Dreiser, American Tragedy

Analysis

Theodore Dreiser in the course of his life was analyzing different criminal cases, and was especially interested in crimes connected with the burning infectious desire to become prosperous, successful. This desire came over the whole American nation at the beginning of the 20th century and was only aggravating, so to say becoming stronger with time, and by the 20s became deeply rooted in mind of the Americans. “An American tragedy” is based on one of the real lawsuits studied by the author. The title of the book already presupposes that the case was not a unique one in the history of the nation, it was just one of the thousands of cases arisen from the unceasing pursuit of the American dream. Dreiser considered aspirations for gain a typical characteristic of the American society and thus Clyde`s tragedy was one of the similar stories of that time.

Clyde is not like the characters of Dreiser`s earlier novels. He is a common boy and his commonness ruins him, because he is exposed to all harmful influences. From the very beginning he does not have any support in life, any shoulder to cry on and he is seeking this support if not in the family, then in his teammates in the hotel. But to overcome the difficulties on his way to success he needs to feign that he is self-reliable and not worse than any other boy. This idea of “striving to be no worse than others” permeates the narration and speaks about the birth of the mainstream consumer society. The herd instinct is brightly depicted in the scene of flight from the place of crime when Willard Sparser and his companions hit the girl on the road driving Mr. Kimbark`s car. The same instinct explains Clyde`s desire to find a girlfriend (because all his friends already have one), his stiff wish to drink alcohol although he feels aversion to it. And what is more meaningful in all these situations accurately provided by the author is that the herd instinct results in the lack of responsibility.

Another peculiar trait of the American society of the beginning of the century is a big gap between the rich and the poor. But the social gap in this case is manifold and not always seen to the nakid eye. Dreiser emphasizes the gap between the material wealth and spiritual poverty in the American society. Gaining money and climbing the social ladder does not help to acquire spiritual values. Clyde personifies a typical American whose aspirations are influenced by the social climate. In the 20s this concept was typically American but with the globalization this trend has engulfed the whole world. Dreiser investigates consistent patterns, regularities which govern people`s behavior.

The principle of psychological specification is built on vivid descriptions of the surroundings. The details which Clyde picks up in the hotel build up the vision of the world that he formulates for himself, mean and vulgar splendor blinds Clyde`s young psyche. He lives in the society of contrasts

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