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Survey of American Literature II

June 4, 2011

Compare and Contrast: T. Dreisers Sister Carrieand E. Hemingways The Sun also
Rises

The primary focus of this essay will be on historical background, style and philosophy
in Theodore Dreisers Sister Carrie and Ernest Hemingways The Sun also Rises and the aim
is to compare and contrast this two literary works on the terms mentioned above.
Dreisers Sister Carrie reflects profound transformations in American life in the late
19
th
century. The changes registered in the novel are the economys shifting from an
agricultural to an industrial base, the gradual distortion of traditional values following the
Darwinian revolution and the changing relations of men and women. The author tracks the
migration of Carrie to Chicago and her search for work. The year of her migration is 1889 and
her search for work in the closest major city reflects a national trend. In 1890 seventeen
percent of women between fifteen and twenty four years constituted the national labour force.
The initial focus on womens work, beside the mens labour, shows that economy was
changing. During this period womans work was central in the transition from an agricultural
economy to industrial, which was contrary to the Victorian era where mothers stayed at home.
With the development of factories work moved outside the home, which means that that the
capitalist economy changed the meaning of the family and home. One of the most important
changes in the novel is the transformation of the economy from being fueled by production to
being driven by consumption. This shift is visible when Carrie refuses to work hard like her
sister and her husband, representing a new generation of Americans. After observing Carries
wanderings to Chicago department stores we can also observe the consumer society, the
commercial history of the time. Consumers benefited from lower prices and expanded choices
but this also intensified the need for material goods which was the case with Carrie; she could
not resist it. Mass distribution, factory production and the increase of the need for
consumption contributed to the development of the modern cities in the late 19
th
century. This
economy produced wealth only for some people and for many of them it caused poverty. We
can see through this work that with the changes in economy the moral values also changed as
well as the roles of the men and women.
Even Dreisers sincerest admirers admit that his style is not that god regarding the
chaotic sentences, the grammar and syntax which contain many mistakes. The wordiness and
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the repetition are sometimes annoying; there is no feeling for words, no sense of diction
which makes the reading very unpleasant. But regarding the totality of the work this style is
important because Dreiser wanted to present the life as it is which would not be so effective if
he had used a graceful and measured style. This confusion and the shoddy style contribute to
the idea that life is something that is largely out of control and it served as a model of the
universe he sought to interpret and describe.
Dreisers Sister Carrie is based on naturalistic philosophy where social conditions,
heredity and environment shape the human character influenced by the Darwins theory of
evolution. This philosophical belief that events are shaped by forces that are beyond human
control is the feature of determinism. Carrie, Drouet and Hurstwood were driven by their
instincts, drives and not by their free will, they were like animals: their behaviour was
composed of strong and often warring emotions which they could not control.
After the devastation of World War I the term the lost generation was coined. This
period was described in Hemingways The Sun also Rises and he portrayed the generation
which could not accept the attitudes of the society of that period. American expatriates came
to Paris as a heaven for creativity and Bohemian lifestyles because they wanted to escape
from the conservative American attitudes. This was also the case with Hemingways
characters Jake Barnes and Robert Chon. The situation after World War I seemed unbearable;
politicians seemed untrustworthy, the Prohibition prevented making and selling alcoholic
drinks, books and movies were censored, groups like Ku Klux Klan were founded. In
comparison to their homeland Paris offered silent movie stars, beautiful people and lots of
liquor. Like in Sister Carrie the industrialisation changed the status of women as well as their
behaviour where Brett can serve as an example. The women changed the way they dressed,
they were more daring; they were the first generation of women who drank alcohol, smoked,
danced wildly and resolved their marital difficulties by divorce.
Hemingways style can be described as journalistic, economical and terse (using few
words) and in comparison with Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby we can say that he uses plain
English. He uses short, simple sentences and a snappy realistic dialogue so in comparison
with Dreiser the reader has no major difficulties in reading the work. In the construction of the
sentences there is an emphasis on the nouns and verbs rather than adjectives and adverbs; for
example in the first part of The Sun also Rises there are many streets and cafes in the 1920s
Paris and Jakes initial detailed description of Brett followed by action verbs. He frequently
repeats the words and phrases and the relationship between one sentence and the next is often
not clear. Another characteristic is the omission; we understand Jake much more through the
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thoughts of Chon but not trough his direct interior narration. For example when he describes
his war injury Jake never clearly states how he received this injury; this is left to the reader to
interpret. But after comparing this work to Dreisers Sister Carrie we can see that he
studied his characters even more than Hemingway; everything is clear because Dreiser
provides us with all of the information about the characters.
Hemingways work can be related to the philosophical tradition of pessimism.
Pessimism tends to have negative connotations in everyday life and it is considered anti-
humanistic. But philosophical pessimism is not anti-humanistic; it is based on the profound
reflection on the nature of the human destiny and condition. Hemingways characters as
representatives of the lost generation can be regarded as pessimists in the way they reflect on
human destinies and on life in general; they were not able to see or find the optimistic side of
life so their aspirations were limited to the desire to enjoy life. Jake, Brett and Chon were not
able to change their lives and transcendent their depressing condition, they did not contribute
to the perfection of the humanity. But in comparison to Dreisers naturalism pessimism does
not regard humans as animals who are governed by instincts and drives; humans willingly
choose to enjoy life and be hedonists because after the profound reflection on their own
destinies and the destinies of people in general they could not find an exit and solution for the
difficulties and the miserable life.