transport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transport/) [Vacant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacant/) ## Related quotes > [Can I tell you how grateful I am to Kate Middleton? Because she is such an advocate for dressing like a lady... I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/can-i-tell-you-how-grateful-i-am-to-kate-middleton-because-she-is/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [“But it did make me realize that I shouldn't go around judging people who have stringy hair, because maybe they have a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-tracy/but-it-did-make-me-realize-that-i-shouldn-t-go-around-judging-people/) [Kristen Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-tracy/) > [Everything outside was elegant and savage and fleshy. Everything inside was slow and cool and vacant. It seemed a shame to stay inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/everything-outside-was-elegant-and-savage-and-fleshy-everything/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [In the house in Beverly Hills where our four children grew up, living conditions were a few thousand times improved over the old tenement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harpo-marx/in-the-house-in-beverly-hills-where-our-four-children-grew-up-living/) [Harpo Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harpo-marx/) > [Because there is something in the touch of flesh with flesh which abrogates, cuts sharp and straight across the devious intricate channels of decorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/because-there-is-something-in-the-touch-of-flesh-with-flesh-which/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [I was saying as a joke the other day that I love film editing, I know how to cut a picture, I think I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/i-was-saying-as-a-joke-the-other-day-that-i-love-film-editing-i-know/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/when-we-allow-freedom-ring-when-we-let-it-ring-from-every-village-and/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Сrown. It may be frail - its roof may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-pitt-1st-earl-of-chatham/the-poorest-man-may-in-his-cottage-bid-defiance-to-all-the-forces-of-2/) [William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-pitt-1st-earl-of-chatham/) > [This is your heritage,' he said, as if from this dance we could know about his own childhood, about the flavor and grit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/this-is-your-heritage-he-said-as-if-from-this-dance-we-could-know/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [Plan the town, if you like; but in doing it do not forget that you have got to spread the people. Make wider roads,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-adams/plan-the-town-if-you-like-but-in-doing-it-do-not-forget-that-you-have/) [Thomas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-adams/) > [I was brought up in a tenement house in a working district. We didn't even have a bathroom! We had a gaslight in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-was-brought-up-in-a-tenement-house-in-a-working-district-we-didn-t/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [It's the anarchy of poverty delights me, the old yellow wooden house indented among the new brick tenements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/it-s-the-anarchy-of-poverty-delights-me-the-old-yellow-wooden-house/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [As a poodle may have his hair cut long or his hair cut short, as he may be trimmed with pink ribbons or with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-de-leon/as-a-poodle-may-have-his-hair-cut-long-or-his-hair-cut-short-as-he/) [Daniel De Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-de-leon/) > [Typography must be as beautiful as a forest, not like the concrete jungle of the tenements It gives distance between the trees, the room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-frutiger/typography-must-be-as-beautiful-as-a-forest-not-like-the-concrete/) [Adrian Frutiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-frutiger/) > [My loving friend, you see, my life was never given a foundation, no one was able to imagine what it would want to become.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/my-loving-friend-you-see-my-life-was-never-given-a-foundation-no-one/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More by John Cheever > [Only the opium eater truly understands the pain of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/only-the-opium-eater-truly-understands-the-pain-of-death/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [The poet or storyteller who feels that he is competing with a superb double play in the World Series is a lost man. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/the-poet-or-storyteller-who-feels-that-he-is-competing-with-a-superb/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“She perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how cruel and frail it was, like a worn piece of burlap, patched with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/she-perceived-vaguely-the-pitiful-corruption-of-the-adult-world-how/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [For lovers, touch is metamorphosis. All the parts of their bodies seem to change, and they seem to become something different and better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/for-lovers-touch-is-metamorphosis-all-the-parts-of-their-bodies-seem/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“I dream that someone in space says to me: So let us rush, then, to see the world. It is shaped like an egg,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-dream-that-someone-in-space-says-to-me-so-let-us-rush-then-to-see/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [I don't like to see all my energies, all of my youth, wasted in fur coats and radios and slipcovers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-don-t-like-to-see-all-my-energies-all-of-my-youth-wasted-in-fur/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Literature has been the salvation of the damned, literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed despair and can perhaps in this case save the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/literature-has-been-the-salvation-of-the-damned-literature-has/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [At my back I hear the word-"homosexual"-and it seems to split my world in two… It is ignorance, our ignorance of one another, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/at-my-back-i-hear-the-word-homosexual-and-it-seems-to-split-my-world/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [One would never have guessed that the world had such a capacity for genuine grief. The most we can do is exploit our memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/one-would-never-have-guessed-that-the-world-had-such-a-capacity-for/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“His stepmother -wearing a nightgown for comfort and a flowered hat for looks- had spent her days sitting in their parlor window in Baltimore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/his-stepmother-wearing-a-nightgown-for-comfort-and-a-flowered-hat-for/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house. Courage tastes of blood. Stand up straight. Admire the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/fear-tastes-like-a-rusty-knife-and-do-not-let-her-into-your-house/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [I dream that my face appears on a postage stamp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-dream-that-my-face-appears-on-a-postage-stamp/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/wisdom-is-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-not-the-strength-to-choose/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“There was some faint coughing, a moan, and then a man spoke. "Are you all right, darling?" he asked. "Yes," a woman said wearily.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/there-was-some-faint-coughing-a-moan-and-then-a-man-spoke-are-you-all/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“It was one of those midsummer Sundays when everyone sits around saying, "I drank too much last night." You might have heard it whispered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/it-was-one-of-those-midsummer-sundays-when-everyone-sits-around/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) [Explore all 132 John Cheever quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) ## More Countenance quotes > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Our communications reflect in our countenance. Therefore, we must be careful not only what we communicate, but also how we do so. Souls can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-lionel-kendrick/our-communications-reflect-in-our-countenance-therefore-we-must-be/) [L. Lionel Kendrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-lionel-kendrick/) > [At this point in history when all things which concern man and the structure and elements of history itself are suddenly revealed to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-mannheim/at-this-point-in-history-when-all-things-which-concern-man-and-the/) [Karl Mannheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-mannheim/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [And these two elements are at odds with one another because Freud is utterly adversary to almost all the ways of structuring the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/and-these-two-elements-are-at-odds-with-one-another-because-freud-is/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [It is a hard matter for a man to lie all over, nature having provided king's evidence in almost every member. The hand will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/it-is-a-hard-matter-for-a-man-to-lie-all-over-nature-having-provided/) [Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/) > [The two maxims of any great man at court are, always to keep his countenance, and never to keep his word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/the-two-maxims-of-any-great-man-at-court-are-always-to-keep-his/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intentions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-countenance-is-the-portrait-of-the-soul-and-the-eyes-mark-its/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Not only do they offend thee, O Lady, who outrage thee, but thou art also offended by those who neglect to ask thy favors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonaventure/not-only-do-they-offend-thee-o-lady-who-outrage-thee-but-thou-art/) [Bonaventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonaventure/) > [Custom is a violent and treacherous school mistress. She, by little and lithe, slyly and unperceived, slips in the foot of her authority; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/custom-is-a-violent-and-treacherous-school-mistress-she-by-little-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The life of Christ was a life charged with a divine message of the love of God, and He longed intensely to impart this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/the-life-of-christ-was-a-life-charged-with-a-divine-message-of-the/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [“The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cicero/the-countenance-is-the-portrait-of-the-soul-and-the-eyes-mark-its-2/) [Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cicero/) > [“In the faces of humanity, the countenances that shine brightest are those whose minds are powered by wisdom's Divine supplier of enlightment...selah.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-bond/in-the-faces-of-humanity-the-countenances-that-shine-brightest-are/) [Tracey Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-bond/) > [This life in us; however low it flickers or fiercely burns, is still a divine flame which no man dare presume to put out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/this-life-in-us-however-low-it-flickers-or-fiercely-burns-is-still-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) [Browse all 251 Countenance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countenance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband, who loved her more than he knew, was sometimes reminded by her lean face of a tenement doorway on a rainy day, for her countenance was long, vacant, and weakly lighted, a passage for the gentle transports and miseries of the poor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cheever" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-even-her-husband-who-loved-her/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Countenance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-even-her-husband-who-loved-her/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/john-cheever-3301_countenance_alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-e_2752625.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair, and even her husband, who loved her more than he knew, was sometimes…” — John Cheever", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Cheever", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Alice Malloy had dark, stringy hair,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-even-her-husband-who-loved-her/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/alice-malloy-had-dark-stringy-hair-and-even-her-husband-who-loved-her/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```