Theodore Dreiser

Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser

Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser

Sister Carrie tells the story of two characters: Carrie Meeber, a normal girl who goes from a low-paid salary to a well-paid actress, and George Hurstwood, an upper-class member who falls from her comfortable lifestyle to a life on the streets. Neither Carrie nor Hurstwood earn their destiny through virtue or vice, but rather through random circumstances. Their successes and failures have no moral value; this position marks Sister Carrie as a departure from the conventional literature of the period.

Dreiser touches on a wide range of themes and experiences in Sister Carrie, from extreme poverty to upper-middle-class comfort. The novel focuses on the moment as it is lived; the characters are immersed in the narrative without the reader being told much, if any, about their stories. Their identities are constantly subject to change, reflecting the modern American experience that was introduced by the developing capitalist economy. In the process of this development, thousands of rural Americans rushed to cities to find jobs and to build new lives and identities. Sister Carrie captures the excitement of that experience.