An Analysis Of Characters' Psychology Of Sister Carrie Based On Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory

Theodore Dreiser is a well-known American writer,whose masterpiece Sister Carrie enjoys a high reputation and status in American literature.Since the novel came out,many scholars have analyzed and studied Sister Carrie,which makes people have more profound understanding.Based on these researches,this thesis attempts to apply Maslow's need hierarchy theory,which is the theoretical basis of the thesis and includes physiological needs,safety needs,belonging and love needs,esteem needs and self-actualization needs,to analyze psychological characteristics of the three main characters in the novel who are Carrie,Hurstwood and Drouet so as to excavate the inner psychological reasons for their different destinies.Chapter One is about Carrie's needs.With her “American dream”,Carrie comes to Chicago and she has physiological needs,safety needs,belonging and love needs,esteem needs and self-actualization needs.However,it is most urgent for Carrie that physiological needs are satisfied when she comes here for the first time.Even in order to meet this demand,she is willing to become Drouet's mistress.After she lives a desultory life,Carrie has higher psychological needs,safety needs,belonging and love needs and esteems needs.When these higher needs can not get the satisfaction from Drouet and Hurstwood,Carrie abandons them.Later,she decides to rely on her talent in acting and her efforts to get a better life that she longs for.Fortunately,she becomes a famous actress through her own efforts and gets her self realization finally,which means that she can obtain what she wants,such as money,fame and social position.Thus,all of the needs,as Maslow has stated,are satisfied to a greater extent,except for belonging and love needs.It can be seen that Carrie is selfish,because she does not give her love to others,even if they have helped her.Therefore,she can not get the true love or happiness which is a person's top luxury thing in world.Chapter Two the thesis analyzes the psychological needs of the male character.Before Hurstwood meets Carrie,his lower level of needs and higher level of needs have been satisfied to varying degrees.But,only his belonging and love needs has not been met as what he hopes.Because of his success in the business,Hurstwood hopes that he can control everything,especially his family.But things do not go as his plans,his position in his familydeclines.He loses relevant respect and feels little love and warmth.Thus,the emergence of Carrie makes his needs be satisfied.But for this,he also pays a heavy price.On the one hand,he divorces with his wife and loses a lot of property.On the other hand,he is forced to abandon his position and goes far away.After leaving Chicago,all his needs need to be satisfied again,especially physiological needs.Gradually,Hurstwood can not stand the pressures from the reality and the anxiety,so he becomes corrupt and ends up with his death.Chapter Three simply states the supporting role,Drouet,who is a salesman.Because his performance is good and he has a high salary,he can meet his physiological needs,safety needs and esteem needs.But he is an empty man driven by his desire and he can not really understand the meaning of love and self actualization needs,because he lacks wisdom and thought.In the context of consumerism,subconsciously,Drouet has an interest in sex only.Also he loves to dresses up brightly to draw the attention of the women.His shallow psychological needs let Carrie feel uneasy and not respected,which is one of the reasons why Carrie abandons him.In facing of the lover's departure and friend's betrayal,surprisingly Drouet is calm and also lives wonderfully.Conclusion summarizes heroine Carrie's and hero Hurstwood's successful or failed life.Based on detailed analysis on the three main characters' psychology,it can be seen that in the course of pursuing self-actualization,they display mixed personalities related to complicated personal relationships in a complex society.The behaviors of the three main characters are controlled by their needs and they have different needs in different stages.At the same time,Carrie's ending and Hurstwood's ending directly reflect the jungle rules of society that Dreiser insists,namely,the nature of life is to live and people should survive at all costs,regardless of the moral.