Valiant Is the Word for Carrie

In the fictional Southern town of Crebillon, Carrie Snyder is a prostitute who is forced to leave after forming a friendship with a young boy, Paul Darnley, whose dying mother Janet Young cannot stop him from visiting such a woman. After Carrie leaves town, Paul runs away from his abusive father George Darnley and meets a girl named Lady, who has run away from a burning trainwreck and does not want to return to the people she was with. Carrie returns for Paul and brings him and Lady to New York, where Carrie lands an apartment and starts a successful chain of laundry stores. They become part of a rising, comfortable life, and Lady becomes attracted to Paul, but he feels a deeper obligation toward a young woman named Lilli Eipper, whose brother’s death he caused; the brother had been pushing Paul to try to get on the train, but when Paul pushed back, the train door closed with the brother outside, his coat snagged, and he was dragged along under the wheels.

As wealth grows, Lilli pretends to love Paul because he is rich, which Carrie can see but Paul cannot. Carrie devises a plan to make Lilli leave, telling her that if she will depart from Paul, she will help get Lilli’s true love out of jail. They attempt to break the man out of jail, but they are caught. Lilli is fatally shot and Carrie is sent to jail. An old lawyer friend, Harry Carey, vows to fight for her freedom, but Carrie decides to plead guilty to protect Lady from learning about her past as a prostitute. She also fears it would tarnish the reputation of the children. The lawyer ends by speaking to Paul’s employer, Dudley Digges, in a final assessment of Carrie’s courage and resolve.

“valiant is the word for Carrie”

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:51