Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Analyze Sister Carrie’s Desire

Abstract：This thesis is based on the story of Sister Carrie，combined with the definitions of Maslows hierarchy of needs and the analysis of change of Carries desire.According to Maslows hierarchy of needs，Carrie will try to satisfy her desire continually.

Key words：Maslow；hierarchy of needs；Sister Carrie；desire

Physiological Needs

Physiological needs are the fundamental needs of human beings.It means if a man lacks food，freedom，love，public relationship，esteem，philosophy，he will put food on the top of his needs.（Maslow，2007，p.19）

As a country girl，Carrie lives with her sister in the city and accepts money and new clothes from Charles Drouet.According to Maslow，She needs food，money and house to survive in the strange city.

Safety Needs

Safety needs consist of safety，steadiness，dependence，statute and boundary and request for power of protector and so on.（Maslow，2010，p.22）

After Carrie loses her job，the Hansons plan to make her go back to hometown.Obviously，Carrie will not live a steady life in their house and she needs safety.Carrie accepts Charless propose which is appropriate and she will live steadily with him to satisfy the safety needs.

Love and Belonging Needs

Love，relationship and belonging needs means that human will be anxious for affectionate relationship with others and a position in his group and family.（Maslow，2010，p.26）

Charles does not want to fulfill his promise of marriage which makes Carrie feel unbalanced.Lacking of satisfaction of belonging needs with Charles，Carrie begins to have affectionate feelings for Hurstwood，who loves her deeply.Hurstwood elopes with Carrie and gives her a family，a symbol of belonging sense in the society.That Carrie chooses him and breaks up with Charles has traces to find in her psychological changes，which is reasonable to satisfy her love and belonging needs.

Esteem Needs

All the people in the society need a steady，firm and high evaluation for them and they demand and desire self-esteem，self-respect and respect from others，（Maslow，2010，p.28） which are defined as esteem needs.

Although Carrie soon gets attentions from the audiences as well as her boss at the theatre，she is disappointed at a play review which acclaims that her success is due to her beauty and good luck.Working harder than ever，she changes the bias of the society gradually，which reveals her desire for public acknowledgment.The satisfaction of esteem needs makes her confident in challenge more in her future life.endprint

Self-actualization Needs

One must become what he can become and he must be royal to his nature，which is defined as self-actualization needs.（Maslow，2010，p.29）One becomes a more and more unique person and becomes all that he can become.

At the end of the novel，Carrie sits alone and dreams for realization of her ideal happiness.With the help of others and her seizing the opportunities，she becomes good at acting and she makes her a better person who is destined to be an actress in comedy as well as in serious play.Everyone has his own measures to satisfy his self-actualization needs and Sister Carrie，who is an innocent country girl at first and now achieves to have her own standard of success，has her own way to pursue her dream life firmly.

Conclusion

Carrie is a representative of Maslows humanist psychology.She is a good-hearted girl with little interest in reading books initially.However，she catches the opportunity to achieve a higher level and grows up to be a mature and elegant woman with knowledge and thoughts eventually.During the process，Carrie has been confronted with the themes of leaving others and rebuilding her own mind again and again until she finally reaches the highest psychological level of self-actualization.She is a brave person who tries continually to realize her dream and she deserves admires and applauses from the realistic society.

參考文獻：

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作者簡介：

陳彥仿（1990—），女，漢族，山東青島市人，學生，英語語言文學碩士，單位：青島科技大學外國語學院英語語言文學專業；研究方向：英美文學。endprint