Sister Carrie :: essays research papers

I think it is very tricky to define the exact character of Dreisers &type AquotSister Carrie& group Aquot, and his original intention. I would say, &quotas many eyes, so many opinions&quot, so no oddment there argon different approaches and interpretations towards the impertinent which is influenced not just by the readers narration or personal experience, but in like manner by their particular philosophy of life as well as knowledge about the historical background. &quotSister Carrie&quot muckle be read as a novel of desire, seduction, or the critique of capitalism and consumerism. Its definitely not the plot or characters which are dominant elements of it. The taste and the literary value of Dreisers novel is wrought and created by its setting and the authors tone. moolah and New York reserve almost as organic and important role in the novel as the characters. They do not just form the simple milieu for the novel, but they influence its character and a very rugged impression. Chicagos character is kind of more &quotpositive&quot, it is a city of promise, luck, rise (Carrie). We skunk say that in Chicago, Hurtswood representation something. New York s character is different. Its a city of lies, fall, nonpersonal isolation of &quotwalled city where surviving is much more difficult than in Chicago. In New York, Hurstwood means nothing. The setting creates different expectations to raft. During the reading of &quotSister Carrie&quot, I was interested in meddling and revealing the different kinds of desire. Generally we can say that Dreiser deals with the desire of wealth, sociable status, material things which are represented by money. Within this generalization, we can meet and identify many other faces and forms of lust and longing. Carrie, as an ambitious and strong woman embodies the social values of the consumer culture. All she longs for is a material wealth, which represents power. She can be seen as a symbol o f money. But Carrie lives in a world of prices. Her labor costs $4.50 board $4 a calendar week car fare $.60 cheap lunch $.10 etc. She imitates everything perfectly and thats why she is becoming what people want her to become. Her desires come from other peoples desires. It is exactly Drouet, who introduces her to the world of wealth, to materialism. He gives her money, flat even &quotname when she enters the world of theater. She plays her role according to Drouets desires once acts as his mistress or &quotwife&quot.