Carrie Meeber And Her American Dream

Sister Carrie is the first novel of Theodore Dreiser, the well-known novelist in American literature in the transitional period between the19th and20th centuries. Dreiser takes the lead to describe the cruel reality of his time. In Sister Carrie, Dreiser writes about how these characters have been caught and ruined by their American Dream. He reveals the fate of the ordinary Americans and the cruelty of the society in the unique historical background. According to Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs, this thesis analyzes the formation, sublimation and disillusion of the American Dream of the heroine and the profound social significance of the novel.This thesis firstly briefly introduces Dreiser and his first novel Sister Carrie as well as some important reviews.Next, it briefly introduces American Dream. This part introduces the definition of American Dream, and analyzes its negative and positive aspects. It introduces the origin of the term "American Dream", and also introduces the core content of "American Dream" and its new content as shaped along with the development of America.Then, it analyzes the embodiment of American Dream in Carrie. It covers the formation and sublimation of Carrie’s dream. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this part analyzes the five kinds of needs as embodied in Carrie. And it also analyzes the causes of the disillusion of Carrie’s dream.At last, there is the conclusion:maybe we can say that Sister Carrie is a miniature of the American social ecosystem at the turning of the19th century. Through the vivid description of the ups and downs of Carrie, the writer reveals the suffering, disillusioned dream and tragic fate of those seekers of "American Dream", which gives today’s readers, especially contemporary Chinese readers, a profound, meaningful inspiration.