嘉莉妹妹英文读后感

嘉莉妹妹英文读后感

嘉莉妹妹英文读后感

Theodore Dreiser, born in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA, was

raised in poverty and in a German-speaking environment. He left

home for Chicago at age 16. After a period of odd jobs and a

year at the University of Indiana, he became a Midwestern

newspaper reporter and, in New York after 1894, a magazine

feature writer. In 1892, married Sara White, but their marriage

wasn’t happy, so they have been separated since 1909 and

never officially divorced

Sister Carrie （1900）， his first and still highly regarded

novel, was withheld from general distribution because of it was

supposed amoral, and its commercial failure plunged him into

financial distress and mental breakdown. Some reasons which

caused the difficulties of publish can be seen from the social

background of the society of that time. At the time, United States

is experiencing a rapid social change, it was transforming from

free capitalism transition to the monopoly capitalism. The whole

American literature was indulged in idealism, many writers

preferred to describe the optimistic aspect of life. The novel is

regarded as entertainment products; works is full of illusory ideal

and covered by romantic color. The exploiter and exploitee lived

a completely different life. The ugly phenomenon in the society

was not reflected in literature works. In Sister Carrie, Dreiser

truthfully reveals the dark side of the social life, and that’s the

reason why the author constantly suffered from persecution. The

novels have been classified as "banned", and can not be

published in the America.

Sister Carrie is about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream, first

as a mistress to men that she perceives as superior, and later

becoming a famous actress. It has been called the "greatest of all

American urban novels."

The personal life of the writer has very close relationship with

his work Sister Carrie. There are some similarities between the

author and the heroine. First, the heroine was born in a poor

family just as same as the author. That’s why the author can

know so clearly about the psychological activity of the poor girl

Carrie and described it in such delicate words. Second, it can be

seen from the novel that the place where the girl chase her dream

was Chicago. The author also has gone to the same place to fulfill

his dream. So he saw what Carrie saw. For instance, how the rich

men lived, how they enjoy their life, what was the poor’s life like,

with such a living experience, the gap between the rich and the

poor was so truly reflected before our eyes. Third, they all once

are earning meager support from menial jobs. Forth, they all have

the same dream. Dreiser has admitted that he was once chased

after the pleasure from material things, but he despised it

afterwards. Carrie’s life was always surrounded by her chasing

for a better material life. At the beginning, she left her hometown

and came for her sister. But when her sister’s living couldn’t

attract her anymore, she went to the salesman Drouet, then

Hursthood and at last the theater. Except the heroine, the

character Hursthood was not so happy in his marriage life, so was

the author. Hursthood was suppressed and looking for

something new, thrill and beautiful. Maybe Hursthood’s mental

state was just like the author’s during that period. Sven Hanson,

Minnie's husband, of Swedish extraction and taciturn

temperament. As we all know, Dreiser’s father was a Swedish, a severe rigid and distant man. We can slightly suppose that the

character of Sven Hanson was originated from his father.

As for Carrie, there’s such a sentence in the book: “In

Carrie—as in many of our worldings do they not?— instinct and

reason, desire and understanding, were at war for the mastery.

She followed whither her craving led. She was as yet more drawn

than she drew. ” This seems tells us that the currency of the

society is an overwhelming power that pushes one to do

something and defines the view of value for the people. I think

this sentence is the perfect description for Carrie and all her

stories, every choices she made just show us how suitable this

description is for her. Through the heroine, the author tries to

reveal the human nature nakedly before our eyes. When Sister

Carrie ran out of her sister’s home without any money, she met

Drouet and he gave her ten soft dollar bills. On the one hand, she

felt ashamed because she has been weak to take it. But on the

other hand, her need was so dire, she was still glad. That’s the

contradiction of her nature. After she met Hursthood, she was