From Sister Carrie To An American Tragedy

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) is one of the representatives of American naturalism. His literary works have been either acclaimed or criticized from the perspective of naturalism. However, Dreiser's naturalistic dedication does not last lifelong. He involves deeper and deeper in politics in the latter half of his literary career and gradually shows strong tendencies toward socialism. This thesis examines Dreiser's first novel Sister Carrie and his masterpiece An American Tragedy, for a critical study of the influences Dreiser's changing ideological thoughts and his social critical standpoint have on his fictional world, so as to prove that Dreiser begins his literary career as a naturalist and gradually outgrows naturalism to become a vigorous social critic with socialist tendencies.This thesis probes into Dreiser's different views on social setting, on characters and their values, on forces that determine characters'fate and on moral judgment in the two novels respectively. By doing so, the author compares the naturalistic features of Sister Carrie and the social critical nature of An American Tragedy, and reveals in the latter novel the deeper social criticism, larger social canvas and more tragic portrayal of characters'destiny, all of which indicates Dreiser's evolving social views. Sister Carrie concerns about how men, like animals, struggle for existence in the social jungle and are played about by the natural forces. An American Tragedy, on the other hand, probes into the social, economic, political and legal systems to find the root sources of characters'tragedy and proves that it is a tragedy caused by the capitalist social system and that it can be avoided only if the social systems are changed. Thus, Dreiser has showed strong socialist tendencies in An American Tragedy.Therefore, the thesis reaches the conclusion that to pigeonhole Dreiser in the narrow slot of naturalism does him no credit and that Dreiser has showed socialist tendencies in An American Tragedy by strongly attacking the evils of the capitalist system.