A Study Of Consumption Ethics In An American Tragedy

In the early years of the 20 th century,the United States witnessed a period of social transition,and there was some dramatic transformation in consumption ethics.An American Tragedy,Theodore Dreiser’s masterpiece,reflected the conflicts between consumerism and Puritanism in that era and vividly represented how consumerism broke the shackles of Puritanism and became the dominant social trend,eventually leading to tragedies.Based on the close reading,the thesis interprets the consumption ethics in An American Tragedy,using Baudrillard’s theory of sign consumption and ethical literary criticism.Firstly,consumption ethics,represented in An American Tragedy,is largely sign consumption.It implies that consumers take commodities as signs to show off their social standing and wealth.And the representatives in the novel are clothes,houses,and cars,while they evolve into signs instead of only providing warmth and convenience for people.Clothes,the labels of self-identities,are the passes into social circles,and cars and houses become the symbols of social position and riches.Through the analysis of people’s pursuit of these commodities,the thesis points out that they blindly satisfy their psychological demands by possessing materials to rebuild their self-identities and squeeze into the upper class.And sign consumption,which helps to construct self-identities indeed,is an irrational consumption ethics.Secondly,the formation of sign consumption is closely related to the social background of America in the 1920 s.Consumerism was sweeping the USA at the beginning of the 20 th century.It aroused great conflicts with Puritanism,which advocated hard work,frugality,asceticism,and self-restraint,and had profound influences on American traditional ethics and social values.While consumerism,as a brand-new social trend,preached the possession of commodities and the release of desires,and it soon held a dominant position in society and misled people to pursue materials.Therefore,Clyde,the hero in the novel,was brainwashed by consumerism and was extremely eager for all kinds of material comfort and entertainment,but Puritanism,as the shackles,constantly reminded him of controlling his desires.In the end,he gradually abandoned the traditional ethics,indulged himself in material comfort,and got lost eventually.Lastly,as an irrational consumption ethics,sign consumption wreaked havoc on people’s life.On the one hand,people are so obsessed with material comfort that they even abandon their families for the sake of personal desires.Hence,families became the stumbling blocks of personal pleasures and gradually fell apart.On the other hand,Clyde was eager to be a member of the upper class,so he made every effort to flatter Sandra,a girl from the upper class,and dreamed of changing his destiny by marrying her.As a result,he even plotted to murder his girlfriend Roberta,which led him to commit a crime.This thesis is a study of consumption ethics in An American Tragedy,aiming to arouse readers’ reflection on it.Through analyzing the representation of consumption ethics,the reasons for its formation,and its negative influences,the thesis believes that the irrational consumption ethics imposes great damage on humanity and even causes tragedies,which seriously hinders the harmonious development of human beings and society.Simultaneously,this thesis stresses the importance of constructing a healthier and more positive consumption ethics.