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Naturalism in Sister Carrie Abstract: Theodore Dreiser the writer of Sister Carrie is one of the mostoutstanding representatives of American naturalism. In this thesis his first novelSister Carrie is taken as an example to analyze the features of Dreiser’s naturalism.The thesis referred to three great historical and cultural background of the novelwhich are Darwinism Determinism American Naturalism and IndustrialRevolution .And the thesis analyzes three features of naturalism. At last we payattention to Dreiser’s exploration ------human desire and revelation of the dark side ofhuman nature Key Words: Naturalism Darwinism desire environment human nature Naturalism of Dreiser in Sister CarrieIntroduction Theodor Dreiser 1871-1945, an American author outstanding representativeof naturalism whose novels depict real-life subjects in a harsh light. Many of hisworks referred to the description of naturalism and weakened his critical spirit. Hisfirst novel Sister Carrie published in 1990 revealed the financial disparity and themoral decline of American society and thus regarded as forbidden book. But now thebook becomes one of the best-sellers of American literature because of the naturalisticfeatures in it. Then Dreiser is regarded as a pioneer of American naturalism and as anaturalist Dreiser expresses the characteristics of naturalism in most of his works. Thethemes of Darwinism and Determinism are the common features of Dreiser’s storywhich also characterize Sister Carrie. Dreiser chose to reflect life truthful in his works when other novels deal onlywith the beautiful aspects of life. It is not an exaggeration to say that Dreisers SisterCarrie clears the way for the development of American fiction. From follow analysis of three aspects and conclusionwe can find out thenaturalism of Dreiser in Sister Carrie1. The historical and cultural background for Sister Carrie Theodore Dreisers Sister Carrie reflects the profound transformations inAmerican life in the late nineteenth century.1.1 Darwinism and Determinism In 1859 Darwin’s The Origin of Specie appeared. It soon changed man’srecognition. Before Darwin human was separated from the animals because of itsmoral. However at this time evolutionist considered human as a part of natural thingsand a member of the animal kingdom. American naturalists accepted “bestiality” and“ human beast” as an explanation of desire. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness presentingcharacters of low social and economic classes who are determined by theirenvironment and heredity. They dismissed the validity of comforting moral truth.Darwinism is the most important theory which greatly affects Sister Carrie. Freud’s theory gives theoretic basis to Dreiser’s description of man’s desire.Freud considers man’s natural instinct as determination. To him man is a part ofnature since man is a member of animals. Human mentality and action will forever bedetermined by instinct. Desire is just a genetic instinct in his opinion. 1.2 American naturalism Sister Carrie was written and published also at the rise of American naturalismwhich means a particular genre of fiction that developed in the late 19th centuryAmerica and associated principally with writers such as Jack London Stephen CraneFrank Norris and Theodore Dreise. At the end of nineteenth century came a generation of writers whose ideas of theworking of the universe and whose perception of the societys disorder led them tonaturalism. A new and harsher realism naturalism was introduced to the United Statesliterary naturalists spoke out against the ideas that literature should present whatHowells called for the smiling aspects of life. Instead they attempted to achieveextreme objectivity and frankness presenting characters of low social and economicclasses who were dominated by their environment or heredity in depicting theextremes of life. American naturalists emphasized that world was amoral that men andwomen had no free will that their lives were controlled by heredity and theenvironment that religious truths were illusory and that the destiny of humanitywas misery in life and ablivion in death.1. 3 Industrial Revolution Industrial Revolution brought American people a value crisis. The 19th centurywas the time of industrialization. Serial changes made people feel they wereconquering the world and obtaining their treasures. The surprising development madepeople feel too close to wealth and happiness. Then appeared small amounts ofindustrial giants and large number of poor people American value materialistic to thecore. Living in such a society with such a value system the human individual isobsessed with a never end yet meaningless search for satisfaction of his desire.2. The typical characteristics of naturalism in Sister Carrie In Sister Carrie I find out that some of its themes differ from those of othernaturalistic works. 2.1 The desire instinct and the ifluence of environments Freud’s theory gives theoretic basis to Dreiser’s description of man’s desire.Freud considers man’s natural instinct as determination. To him man is a part ofnature since man is a member of animals. Human mentality and action will forever bedetermined by instinct. Desire is just a genetic instinct in his opinion. This thesis covers Dreiser’s meaningful ideas--desire. Man’s behavior isdominated by instincts desires needs and fear and environments cities andconsumerism and chances. In the process of evolution man is not able to controlinstincts completely. Desire is considered hereditary and instinctive. In this novelmost of the central characters are hurried by a desire of personal affirmation a desirethey can neither articulate nor suppress.上一篇:企业人力资源管理论文(原创)