Sister Carrie- The Affect and Reflecting of It's Time Period

A detailed Summary of Sister Carrie- The Affect and Reflecting of It's Time Period

The novel, Sister Carrie, written by Theodore Dreiser discusses the life of an eighteen-year old girl leaving Columbia City to start a new life in Chicago. With her are four dollars, a few paltry belongings, and her sister's address in Chicago. Throughout the story, a pattern is shown as Caroline (Carrie) Meeber progresses in the ladder of society: from a poor, jobless girl living below the poverty line to a rich and wealth actress in New York.

Carrie's story starts off living in her sister's flat within the pits of Chicago. The only jobs she could find are hard, backbreaking professions and those that require experience. One day, she finds a difficult and unpleasing job working in a shoe factory where she earns for and a half-dollars a week. This, however, was not enough to satisfy even the bare requirements needed to live within the city.

As winter comes along, Carrie finds herself ill and loses her job. Yet all is not lost. She soon discovers Mr. Drouet, the gentleman she had met at the train station upon arrival to Chicago. At this point, Mr. Drouet has become fond of Carrie and offers her twenty dollars to buy new clothes. One evening, Drouet invites George Hurstwood, a high classed, well to do man, to a

Dreiser reflected the upper class of society through his interpretation of Hurstwood. Through the example of Hurstwood, Dreiser showed Americans the people high in society. Hurstwood represents the modern, capitalist man. His identity is largely derived from his role as manager of Fitzgerald and Moy's. As the manager, he is able to accumulate a rather large income. This income makes him rich thus carrying the symbol of wealth.

One of the biggest changes that capitalism brought to the American culture was an overwhelming emphasis on the "conspicuous consumption." This was the purchasing of goods and services in such a way that one's buying power becomes immediately evident. The readers are shown this when Carrie's wants exceed far past her what she can afford. Her wants typified they way society functioned. It showed Americans that material satisfaction was always temporary. Drouet also represents the class of conspicuous consumers. Throughout the novel, he is portrayed wealthier than he actually is. This is done through his purchasing of trinkets for Carrie and his presence at Fitzgerald and Moy. Consequently, the unsatisfied desire drives the consumer to continue buying more material goods and the desire to buy drives the consumer to work long hours at unpleasant jobs.

Dreiser impacted every level of society by exposing their realities. He showed the readers what truth lied behind his society and how corrupt things were within certain cities. Not only was he able to show how each class in an economy functioned, but was also able to depict the social differences in the role of men and women within such levels of society.

Sister Carrie reflected the author's time period by describing the changing economic structures of American culture. It depicted the situation during the time of the economic boom in the late nineteenth century and exposed the social classes within the economy. Through the different characters and their roles, Dreiser showed how each class of society functioned and how they lived life under their ranks in society. Expression of such distinction between the classes also portrayed the differences between the men and women of his era.

Another idea Dreiser inflicted upon his readers was Charlie Drouet who represented a symbol of the changing economic structure. Thus, through his professions, the reader is shown the mobility of the new worker. He is represented the tradesman of the society. As the tradesma

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Approximate Word count = 1649
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion