Tommy Ross Character Analysis in Carrie

Tommy is Sue Snell’s boyfriend. He’s a popular jock, but he also has a good reputation, even among the school outcasts, for being intelligent and kind. When Sue asks him to take Carrie to the prom, he is initially reluctant, but he goes along with the plan out of love for Sue. He appears to hold genuine affection for Carrie, calling her beautiful and holding her hand at prom. The two of them have a great time at the dance until they’re voted Prom King and Queen, at which point Chris and Billy drop pig’s blood on them to humiliate Carrie. One of the buckets strikes Tommy in the head, knocking him unconscious. He is later killed in the electrical fire that Carrie starts, although fortunately he is never aware of what’s happening to him. It is heavily implied that Tommy gets Sue pregnant, but she miscarries at the end of the novel.

Tommy Ross Quotes in Carrie

The Carrie quotes below are all either spoken by Tommy Ross or refer to Tommy Ross. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Puberty, Adolescence, and Coming of Age Theme Icon

The mean tricks have been going on ever since grammar school. I wasn’t in on many of them, but I was on some. If I’d been in Carrie’s groups, I bet I would have been in on even more. It seemed liked…oh, a big laugh. Girls can be cat-mean about that sort of thing, and boys don’t really understand. The boys would tease Carrie for a little while and then forget, but the girls...it went on and on and on and I can’t even remember where it started any more. If I were Carrie, I couldn’t even face showing myself to the world. I’d just find a big rock and hide under it.

Related Characters: Sue Snell (speaker), Tommy Ross, Carietta “Carrie” White

Page Number and Citation: 97

Explanation and Analysis:

But he saw for the first time (because it was the first time he had really looked) that she was far from repulsive. Her face was round rather than oval, and the eyes were so dark that they seemed to cast shadows beneath them, like bruises. Her hair was darkish blonde, slightly wiry, pulled back in a bun that was not becoming to her. The lips were full, almost lush, the teeth naturally white.

Related Characters: Carietta “Carrie” White, Tommy Ross

Page Number and Citation: 100

Explanation and Analysis:

She knew it wasn’t as alright as Helen had said. It couldn’t be; she would never be quite the same golden girl again in the eyes of her mates. She had done an ungovernable, dangerous thing—she had broken cover and shown her face.

Related Characters: Tommy Ross, Sue Snell

Page Number and Citation: 126

Explanation and Analysis:

And if he didn’t come, if she drew back and gave up? High school would be over in a month. Then what? A creeping, subterranean existence in this house, supported by Momma, watching game shows and soap operas all day on television at Mrs. Garrison’s house when she had Carrie In To Visit (Mrs. Garrison was eighty-six), walking down to the Center to get a malted after supper at the Kelly Fruit when it was deserted, getting fatter, losing hope, losing even the power to think?

No. Oh dear God, please no.

(please let it be a happy ending)

Related Characters: Carietta “Carrie” White, Margaret White, Tommy Ross, Sue Snell

Page Number and Citation: 147

Explanation and Analysis:

He shrugged. “Let’s vote for ourselves. To the devil with false modesty.”

She laughed out loud, then clapped a hand over her mouth. The sound was almost entirely foreign to her. Before she could think, she circled their names, third from the top. The tiny pencil broke in her hand, and she gasped. A splinter had scratched the pad of one finger, and a small bead of blood welled.

Related Characters: Tommy Ross (speaker), Carietta “Carrie” White

Related Symbols: Blood

Page Number and Citation: 186

Explanation and Analysis:

Tommy Ross Character Timeline in Carrie

The timeline below shows where the character Tommy Ross appears in Carrie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Psychic Phenomena defines telekinesis, speculating that it is an electrochemical feature of the mind. In Tommy’s car, Sue redresses. She’s been dating Tommy since the fall and the two have had... (full context)

Tommy gently chastises Sue for her behavior, then tells her about how, in seventh grade, he... (full context)

...goes to the Kelly Fruit Company, a grocery store and soda fountain, to wait for Tommy until he gets out of baseball practice. There, she encounters Chris and her boyfriend Billy... (full context)

...despite all the sharp scrutiny of her after the incidents of Prom Night, she, Carrie, Tommy, and everyone else involved were just children. (full context)

At his house, Tommy reacts with shock after Sue asks him to ask Carrie to the Spring Ball. He... (full context)

On Thursday, Tommy approaches Carrie in study hall to ask her. He really looks at her for the... (full context)

At dinner, Carrie tells Margaret about Tommy and asks to go to prom with him. Although she reassures Margaret that Tommy is... (full context)

...go through with his threats. He tells Morton that Carrie is going to prom with Tommy, much to Morton’s shock. He continues that it looks like Sue put him up to... (full context)

...Her friend Helen works beside her, complaining about the work. She then asks Sue about Tommy asking Carrie to prom, and Sue admits that she asked him to as atonement for... (full context)

...planning the prom. Chris looks at the seating chart, trembling in anger when she sees Tommy and Carrie’s names together. She then turns her attention to the ballot for Prom King... (full context)

That evening, while Margaret prays hysterically in the house’s chapel, Carrie pins the corsage Tommy gave her to her dress; she must guess at its placement since there is no... (full context)

...she does feel sorry about the pain Carrie endured throughout her life. On prom night, Tommy and Carrie arrive at school. Carrie is nervous, but Tommy compares her to Galatea, a... (full context)

...buckets to the pulleys. Since Chris is rigging the ballots, he feels confident Carrie and Tommy will be King and Queen. In Sue’s autobiography, she recounts how Tommy told her that... (full context)

...response, catching Norma off-guard—much to Carrie’s satisfaction, since she’s usually the butt of the joke. Tommy is similarly unimpressed with Norma, and she leaves bewildered. Tommy asks Carrie to dance, but... (full context)

At prom, Carrie eventually admits to Tommy that she can’t dance. Tommy is understanding, so he suggests they visit other tables. This... (full context)

...sits at home, listening to an album and mending an old dress. She wonders if Tommy will fall in love with Carrie and worries about her period being almost a week... (full context)

...President Vic Mooney. When the ballots are passed out, Carrie is shocked that she and Tommy are on there and asks him if they should decline. Tommy says no, although he... (full context)

In the gym, Tommy prepares to vote for himself and Carrie again, but Carrie is suddenly anxious and asks... (full context)

The run-off votes are counted: Carrie and Tommy win by a single vote. Carrie gasps, and Tommy is once again briefly overwhelmed with... (full context)

...1980 Reader’s Digest article, Norma Watson recounts her experience at the prom. After Carrie and Tommy get up onto the stage, Norma spots a bucket above, which falls and spills red... (full context)

The gym falls silent, with everyone in shock. A student named Josie goes to Tommy, who is still, and calls for a doctor, but everyone is frozen. Norma’s friend Stella... (full context)

...that night, the blood buckets fall. Carrie is doused in blood, and she telepathically feels Tommy’s pain as he’s struck. She closes her eyes, overwhelmed with mortification that she’s been tricked... (full context)

...ways with Sheriff Doyle and sits on some steps for a while, thinking solemnly of Tommy’s death and Carrie’s hand in it. She also thinks of how Carrie murdered her mother—and... (full context)

Carrie

Tommy Ross Character Analysis

Tommy Ross Quotes in Carrie

Part 1: Pages 91-117 Quotes

Part 1: Pages 117-137 Quotes

Part 2: Pages 141-170 Quotes

Part 2: Pages 171-196 Quotes

Tommy Ross Character Timeline in Carrie