Carrie’s dreams of American Dream

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【Abstract】Theodore Dreiser is one of America’s greatest writers， and its greatest naturalist writer. Dreiser committed his literary force to opening the new ground of American naturalism. Dreiser’s life story influenced the characters of Sister carrie

【Key words】Theodore Dreiser，dreams of american dream，Carrie

Theodore Dreiser is one of America’s greatest writers， and its greatest naturalist writer. With the publication of Sister Carrie in 1900， Dreiser committed his literary force to opening the new ground of American naturalism .The effects of Dreiser’s work are still rippling through American fiction. Dreiser’s life story influenced the characters of Sister Carrie. Dreiser was raises in Terre Haule， Indiana， in misery and bruising poverty. At fifteen Dreiser fled from home and went to Chicago， the city Sister Carrie went to. He washed dishes in cheap restaurant， clerked in a store， and painted advertising signs. He dreamed of wealth and social success in the great metropolis. He embarked on series of menial jobs and wandered the city streets at night， storing up impressions of drunks， thieves， prostitutes， and beggars. Finally he got a job on a newspaper and began a career. Eventually he went to New York City. He read widely the evolutionary theorizing of some philosophers as Thomas Huxley and Herbert Spencer， and as the last remnant of Dreiser’s religions faith drained away he was left with the deterministic belief that man was merely a mechanism moved by chemical and physical forces beyond is control . In 1899， he began writing Sister Carrie； Sister Carrie did more to change modern American fiction than any since. Dreiser’s own experience in Chicago and New York were the perfect material for the story of a poor country protagonist who comes to the city to seek whatever she can find.

Today， I want to discuss with you regarding the analyze of carrie and her American dream， let us go thought the carrie’s world：

Carrie Meeber， a young and impressionable girl of 18， moves away from her small hometown to make fortunes. She knows if she wants to live better she must struggle against poverty and hardship， wanting desperately， having and then losing it， only to regain it by her own courage and ambition. We first meet Carrie on the train to Chicago. Her older sister， married to a railroad worker there， has agreed to let Carrie stay with them without paying board until she finds a job. On the train Carrie meets a flashily dressed self-assured young traveling salesman， Drouet. He is attracted by her fresh prettiness and native admiration， and she is deeply impressed by his familiarity with her dream city. He gives her his card， urging her to get in touch with him if she needs help. Came is bitterly disappointed by the dismal little flat near the railroad and her sister’s narrow life devoted entirely to a rather grumpy husband and their baby， this has nothing to do with Carrie’s vision of Chicago. She immediately begins looking for a job， and after many humiliating rejections finds one clerking in a department store basement. However， she is discharged when she resents her supervisor’s attempt at sexual familiarity. Again she must begin the painful attempt to find work， hurt by repeated contemptuous refusals and the total indifference of the crowds among whom she walks in the streets or waits for an interview in factories and stores.

Carrie is a more passive character. Poor and pure as she is， she seems to be trapped in the bottom stratums of society， but chance makes her get rid of the difficult position. When Carrie leaves home at the age of 18and takes train to Chicago， Carrie soon becomes interested in Drouet who sitting behind her and talking to her due to his fine clothing and manner .And when she was forced by poor living and job condition， she is so elated by the way he treats her that she agrees to allow him to rent an apartment for her. From then on， Carrie’s virtue decline， and Carrie is quick becoming more graceful as she leaves what benefits a proper young woman. And because Hurstwood who wants Carrie is far more refines and elegant than Drouet， Carrie finally leaves Drouet and is passively seduced by Hustwood . She seeks for happiness， especially material happiness. Though there are changes in her life， she realized that money， reputation and beautiful clothes cannot bring happiness to her and the individual satisfaction is only a dream .As the novel described： Carrie soon found that a little money brought her nothing. The world of wealth and distinction was quite as far as ever. She could feel that there was no warm， sympathetic friendship back of the easy merriment with which many approached her. All seemed to be seeking their own amusement， eagardless of the possible sad consequence to others.

As Hurstwood experiences what it is like to be poor he begins to see the life of his wealthy past as “... a city with a wall about it” （Dreiser， 1982， p. 396）. If one has no money one cannot get in there since there are guards at the gates and the people who are inside are so merry that they do not care about the ones that are outside. While I was reading the passage where is some troth in his idea of a city within walls？ It is the people who make the city； the city is divided into smaller cities—closed circles containing friends， family， careers and so on， and every circle of people experiences the city differently depending on social status and dreams among other things. If people have a high social status and they also have money they can spend and thus participate in all the pleasure the city has to offer. Some， like Carrie， look at the city with pleasure， where there is only happiness for the rich people and where for beggars there is only cold and humiliation.

【References】

[1]Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie， trans. 英语学书虫研究室（Kuitun： Yili People’s Press，2001.

[2]Hu Yintong and Liu Shusen. A course in American literature[M]. Tianjing： Nankai University Press，1995.

[3]Jack London. What life means to me[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，1994.

[4]西奥多·德莱塞.嘉莉妹妹[M].北京：人民文学出版社，2003.