An Analysis Of The Theme And Artistic Techniques In An American Tragedy

Theodore Dreiser is unquestionably one of the most important American writers in American literary history. An American Tragedy is generally regarded as Theodore Dreser's masterpiece. Though it is a long novel with a simple plot, it attracted many readers and critics and brought Dreiser fame and commercial success with its publication. This essay attempts to analyze the theme and writing skills exposed in the novel to explore some artistic features of Dreiser's writing and provides readers a kind of enlightenment while reading.Theodore Dreiser chose a familiar American theme in this novel: A young inexperienced beginner's pursuit of American Dream. Influenced by the factors from society, family and his own heredity, Clyde degrades gradually from a naive innocent boy to a sly, flattery, immoral, shameless, cruel and inhumane murderer. Clyde' s tragedy is a representative of American youth at that time. Dreiser chose this theme not simply to caution the readers that the American Dream was only an illusion but to suggest his failure in self-seeking.Like many famous writers, Dreiser is not one-dimensional but full of complexities. "Realist" and "Naturalist" are both terms that have been applied to Dreser by critics. Many literary critics have been trying to put him into a certain category, but have invariably failed. In his masterpiece, An American Tragedy, Dreier exposed his outstanding talent in characterization and plot creation. The thesis analyzed skills that Dreiser had applied in characterization and plot creation and concluded that the novel's characterization had characteristics of both categories. Through some omission and exaggeration in plot creation, Dreiser made the novel become not only an authentic report of a murder case but also an attractive work of art for readers. The novel became the perfect combination of naturalism and realism.Dreiser absorbed and applied both realistic and naturalistic skills to invent his characters and plot in this novel. He did not dogmatically follow the doctrines of realism or naturalism, but applied them flexibly thus made the novel more authentic and attractive to readers. Another greatness Dreiser achieved in this novel is his successful application of Freud's psychoanalytic theory in exploring the inner conflicts of characters. That's why some critics began to realize that Dreiser's greatness as a writer was beyond his achievement in naturalism but lies in his insight, his sympathy, and his tragic view of life.