SISTER CARRIE (Theodore Dreiser)

SISTER CARRIE

Theodore Dreiser

学号：1303200006 姓名：赵弯弯 班级：13级专升本

Theodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to Sarah and John Paul Dreiser, a strict Catholic family. He lived a hard life. And he didn’t received the system of education. He was independent living in childhood. In childhood, he contacted with many layers of social character and the dark side. So it decided to create pessimism and naturalism in his works. He finished a maiden work, called Sister Carrie in 1990. Then he wrote many works, such as Jennie Gerhardt , An American Tragedy, The Financier, The Titan, The Genius and so on. I choose to read this book. Because I thought it accorded with real life. The book described a rural girl went to Chicago for living and finally she became a super star. The author of this novel used extinguished realism skill to expose the poverty, unemployment, starvation and dark of American society under the flourishing. The novel was the early representative in American naturalism. Meanwhile, it revealed the interpersonal callous stakes in American life. Everything for oneself. And it proved this point in modern life.

The book told a girl, who is beautiful, timid, young and innocent, smart, vanity and full of fantasy for a big city. Carrie Meeber left her small town to find employment in the city of Chicago. She looked her sister and sought new life at the same time. Dazzling city made her take the train to the Chicago. However, she

didn’t know that it covered many lies, fallacies, evils, hypocrisies in the dazzling city. She became Drouet and Hurstwood’s lover for living. Finally she become a famous star.

The leading character in this novel was Carrie. What kind of person Carrie is? When I read the book, I thought Carrie was such an ordinary rural girl at the beginning of the story. Sitting on the seat of a bus, she couldn’t help feeling exciting at the sight of the metropolis’ spectacle. She was impressed deeply by large crowd on the avenue, the spacious square or tall buildings. But she was not afraid of the future. At the beginning of the book, a eighteen girl, who leaved her home and looked for her sister. She had a fantasy heart for big city. Carrie Meeber left her small town to find new life. Theodore Dreiser, the author of Sister Carrie, informed the reader that, “Self-interest with her was high, but not strong. It was nevertheless her guiding characteristic.” With her youth and innocence she hoped to seek employment so that she could get and bought all the nice things that she wanted. Carrie did not have any idea how hard this was going to be.

In the book, “ when a girl leaves her home at home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse. Of an intermediate balance, under the circumstances, there is no possibility. ” When I saw this, I was thinking. Isn’t it that in real life? Now many young people went out work. “ Live in the silt but not imbrued.” But as time goes on, many people got to go with the flow because of social pressure and life stress. And some people did bad things.

Then I read this book, Carrie had many pressure about sister and her brother-in-law. When she tried to find a job, she was scared. Carrie had no skills to offer an employer, no job experience, and her clothing was of poor quality. Chicago was a large city, but society at that time did not have many job opportunities for working women. The only jobs that Carrie could possibly get were in the factories that, paid low wages, had poor working conditions, and long hours. Gradually, she was fed up with the poor life. After she lost her job, She thought about going back to her hometown. Then she met the business salesman Drouet again, who she met for the first time on the train to Chicago. Drouet was aware of her beauty and innocence and he hoped to charm and seduced her. Because Carrie was young and inexperienced in the world of men, she was not wise enough to understand where all Drouet's attention was leading toward. Although she knew that the money should be given back, her desire and longing for the good things in life were so powerful that she ignored her beliefs in what was right and wrong. If she gave up this life, she would live a poor life again. That was Carrie, a girl had her own desire, a human being just like many others in the realistic world.There’s one sentence written in chapter VIII:” When this jangle of free-will instinct shall have been adjusted, when perfect understanding has given the former the power to replace the latter entirely, man will no longer vary.”“In Carrie ― as in how many of our wordings do they not? ― instinct and reason, desire and understanding, were at war for the mastery.” When I read this, I changed my opinion for Carrie. She was not a innocent and lovely girl at all. Because she could not stand the poor life. She yielded to real life. It was unthinkable for any decent woman to live with a man without marriage. Yet, Carrie ignored the rules. Then she found a job in the theater. During the time, there were many contradictions

between Carrie and Drouet. When Drouet invites his friend, Hurstwood, who is manger of Fitzgerald and Moy’s. He had been pointed out as a very successful and well-known man about town. His managerial position was fairly important---a kind of stewardship which was imposing, but lacked financial control. He was attracted this girl and he began to pursue the girl. Even he ignored the rules. In order to be with the girl he beloved, Hurstwood stolen the wine shop’s business money. He cheated Carrie into eloping with him. Drouet's promise to eventually marry Carrie allowed her to ignore her conscience which told her that her behavior was wrong. The longer Drouet and Carrie lived together, she finally realized that she is not deeply in love with him. Carrie had gone with Drouet because of financial need to avoid returning to her hometown. Carrie loved Hurstwood and agreed to leave with him believing that they would marry each other right away. However, Carrie was deceived again.

In my opinion, Carrie lived with two men as their mistress. They gave her the material things she desired. Her judgment in selecting men was based on their appearance and not on their character. I ever thought she was vanity and self-abandonment. She loved a kind of entertainments. She wanted to got the upper reaches of society. Gradually, I hated her.

The climax was Hurstwood’s life in New York. The money he stolen was finally confiscated. Their life was in straitened circumstances. It was ironic that she was backing in the same financial situation as before. Hurstwood was not able to find or keep a job. With no one left to support her, Carrie got a job. As her theater career rose and her social status improved, Hurstwood became completely

dependent on Carrie. He was no longer the intelligent, assured, and cultured man that she thought he was. With the ability to support herself, Carrie leaves Hurstwood. He became a street person and ended up with killing himself.

After Hurstwood went broke, Carrie discarded him. Maybe many people thought thar it was degrading. AT the same time, she became a star at the actor.She got money and career.

After she became a star, she met Ames. Ames said: “ What good would it do ? A man doesn’t need this sort of thing to be happy.” When she became a star at the actor, got the upper reaches of society and realized her fantasy. However, the so-called \"upper-class social life\" did not give her anything at all? She felt that life was empty and couldn’t find the true meaning of life. Being in the loneliness and desolation, she dreamed of sitting in a rocking chair in a TV drama without happiness.

When I finished the book, I was wrong. I should not criticize Carrie. How did I can？Actually, I didn’t know.

From ancient to modern times, human followed sage. We thought they were perfect. But we were human. We looked forward to living a rich life. We want to enjoy life. So did Carrie. She lived a poor life at her sister’ s home. She realized that it was hard and money was important. So she tried her best to get everything.

However, why was Carrie not happy? She got everything. Money, career and so

on. Actually, we pursued good life. It is right. But to my enlightenment, as we busy pursuing material life and scrambling power and social position, we shouldn’t ignore our spiritual needs. We should find the true meaning of life. In my opinion, we had some sincere friends, harmonious family and our obligation. I ever saw the sentence:” One supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.”