暑期嘉莉妹妹读书报告

1、The Need of Independence and Spiritual Life Reading on Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to Sarah and John Paul Dreiser, a strict Catholic family. Theodore attended Indiana University before flunking out. Within several years, he was writing for the Chicago Globe newsp

2、aper and then St. Luis Globe Democrat. His first novel, Sister Carrie, sold poorly, but it later acquired a considerable reputation. His second novel, Jennie Gerhardt, was published in 1977. Many of his subsequent novels dealt with social inequality. Though primarily known as a novelist, Dreiser pub

3、lished his first collection of short stories, Free and Other Stories in 1918. Dreiser had an enormous influence on the generation that followed him. In his tribute “Dreiser” from Horses and Men, Sherwood Anderson writes: Heavy, heavy, the feet of Theodore. Alfred Kevin characterized Dreiser as “stro

4、nger than all the others of his time, and the same time more poignant; greater than the world he has described, but as significant as the people in it,” while Larder Ziff remarked that Dreiser “succeeded beyond any of his predecessors or successors in producing a great American novel.” Dreisers grea

5、t theme was the tremendous tensions that can arise among ambition, desire, and social mores. Dreiser died on December 28, 1945 in Hollywood, aged 74. Today I want to write my viewpoint about Dreisers first novel, Sister Carrie. The leading character in this novel was Carrie, a rural girl. In August

6、of 1889, Carrie Meeber left her small town to find employment in the city of Chicago. Theodore Dreiser, the author of Sister Carrie, informed the reader that, “Self-interest with her was high, but not strong. It was nevertheless her guiding characteristic.” With her youth and innocence she hoped to

7、seek employment so that she could get and bought all the nice things that she wanted. Carrie did not have any idea how hard this was going to be. When she tried to find a job, she was scared. Carrie had no skills to offer an employer, no job experience, and her clothing was of poor quality. Chicago

8、was a large city, but society at that time did not have many job opportunities for working women. The only jobs that Carrie could possibly get were in the factories that, paid low wages, had poor working conditions, and long hours. She knew that after she paid rent to her brother-in-law, she would h

9、ave very little left to buy all the When Carrie took the job beautiful things that she longed for. at the shoe factory, she did not like the hard work and considered the other women who worked there to be common. When winter arrived, Carrie got sick and stayed home from work which caused her to lose

10、 her job. After she lost her job, she could not pay the rent to her brother-in-law. She thought about going back to her hometown. Then she met the business salesman Drouet again, who she met for the first time on the train to Chicago. Drouet was aware of her beauty and innocence and he hoped to char

11、m and seduced her. He lent Carrie money to buy nice winter clothes, treated her to fine meals, took her to the theater, and showed her the sights of Chicago. Because Carrie was young and inexperienced in the world of men, she was not wise enough to understand where all Drouets attention was leading

12、toward. Although she knew that the money should be given back, her desire and longing for the good things in life were so powerful that she ignored her beliefs in what was right and wrong. It was unthinkable for any decent woman to live with a man without marriage. Yet, Carrie ignored the rules. Dro

13、uets promise to eventually marry Carrie allowed her to ignore her conscience which told her that her behavior was wrong. The longer Drouet and Carrie lived together, she finally realized that she is not deeply in love with him, she was smarter, and he was not as sophisticated as she had first though

14、t. When Drouet invites his friend, Hurstwood, to dinner, She met a man who was cleverer than Drouet in a hundred ways. Carrie had gone with Drouet because of financial need to avoid returning to her hometown. Carrie loved Hurstwood and agreed to leave with him believing that they would marry each ot

15、her right away. In order to be with the girl he beloved, Hurstwood stolen the wine shops business money. He cheated Carrie into eloping with him. The money he stolen was finally confiscated. Their life was in straitened circumstances. It was ironic that she was backing in the same financial situatio

16、n as before. Hurstwood was not able to find or keep a job. With no one left to support her, Carrie got a job. As her theater career rose and her social status improved, Hurstwood became completely dependent on Carrie. He was no longer the intelligent, assured, and cultured man that she thought he wa

17、s. With the ability to support herself, Carrie leaves Hurstwood. He became a street person and ended up with killing himself. Carrie was young, innocent, and scared when she first Going arrived in Chicago. With no skills, she cant find a job. against the social rules of her generation, she lived wit

18、h two men as their mistress. They gave her the material things she desired. Her judgment in selecting men was based on their appearance and not on their character. Finally, she was without support and forced to make it on her own. In New York as a result of chance, she became a star at the actor, go

19、t the upper reaches of society and realized her fantasy. However, the so-called %upper-class social life did not give her anything at all? She felt that life was empty and couldnt find the true meaning of life. Being in the loneliness and desolation, she dreamed of sitting in a rocking chair in a TV

20、 drama without happiness. The author of this novel used extinguished realism skill to expose the poverty, unemployment, starvation and dark of American society under the flourishing. The novel was the early representative in American naturalism. Since its publication, there have been many critics wh

21、o commented on this works, and its main character Sister Carrie was a controversial person. Dreiser was criticized by critics and readers because he didnt give any comment on her degeneration. But there were some other people thought that life. on passion the of full and sincere frank, was novel thi

22、s Dreiser was a writer of great passion on life. He was not afraid he would be considered as an uncivilized person who crowded into literature circle from lower society. He always used a series of true stories to uncover the cruel reality of American society. It was just this kind of popular and nat

23、ural writing method that made this novel impressing and entered the worlds famous literature treasury. Just as what The New York Times Book Review said: “Few American novels have been launched into the stream of naturalism and literary history as decisively as Theodore Dreisers SISTER CARRIE. I learned a lot from this novel. Firstly, the character Carrie was