An Analysis of Sister Carrie From the Perspective of Naturalism

Abstract：Since Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie was translated into China， it has been loved by the majority of scholars in our country. In recent years， these researches mainly focus on the analysis of his work’s content and its theoretical ideas， but few people combine the work’s content with its ideological significance from a more comprehensive perspective to analyze the naturalism reflected in Sister Carrie.

Key Words： naturalism， historical background， environmental factors

Introduction

In the history of American literary naturalism， Theodore Dreiser is one of the most outstanding novelists in the early twentieth century. In Dreiser’s novels， he discards “the genteel tradition”， which was very popular at the time. On the contrary， he dares to depict the life as it is and discover the dark side of the social life， bravely attacking the traditional moral standard of America. The characters in his novels mostly come from the bottom of society， and during their degeneration driven by their selfish interests and vanities. They are also deeply influenced by the privileges and limitations of the social class. That leads to their misfortunes at last.

1. The historical and cultural background

In the late nineteenth century capitalist economy was booming in the United States and American life underwent some profound transformations.

1.1 Darwinism and determinism

Sister Carrie was written in the period when Darwinism was prevalent. The concept of revolution was put forward by Charles Darwin in the mid-19th century.

Feud’s theory gives theoretic basis to Dreiser’s description of man’s desire. Freud considers man’s natural instinct as determination.

1.2 American naturalism

Sister Carrie was written and published also at the rise of American naturalism， which means a particular genre of fiction that developed in the late 19th century America.

A new and harsher realism， naturalism was introduced to the United States； literary naturalists spoke out against the ideas that literature should present the “smiling aspects of life”.

Leading figures are novelists Jack London， Stephen Crane， Frank Norris and Theodore Dreiser.

1.3 Industrial revolution

Industrial revolution changed American people’s values and brought a value crisis to this country. The surprising development made people feel too close to wealth and happiness. Then appeared small amounts of industrial giants and large number of poor people， American value materialistic to the core.

2. Naturalistic environmental factors for Carrie

According to American naturalists， world was amoral， men and women had no free will， their lives were controlled by heredity and the environment.

2.1 The living environmental factors

After Carrie went to Chicago， she felt like a new Baby who had been brought to the new world. She needed food， clothes and houses， and needed someone to take care of her.

2.2 The social environmental factors

At the end of nineteenth century， America’s industrial production has been ranked first in the world. The prosperity of economy has changed the traditional way of American’s work and life style.

Before Carrie was tempted by Drouet and Hurstwood， she had been tempted by the vitality that this city might bring， the endless opportunities and the enjoyment of the material. But in real life， the wild atmosphere， the dirty environment and the vulgar man were unbearable to her.

2.3 Mysterious manipulations of chance

Finally， Carrie was also a victim of the fate and chance. In Sister Carrie， her encounter with Drouet on the train and the later meet in Chicago seemed to be the mysterious manipulations of fate.

Hurstwood’s life was also full of accidents. Firstly he and Carrie met by chance for the first time. The following development of things was completely beyond expectation. The hard-line attitude of his wife who asked for a divorce disturbed him.

3. Naturalistic hereditary factors for Carrie

Except for environmental factors， hereditary factors also had a profound influence on Carrie’s life. The endowed gifts guaranteed her success， and the insatiable desire motivated her success.

3.1 Endowed gifts guaranteeing her success

In the process of gaining fame and fortune， hereditary factors also played a crucial role in the success of Carrie. “The mysterious manipulation of chances doomed her success in the jungle of the cities” （Pan Xinhua 23）.

3.2 Insatiable desire for pleasure serving as a propelling force

Dreiser thinks each person’s actions are a direct response to a series of internal impulse and external temptation， so no one can ponder prudently， can make choices.

When Carrie first arrived at her sister’s house， she was disappointed at the narrow， humble， and poor-furnished flat and her sister’s strained life. “She was glad to be out of the flat， because already she felt it was a narrow， humdrum place， and that interest and joy lay elsewhere” （Gerber 26）.

As a conclusion， we can see that insatiable desire for pleasure served as a propelling force in the process of Carrie’s success. The desire for a more secure life and brighter future motivated her to move forward to achieve her dream.

4. Naturalism’s limitation as reflected in Sister Carrie

Although American naturalism was prevalent in the late 19th century， it still had some limitations as reflected in Sister Carrie.

4.1 Critique of pessimistic determinism

After the civil war the United States came into a relatively peaceful period， capitalist economy developing in a relative surprising speed. “This thought did not admit the aim of nature existence， also did not admit the meaning of life existence” （Zhou Guifeng 96）.

4.2 Critique of human beast

Sister Carrie depicted the human nature of “the beast” （Lingeman 62） in detail. That was， human behavior was driven by instinct desire.

With regard to Hurstwood’s ups and downs， we can’t simply think it is an inevitable result of his moral decay.

5. Conclusion

This thesis chooses Sister Carrie as an object of study. First it depicts the American literature background at that time and the author himself. Then it mainly analyzes the character of the heroine to depict a real American social life in the late 1890’s. At last， the limitations of pessimistic determinism and human beast have been explored. We can conclude that Sister Carrie is a masterpiece of literary naturalism.

Besides， there is no doubt that Dreiser is a naturali， focusing on effects of hereditary and environmental factors” （Zhuang Huaye 78）.

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