Impact of Naturalism, Capitalism and Urban culture in Sister Carrie - Essay Example

? “Impact of Naturalism, Capitalism and Urban culture in Sister Carrie” Thesis ment Theodore Dreiser uses his interceptions of naturalism, capitalism and urban society in Sister Carrie and shows their effects on a town girl, who got attracted by dazzling city life and makes it her an American dream to get materialistic success, however ending up in loneliness and with a never-ending thirst of desires. Essay Sister Carrie is a novel that is based on the economic boom of nineteenth century and its impacts on the American society. The middle class people living in towns at that time got highly influenced by that economic change, especially the young boys and girls who got highly attracted and thus fled to lead city lives. Here comes the character of Carrie whose life got highly influenced and thereby wholly changed by the materialistic impacts of urban society in terms of naturalism and capitalism. The novel also outlines the quest of American dreams which is followed also in terms of getting more wealth, status and success. In short, the gravity of the story lies in how the city life, the naturalism and capitalism cultures wrap up the dreams and desires of the people, who by the end get either fame or despair by being swallowed by the shallow sea of money-oriented society. Each of the aspects, as mentioned in thesis statement, are explained one by one here under, describing the lives of several people interconnected in terms of it. Firstly consider the influence of naturalism on the characters of the novel. Naturalism is the process through which social factors and the environment together shape the traits, action and character of the people. Each of the character, Carrie, Drouet and Hurstwood had difference of status which ultimately made them all conscious of their position among elite class in society. They put their relations and personal attributes on stake and just worried about how to maintain their positions and survive in the growing materialistic and economical-cultured city life. Most important leading character is of Carrie whose life got totally changed directly by city life and she indirectly changed lives of her admirers i.e. Drouet and Hurstwood. The environment at Chicago was based on people living with class differences. When Carrie left her town, she met on her way Drouet who was actually shallow from inside, but presented himself as a wealthy person by spending money on her through buying gifts, taking to dinners, theaters etc. Carrie at first tried to stay reserve from him, but due to her poor financial conditions and no help from her sister family too, she leaned forward to him (Schneider 2). From that very time, she started comparing the condition of her sister’s place to that of Drouet’s. She compared their hangout activities, spending gestures, friends and society etc. At that time, her desire of having better living, fancy looks, formal clothes and hanging out with high society rose and urged her to abandon her sister place and start living with Drouet. No doubt, through this she had to lead a life of fake relation-based as he falsely presented her as his wife, but she had to accept that offer since it was her first step toward gaining wealth and success. As the narrator states in the novel: “We see man far removed from the lairs of the jungles, his innate instincts dulled by too near an approach to freewill, his freewill not sufficiently developed to replace his instincts and afford him perfect guidance. He is becoming too wise to hearken always to instincts and desires; he is still too weak to always prevail against them” (Dreiser 64). Even after that, she hoped for better standard and thus started an affair with Drouet’s friend, Hurstwood who was comparatively handsome, richer and ran a famous theatre. He had connections to elite class and actors etc. His groomed personality and wealth attracted her more and she afterwards left Drouet for him. This shows how Carrie got affected by environment and stepped upward toward more wealthy people by neglecting the feelings she might have had if she had been the same town-girl. She also started working on theatre which made her realize her true worth and she started enjoying men’s praise for her- she rather started desiring for it. It was not her last attempt toward following her dreams. Later on, Hurstwood had to divorce his first wife and left his belongings to her, leaving Chicago behind and heading toward New York with poor financial condition comparatively. At that time, Carrie started having same comparison of him with the rich society of this new place. He was jobless, reckless and a downturned man who had nothing to offer her now. That miserable condition made Carrie feel the same feeling she had at first place and thus she left him too. She started working as a theatre comic artist once again and got much popularity than before. She got paid more and shifted to better residence i.e. hotel. She had better clothes to wear and better things to decorate her new place with. This all showed how she moved from one degree of environmental and social status to another higher one and never looked back. Secondly consider the impact of urban culture and society on their lives. This was the culture of city life that thereby changed the thinking and actions of Carrie by presenting her character and society which is always demanding money-oriented shallow people. When she reached Chicago, she soon realized that she had no worth at all. Every store demanded experienced women; every better looking item had high purchasing cost; every high class women preferred friends with money-filled pockets and bright, social status. She soon started considering herself as a pitiless and helpless fish in a sea that has no worth. As stated in the novel: “Men and women hurried by in long, shifting lines. She felt the flow of the tide of effort and interest—felt her own helplessness without quite realizing the wisp on the tide she was” (Dreiser 23). She started comparing herself to other women she met and adopted their way of talking and traits – a mere act of imitation begin form there. The effect of urban culture can also be judged regarding Hurdsworth whose life full of fame and wealth suddenly declined after his marriage to Carrie and the theft he made. He was used to the urban society of Chicago where everybody knew him; praised him; where he could buy all the luxuries that a respectable man can afford. But soon after his downfall and shift to New York, he realized himself as a “small fish” that had nothing to offer to his new wife or boost of the money he no more had (Smith 1). He, therefore, had to adopt himself to this new environment, new city culture and started using to it in which he eventually failed. As narrator stated in the novel: “Whatever a man like Hurstwood had been in Chicago, it is very evident that he would be but an inconspicuous drop in an ocean like New York. In Chicago, whose population still ranged about 500,000, millionaires were not numerous” (Dreiser 235). It seemed as if he lost all hopes and forgot all tactics for how to cope and adjust in new place and urban society. On contrary to his wrecked condition, Carrie learned quickly how to make new connections and revive her lost place by restarting her theatre acts. She started earning more, bought expensive stuff for herself and hanged out now and then with her new rich friends. Thus, she learnt how to dive through hard times and reach to the top of the sea toward a safe harbor (Smith 2). As narrator stated: “In the view of a certain stratum of society of society, Carrie was comfortably established—in the eyes of a starveling, beaten by every wind and gusty sheet of rain she was safe in a halcyon harbor” (Dreiser 71). The novel portrays her as a motivated yet materialistic girl who never stopped at any point, even when she had nothing, even when she got better than she ever thought of her. This could be easily predicted by her very first stroll across the market when she had merely few dollars and cents that could buy her nothing good at all. As the narrator stated: “Carrie passed along the busy aisles, much affected by the remarkable displays of trinkets, dress goods, stationery, and jewelry. Each separate counter was a show place of dazzling interest and attraction. She could not help feeling the claim of each trinket personally, and yet she did not stop” (Dreiser 20). Lastly, consider the influence of capitalism on the lives of those people. Capitalism is basically the consumption of production, wealth and other things as own property. In terms of novel, it shows how Carrie, Drouet, Hurstwood, his wife etc. are drawn by their desires of having higher status with having no regard for feelings and personal relationships. Each of them used one another as an item of “usage” for either getting fame or wealth. They made themselves defined by the material possessions, not virtues and values (Schneider 1). Carrie had a never-ending desire of getting more and more with which she never got satisfied either (Schneider 3). According to Smith (1), the novel clearly shows that all characters are affected by the capitalism prevailing in the society. The writer often compares them as particles living in a sea which are driven by the tides of capitalism and their selfish desires. All of them could not escape this culture and it ultimately got into their nerves that they either had to earn lot of money or just shows it off to boost up their materialistic personality. Thus the feelings become a secondary thing before capitalism. Carrie’s character is most precisely influenced by it; she seems to be driven away by tides of capitalism, hardly managing any relation for longer time. For example, she first stayed at her sister’s place but left her because of her poor living conditions. Then she started living with Drouet but left her as soon as she planned to marry richer person i.e. Hurstwood. Eventually, she left him too after 2 years when she realized that he no longer could give her the comforts she desired of. This shows how she switched from one relation to another, regardless of the feelings but just moving along the selfless tides of capitalism toward higher ranks and status life (Smith 2). She did not regarded what each man did for her, but just kept them with her till they were able to give her the affection and more precisely the money and success she always dreamed of. It seemed as she started visualizing men as stated by narrator in the novel as: “A man’s fortune or material progress is very much the same as his bodily growth. Either he is growing stronger, healthier, wiser, as the youth approaching manhood, or he is growing weaker, older, les incisive mentally, as the man approaching old age. There are no other states” (Dreiser 264). The novel also portrays that capitalism represented the condition of each character based on the status and money each had (Smith 2). Carrie’s sister, Minnie was not in good financial conditions. Her husband had to earn with hard routine that they could not enjoy party times or valuable hangouts. Due to this, only they are discussed in introductory portion of the novel in condition as described below: “Minnie was no companion for her sister—she was too old. Her thoughts were staid and solemnly adapted to a condition” (Dreiser 43). And as soon as Carrie left her, they got no part ahead at all. The story all the time revolved around Carrie and the rich men she adored. This represents that Theodore tried to capture more picture of the elite class, their defects and impacts by neglecting the poor. His descriptive way goes in accordance to the considerations and preferences of the rich people of highly socialized society who also prefers meeting only people who had more money to offer and show of. In nutshell, each of the above mentioned aspect portrays the novel in many cold and harsh aspects of the society. The modernized culture demands people who have more wealth and have high purchasing power (Smith 2). It was that power that made Droute to have Carrie for his own physical desire’s completion. It was that power which made Hurstword to attract her toward himself despite of his first marriage but more fashioned personality and offerings. It was that power which made Carrie attracted toward elite classed man Ames. However, by the end, she did not seemed to be happy and satisfied at all. Her satisfaction is kept unclear as the narrator stated: “In your rocking chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking chair, by your window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel” (Dreiser 408). Her dissatisfaction can be outlined by her loneliness, failed marital life or the pressure she had to face onwards by social expectations placed upon her after her theatre acts. Works Cited Dreiser, T. Sister Carrie. Pennsylvania State University. 2005. Print. Schneider, J. “Book Review: Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser”, blogcritics.org. pg. 1-3. 2008. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. Smith, N. “Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser: Naturalism, Capitalism and the Urban Sea”, artcilemyriad.com, pg. 1-2, 2011. Web 18 Dec. 2012. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Sister Carrie.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. Read More