Abstract

Theodore Dreiser is one of the most famous writers of America. His first novel Sister Carrie, through describing a country girl Carrie who goes to Chicago to make a living and finally becomes a famous actress, reveals the survival competition under the cover of prosperous capitalist society. This paper begins with a brief introduction to the author and his Sister Carrie, and then attempts to analyze the objective and subjective causes of the protagonist Carrie’s endless desire, aiming to disclose the dark side of that particular society.

Key words: Sister Carrie, endless desire, objective causes, subjective causes

摘 要

西奥多德莱赛是美国著名的作家之一。他的第一部长篇小说为《嘉莉妹妹》，通过描写农村姑娘嘉莉到芝加哥谋生而成为名演员的故事，揭露了资本主义社会繁荣外衣掩盖下的生存斗争。本文由简单介绍作者和他的作品《嘉莉妹妹》入手,然后试图分析导致主人公嘉莉的无穷无尽的欲望的客观和主观原因,旨在揭露当时社会的阴暗面。

关键词：嘉莉妹妹；无穷的欲望；客观原因；主观原因

1.    Introduction
As is known to all, Theodore Dreiser is one of the most outstanding realistic writers of American literature. Hemingway, William Faulkner and Dreiser were regarded as the big three of American novels. Dreiser is good at using plenty of real details to display vividly people’s life backgrounds and to reproduce a historical period. His first work Sister Carrie shapes a typical example of American modern literature, and it also stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the history of American novels. Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, a small town of Indiana. He was the twelfth of 13 children. His father, a German immigrant, lost everything when his large wool mill was burned down. Since then they had a poor life. Dreiser once did many jobs such as a salesman, deliveryman, reporter and editor of magazine. All his social experience brings him lots of ideas for composing literature works. He is renowned for exploring real life filled with many sufferings. As a writer from the bottom of society, Dreiser always had the sympathy for the weak. His major works are largely characterized by the combination of socialism and individualism. Most of his works reveal social phenomena and reflect the truth of life and people’s thought in his time. His famous works include Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt and An American Tragedy, of which Sister Carrie is Dreiser’s first long novel. It describes a girl who came from the countryside to Chicago to search for happiness. Carrie had undertaken several hardships of job hunting and unemployment. To get rid of poverty, she became the mistress of a salesman Drouet and later eloped to New York with a hotel manager Hurtswood. However, later Hurtswood lost his job in New York. For the sake of her life, Carrie became a chorus actress. An accidental chance made her famous and became a comedic actress of Broadway.