1。1 Brief Introduction of Sister Carrie来自优Y尔L论W文Q网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ7520~18766

Dreiser’s first revolutionary novel, Sister Carrie, which traced the material rise of Carrie Meeber and the tragic decline of G。W。Hurstwood, was published in 1900。 It is one of his novels in which he posts his views about the influence of heredity and environment on man’s fate。 This novel had been treated unfairly and even forbidden to get published for it reveals the financial disparity and the moral decline of American society。 Some scholars still adhere to their negative attitudes towards this masterpiece for it goes against conventional moral standards。 But now the book becomes one of the best-sellers around the world and it undeniably makes great contribution to the maturity of Naturalism。 

It tells a story about how a poor rural girl succeeds as a famous actress in a big city。 With the desire of living a better life Carrie, a dreamy and ignorant girl, goes to Chicago to meet her sister and find a job。 But later, the disappointed experiences of working at the shoe factory and being coldly treated by her brother-in-law push her to accept Drouet with whom she becomes acquainted on the train and be his mistress。 Then, she falls in love with Hursthood, a saloon manager, and elopes with him to go to New York to live a new life。 But when they live there, Hurstwood gradually loses his enterprise while Carrie becomes mature and independent both economically and spiritually。 At last, she regards him as a burden and leaves him。 Hurstwood, then, is poorer and poorer, becomes a beggar, and commits suicide in the end。 On the contrary, Carrie succeeds in career, becomes a star of musical comedies and earns a lot of money by her own efforts。 论文网

1。2 Naturalism 

1。2。1 The Definition of Naturalism

Naturalism is a literary movement that emphasizes observation and the scientific method in the fictional portrayal of reality。 In reality, Naturalism began as a branch of literary realism which favored fact, logic, and impersonality, but it was different from realism。

 One of the Naturalism’s features is the reporter's assumption of detached observation, in which the author maintains an impersonal tone and disinterested point of view。 Theodore Dreiser, Stephen Crane, and Frank Norris were journalists and they attempted to immerse themselves in the world of fact。 Since the destiny of the characters in their books had been predetermined, they wouldn’t disturb the development of the stories but just to work as a narrator。

Naturalistic authors incline to frankly depict the financial, social life of the underclass and speak out of the dark aspects of society, like misery, poverty, racism, and violence。 Vary from the then-popular ideas that literature should present the “smiling aspects of life”, Naturalists honestly demonstrated and harshly criticized the cruel social disparity。 In reality, the idea that the life of humanity is miserable and not until one die could he run away from this fate could be easily found in their books。 And that’s why many critics blame them for being too pessimistic and concentrating excessively on the darker aspects of life。

 Besides, American naturalists advocate Determinism, the opposite of free will, in which a character's fate has been decided, even predetermined, by impersonal forces of nature beyond human control; and a sense that the universe itself is indifferent to human life。 And they stresses that man is also controlled by their instincts or desires。文献综述

1。2。2 The Influence of Darwinism

In 1900s, Darwin’s theory of evolution that the origin of the universe and all things contained there by natural processes is widely accepted and proclaimed。 This theory emerged in Europe was then introduced into America and nurtured a new and harsher realism--naturalism。 Sister Carrie was written in the period when Darwinism was prevalent。 Due to the poor family background, Dreiser learned the difference between "American Dream" and reality at an early age; he soon understood the difficulty of mere survival。 Such life experiences persuaded Dreiser to believe that the society was a jungle and men were similar to animals。 Darwinism seems to stress that man is amoral, to suggest that the irresistible forces of evolution dominates him。 Darwinists belief that humans are highly evolved animals which is totally against the religious belief that human beings are created by God。 And they scarcely believe the power of God。 Therefore, the human animal responds to environmental forces like any other animals。