Two "carrie" Writing, The Fate Of The Two Kinds Of Game

Theodore Dreiser is a prestigious naturalist writer in America. Sister Carrie, thefirst novel of Theodore Dreiser, became a classic due to its profound thought. Thisthesis aims at exploring the underlying structure of Sister Carrie in terms of meaningand form.This thesis is mainly composed of two parts, i.e. analyzing the surface structureand the underlying structure of Sister Carrie. The analysis of the surface structure iscomprised of five binary opposition pairs, namely the binary opposition betweenChicago and New York, between Carrie and Hurstwood, between the rock chairs ofCarrie and those of Hurstwood, and the binary opposition of Carrie and Hurstwoodthemselves. Through the analysis of the binary opposition, the underlying structure ofSister Carrie in terms of meaning is derived, i.e. the binary opposition between changeand eternity and between free will and environmental determinism. The underlyingstructure of Sister Carrie in terms of form is analyzed hereafter. Through the analysis ofthe background, the relationship between characters and the arrangement of thebeginning and the ending of Sister Carrie, the thesis reaches the conclusion that thenarration in New York is repeating the one in Chicago. In this sense, Hurstwood in NewYork is "Carrie" who makes a living independently.Based on the analysis of the surface and profound structure of Sister Carrie, theconclusion is reached: Sister Carrie is presenting two "Carries”, two ways of living, andthe struggle between two destinies, between change and eternity, as well as between freewill and environmental determinism.