The Making Of Sister Carrie:from The Perspective Of Field And Habitus

Theodore Dreiser is an outstanding naturalistic writer of American literary history in20th century. His first novel, Sister Carrie, deliberately describes transgression on human desires and consumption, and social immorality with a sharp style. He thinks that people do not have freedom of choice, completely influenced by environmental factors. It is not only beneficial to an appreciation of American fiction but is also valuable to further understand the capitalist society in America at that time as well as its people.Literary naturalism originated in France and later spread to America. It involves the fundamental definition of determinism which holds the view that people have little or no free will because their nature and conduct are shaped by forces within and outside of them. The naturalistic fiction tends to picture human society as a kind of jungle where people struggle to survive.In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, with the development of science and technology, American people’s life became better, producing the contrast between poverty and wealth. At this time, when government encouraged individualism and advocated material pleasure, some people did whatever they could and by whatever means to be one of the social elites, while morality and Christian belief were neglected.From a new angle of sociological theory--field and habitus—that is to say the social environment and the social change bring values’ change to affect the structure of Sister Carrie and the author’s own character, this article analyzes the social Darwinism, Consumerism, Dreiser’s compliant character and environmental Determinism.