<h1>Foreword: "Sister Carrie" is the first novel by american writer Dreisy, but there is no doubt that it was a success. Sinclair Lewis, also an American writer, once commented: "Sister Carrie is like a free, powerful west wind blowing into the closed, dull America, bringing the first breath of fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman to our stagnant personal world." And the Daily Mail also said: "Carrie Sister is a great novel written by Americans." </h1>
So, where exactly did it succeed? In my opinion, its greatest success lies in its critique of the absurdity of a life oriented toward pleasure-seeking.
1. Behind De Rue's "teasing" Carrie's sister, behind it is a huge void of life
"His mind is indifferent to the forces and problems that dominate the world, and what drives him is not greed, but the tireless pursuit of a multitude of playfulness (especially females)."
This passage in the text can be said to be the essence of Druet. He is a salesman for a company, clever, well-dressed, temperamental, like and good at hooking up with women.
So, when Carrie's sister and Drew first met on the train to Chicago, the fledgling little girl was "toyed with" by his tricks. He was amazed by the beauty of Carrie's sister, and she was amazed by his magnificence from the big city, and when the two collided, they must stage a fate.
Train Station Druet boldly talked to Carrie's sister and left her her own business card, and Carrie's sister, who had just entered Chicago, was full of yearning for material enjoyment here, which gave Drewet the opportunity to take advantage of the void. She happily accepted the invitation he wanted to meet her again for a deeper exchange. In fact, at this time, Carrie's sister only saw his romance, not his hypocrisy, so that when she lived with him later, she still wanted to marry him.
But Druet is Druet, and as a prodigal son, even if Carrie's sister is liked again, he will only use the relationship between the two as a game after all.
Sister Carrie had an unusually painful job search when she first entered Chicago. Temporarily living in her sister and brother-in-law's house, she was forced to go out to look for a job, but The sister of Jiali, who was just a country girl, went into the big city to find a job for a long time, but found nothing, and finally she had to become a factory woman. She hated the life of a female worker, hated the people in the factory, so the job was like torture to her. However, it was even this purgatory that was lost after she fell ill and took a leave of absence. Just as she was faced with finding a job and being sent back to her hometown by her brother-in-law, Druet appeared like a hero.
He offered to let Carrie's sister come to live with him, and bought her the beautiful clothes she dreamed of, taking her to watch dramas and enjoy food.
After living with him, Carrie's sister thought of marrying him. But at this time, he had already chased Jiali's sister in his hand, in addition to thinking about Jiali's sister when he was at home, he still hooked up with other women when he went out on a business trip.
There is an effect in biology called the Coolidge effect. Refers to a manifestation that almost every mammalian species has — both males and females exhibit consistent, high-pitched sexual behavior if new conceivable partners are introduced.
This effect is called the "original self" in Freud, but the "original self" is controllable. If the performance of the "original self" is controlled within a reasonable range, it is pleasure, and if it develops wildly, it becomes a sexual addiction. In psychology, it is called "sex drive control disorder", or "hypersexuality or sexual addiction".
Psychologists in the study of sex addiction almost all blame the nothingness of life for this phenomenon.
2. Behind Hurstwood's desperate elopement with Carrie's sister, behind it lurks a huge void of life
After Druet and Carrie's sister are together, Carrie's sister discovers that she doesn't really like him. The reason why Carrie's sister was amazed by him before was because of his appearance and his own involvement in the world, and now when she looked at him, she felt a vulgarity that disgusted herself. Coupled with the fact that he had been reluctant to marry Carrie's sister, Gary's sister had secretly come to the same age with Hearstwood, a hotel manager, after a business trip to Drue.
What kind of person is Hirstwood?
He was an upper-society man. Carrie's sister will know him or because of Druet. Drue often went to Hearstwood's hotel for drinks, and he often took carrie carrie with him after he was with her. Hearstwood fell deeply in love with Carrie's sister after seeing her, and Hearstwood, who had been through the sails, decided that Carrie's sister was the kind of girl he loved most in his life. So, after Druet's business trip, he boldly seduced Carrie's sister. In the eyes of Carrie's sister, Hurstwood actually has a more noble temperament, and seems to be more able to give her the ideal life of a middle-class person.
Carrie's sister and Hurstwood actually want to marry him, because she always wants material security, and she has a sense of security after marrying them.
Hirstwood couldn't give her a marriage either. Hirstwood is a man with a family who is freely in love with his wife, and after marriage he finds himself regretting it, and he feels that she is not the person he wants. He said that he did not feel real warmth and happiness at home, and he could not always have a deep communication with his wife, because he was busy with the work of the hotel, and she always bothered for the parents. There is also a passage in the text where he says that if he can choose again, he will not marry her.
But when he and Carrie's sister are secretly together, they promise that he will marry her. I think that's why Hurstwood would end up taking the hotel's turnover for the day and tricking Carrie's sister into running away with him. He met the love of this life, he gave The promise to Carrie's sister but was trapped in his married status, if it is divorced, etc. will make him exhausted, and even inseparable, and Carrie's sister may not be able to wait until he divorces, so he desperately wants to take the love of this life to another place to live.
As a standard upper-class person, Hirstwood has a decent life that everyone envies, but he has abandoned such a dignity for a girl, which is enough to show that the superficially rich Hearstwood has the same nothingness as Drue, and only the love with Carrie's sister can redeem his nothingness.
3. Behind the material hedonistic world that Carrie's sister has painstakingly pursued is a huge void of life
Needless to say, Sister Carrie is a very beautiful girl. Coming from a barren rural area, she envisions Chicago's lights and high-society clothing, food, and entertainment, and longs for a life she can one day live. That's why she commits herself to others again and again, because she sees in them the possibility that she can live such a life. As we already knew, Drewet had no idea of marrying her, so her first attempt failed.
In fact, her second effort also failed. After Hurstwood and Carrie eloped, they eventually chose New York as their base. But by this time Hurstwood was no longer the glorious bar manager, and he was worried about his livelihood all day. It took him a long time to find a position in a small bar, and the salary he received was barely enough to support him and Carrie's sister. However, even such a simple and peaceful life did not last long. Soon after, Hurstwood's bar didn't make a good paycheck and he was unemployed again.
After losing his job, he never found a decent job in New York that could sustain them.
Sister Carrie and Hurstwood's standard of living deteriorated, and eventually even eating became a problem. At this time, Carrie's sister began to think about going out to work. At first, she worked as an extra in the theater, but it was this opportunity that made her, who was already very talented in acting, shine. Since then, she has received more and more announcements, and the road to prosperity has become smoother and smoother.
At this time, Hurstwood had entered middle age, he still had not found a job, and he had to rely on Carrie's sister for life. But Carrie's sister did not consider giving him a "pension", and moved to the theater after more and more announcements, leaving Hurstwood alone to face the cruel pressure of survival.
Later, the difference between the two people's encounters became more and more different. Carrie's sister became a star in the newspaper, but Hurstwood was on the road of no return because of poverty. But is it happy to become a star and get the sister Ofey who she dreamed of? There is a passage in the text that describes her state of mind after she became a family:
"Somehow," she said one day, sitting in front of the window overlooking Broadway, talking to Lola, "I always feel a little lonely." So, what about you? ”
"No," replied Lola, "I don't think so. You don't go anywhere, and that's why. ”
"So where do I go?" Carrie asked.
Jiang Fangzhou once wrote an article about personal experience called "A Diamond The Size of a Ritz Hotel", which explored the relationship between youth and consumerism.
She said that most of the students in their class are rich second generation, wearing foreign brands, talking about luxury consumption, and their attitude towards their girlfriends in adolescence is to buy and buy for them... For such a youth filled with consumerism, Jiang Fangzhou expressed his views:
I have some reserved respect for the youth who believe in consumerism. For those who regard youth itself as a huge consumer product, I am the one who salutes and expresses the greatest awe.
Although "Sister Carrie" was created in the last century, the discussion of consumerism and the happiness of life is still relevant in this era of overdraft and credit cards to maintain consumption. The three protagonists in the text: Sister Carrie, Hearstwood, and Drew, they all had a consumerist life of money and wealth, but in this way they all felt the nothingness of life.
The novel's official theme is: "Revealing the instinctive theme of driving people away from pleasure but ultimately disillusionment, illustrating that there can be no real happiness in a money-centric American capitalist society." (from Baidu Encyclopedia)
<h1>And the meaning of today is: I also have reserved respect for life that believes in consumerism as happiness in life, but I know that existence itself is a life of great consumer goods, and I think it is true happiness. </h1>
For example, using the time of shopping to read books, and turning the pleasure of consumption into the enjoyment of art appreciation, this is the beginning of enjoying the existence itself.