The American Dream: A Scenario Of Conventional Social Myth.

Conclusion

Enmeshed in the struggle for survival and in the constant attempt to make something of worth for her life, Carrie reached her first major crossroad in Chicago when she lost her job because she is sick and could not work. In this regard, Minnie and Hanson wasted no time in kicking Carrie out of their house because she no longer was profitable to them. Instead of returning back to Wisconsin, Carrie moved in with Drouet, the traveling salesman that she had met on the train that brought her to Chicago. Not too long after she had moved in and lived with Drouet, Carrie eloped to Canada and subsequently New York, with a richer and refined man called Hurstwood, who was first introduced to Carrie by Drouet as an “acquaintance.” It is worth mentioning and explaining here that the relationship between males and females in the capitalistic world of Sister Carrie is that of chauvinism, tangled and supported by duplicity and a web of lies. Stripped of every trapping for example, Carrie’s relationship with Drouet and later Hurstwood, is that of prostitution. Carrie does not love them; she compromised the Victorian idea of social morality of her time, engaging in a sexual and cohabitating relationships with these men, only because of her needs and desires for material goods and comfort and wealth that these men came to personify to her. Drouet in the same way is guilty of continually lying to Carrie during their relationship that he will marry her; he had no qualms at the same time, trifling with the chambermaid that worked in his house. Yet he became inflamed and disturbed when he discovered that Carrie was having an affair with his friend, Hurstwood. In many ways like Drouet, Hurstwood too belongs in the web chain of the duplicitous and hypocritical world of Sister Carrie. Hurstwood on his part pretended that he didn’t know that Carrie and Drouet are unmarried; he never told Carrie that he was a married man; he neglected the needs of his wife and children, taking the time to secretly visit and write Carrie about his love for her. Hurstwood also views his private life as subordinate to his public life; he does not see men’s extramarital affair as censorable as long as they are practiced discreetly. When he and his friends traveled to Philadelphia, they had no qualms whatsoever in engaging in an illicit sexual encounter with other women because nobody knew them there.

The theme that has to do with dissatisfaction yet again continued to pop its jagged head in almost every scene in Sister Carrie. We see that Julia is dissatisfied with her husband’s relative wealth and social standing. She aspired to be part of the upper, elitist class by marrying her daughter Jessica out to a rich young man. Even more, she hoped that her son would prosper more than his father has. Unlike Carrie who is unhappy because she couldn’t afford most of the clothes that she wants, Julia and Jessica lived far more affluent lives and yet are unhappy because they couldn’t afford a trip to Europe. Also worth noting is the fact that Julia on noticing that her husband was not paying much attention to her by taking her out for public outings, her protest did not come in the way of sexual jealousy. Rather, she expressed her protest through the ever sense of conspicuous consumerism- by asking Hurstwood to purchase a season pass for her to the horse ride- this way she can show off her daughter Jessica out for a possible rich suitor. We also see that just before Hurtswood’s escape to Canada, when Julia discovered that he is having an affair, she demonstrated her outrage by suing Hurstwood for his property. While this scene of Julia suing Hurstwood prevented the book from totally enacting the notion that a woman’s role in the capitalistic world of Sister Carrie is entirely dependent on artifice and performance, Julia in suing Hurstwood for his properties also expressed a theme on the importance of money and property

Some topics in this essay:
World War, Minnie Hanson, Sister Carrie’s, Carrie Gatsby, Drouet Hurstwood, Hurstwood Vance, Introduction American, East Nick, Sister Carrie, Drouet Carrie, american dream, sister carrie, minnie hanson, upper class, consumer society, world war, moral center, tom daisy, worth noting, dr tj, world sister carrie, gatsby imbued daisy, dr tj eckleburg, behalf beggars performance, true american dream,