---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: smarting and smoke was hanging thick in…"
description: "\"“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts of cigarettes.”\" ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg"
---

#  smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the…

![“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts of cigarettes.” quote by William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg)

> ““smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts of cigarettes.””

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A smoky, ash‑filled setting creates a visceral atmosphere of decay and tension

**In simple terms:** Smoke and ash symbolize decay and tension

Key Takeaway

Notice environmental cues for mood

Themes

atmosphere symbolism decay

Mood

dark intense

Type

literary descriptive

When to use this quote

- horror writing
- film set design
- interior décor
- psychological tension

Key Concepts

Literary analysis visual storytelling

Questions to Reflect On

- What does the smoke suggest about the characters?
- How does setting affect emotional tone?

A Different Perspective

Overly literal description may distract from deeper meaning

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Air Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air-ashtray-691885/) [Ashes Twisted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes-twisted-691884/) [Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/) [Ashtray Karras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray-karras-691883/) [Butts Cigarettes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butts-cigarettes-242524/)

## Related quotes

> [“A homeless man picks up cigarette butts discarded in the street. He can make one cigarette with 5 butts. Today he is lucky, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/puzzleland/a-homeless-man-picks-up-cigarette-butts-discarded-in-the-street-he/)

[Puzzleland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/puzzleland/)

> [Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beautiful-and-bitter/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [“I had a dream about you. You had just died, and I was debating putting your body into either a coffin or a shoebox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-had-a-dream-about-you-you-had-just-died-and-i-was-debating-putting/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/)

[Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/)

> [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/)

[Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/)

> [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Me and Mama never did like the smell of cigarettes but after Daddy died, sometimes we would light one up and put it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-morgan-denkers/me-and-mama-never-did-like-the-smell-of-cigarettes-but-after-daddy/)

[Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/)

> [“She’s finished her cigarette but hasn’t put it out properly, so it’s still smoking in the ashtray. I crush mine into it, grinding until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/she-s-finished-her-cigarette-but-hasn-t-put-it-out-properly-so-it-s/)

[Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/)

> [“She reached into an alabaster box and pulled out a violet cigarette that also exactly matched her eyes. Some people just don't know when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-k-wolf/she-reached-into-an-alabaster-box-and-pulled-out-a-violet-cigarette/)

[Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/)

> [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [“My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-the-steam-rising-from-her-cup/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/i-think-an-ashtray-is-the-most-fantastically-real-thing/)

[Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/)

> [If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-hill/if-we-found-an-ashtray-in-the-studio-we-d-try-to-play-it-and-find-a/)

[Dusty Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-hill/)

> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [“in his hand the heavy, rectangular onyx ashtray that had been on the table. Was he out of his mind? He’d crack her skull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-hand-the-heavy-rectangular-onyx-ashtray-that-had-been-on-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by William Peter Blatty

> [“Henri Bergson thought the principal function of the brain was to filter out most of reality so that we could focus on the tasks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/henri-bergson-thought-the-principal-function-of-the-brain-was-to/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/god-never-talks-but-the-devil-keeps-advertising-father-the-devil-does/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“Ah, well … at last I realized that God would never ask of me that which I know to be psychologically impossible; that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/ah-well-at-last-i-realized-that-god-would-never-ask-of-me-that-which/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“We have familiar experience of the order, the constancy, the perpetual renovation of the material world which surrounds us. Frail and transitory as is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/we-have-familiar-experience-of-the-order-the-constancy-the-perpetual/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“More rooted in logic was the silence of God. In the world there was evil and much of it resulted from doubt, from an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/more-rooted-in-logic-was-the-silence-of-god-in-the-world-there-was/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [As far as God goes, I \_am\_ a nonbeliever. Still am. But when it comes to a devil---well, that's something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/as-far-as-god-goes-i-am-a-nonbeliever-still-am-but-when-it-comes-to-a/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [Well, the research into it affected me. And the novel, it very much strengthened my faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/well-the-research-into-it-affected-me-and-the-novel-it-very-much/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us; but he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/the-demon-is-a-liar-he-will-lie-to-confuse-us-but-he-will-also-mix/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“Abruptly sagging, Chris stared at the floor. “Go ahead,” she said softly. “Do whatever you have to. Just make her well.” “May”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/abruptly-sagging-chris-stared-at-the-floor-go-ahead-she-said-softly/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [I didn't read The Haunting of Hill House until sometime early in the 1990's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/i-didn-t-read-the-haunting-of-hill-house-until-sometime-early-in-the/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“Well, what’s wrong?” “I don’t know, Doc, I just can’t describe it! Please come over right away! Come now!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/well-what-s-wrong-i-don-t-know-doc-i-just-can-t-describe-it-please/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“They Said, "what sign can you give us to see, so that we may believe you?" - John 6: 30 - 31 You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/they-said-what-sign-can-you-give-us-to-see-so-that-we-may-believe-you/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [I lived in Georgetown in the late 70s about four houses down from the steps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/i-lived-in-georgetown-in-the-late-70s-about-four-houses-down-from-the/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“He thought of death in its infinite groanings, of Aztecs ripping out living hearts and of cancer and three-year-olds buried alive and he wondered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/he-thought-of-death-in-its-infinite-groanings-of-aztecs-ripping-out/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“We mourn the blossoms of May because they are to wither; but we know that May is one day to have its revenge upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/we-mourn-the-blossoms-of-may-because-they-are-to-wither-but-we-know/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

[Explore all 92 William Peter Blatty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

## More Ashtray quotes

> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-hill/if-we-found-an-ashtray-in-the-studio-we-d-try-to-play-it-and-find-a/)

[Dusty Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-hill/)

> [I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/i-think-an-ashtray-is-the-most-fantastically-real-thing/)

[Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/)

> [“My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-the-steam-rising-from-her-cup/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [“She reached into an alabaster box and pulled out a violet cigarette that also exactly matched her eyes. Some people just don't know when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-k-wolf/she-reached-into-an-alabaster-box-and-pulled-out-a-violet-cigarette/)

[Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/)

> [“She’s finished her cigarette but hasn’t put it out properly, so it’s still smoking in the ashtray. I crush mine into it, grinding until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/she-s-finished-her-cigarette-but-hasn-t-put-it-out-properly-so-it-s/)

[Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/)

> [“Me and Mama never did like the smell of cigarettes but after Daddy died, sometimes we would light one up and put it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-morgan-denkers/me-and-mama-never-did-like-the-smell-of-cigarettes-but-after-daddy/)

[Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/)

> [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/)

[Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/)

> [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/)

[Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/)

> [“I had a dream about you. You had just died, and I was debating putting your body into either a coffin or a shoebox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-had-a-dream-about-you-you-had-just-died-and-i-was-debating-putting/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beautiful-and-bitter/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [“in his hand the heavy, rectangular onyx ashtray that had been on the table. Was he out of his mind? He’d crack her skull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-hand-the-heavy-rectangular-onyx-ashtray-that-had-been-on-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically for an ashtray, didn't find one, tipped his ashes into the palm of his hand,...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted-automatically-for-an-ashtray/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

[Browse all 33 Ashtray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts of cigarettes.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Peter Blatty"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Ashtray"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/william-peter-blatty-6688_ashtray_smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in_845704.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with…” — William Peter Blatty",
                "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": "William Peter Blatty",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“smarting and smoke was hanging thick...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```