The Comparison in Sister Carrie

【Abstract】This article mainly analyzes the comparison in the novel.It firstly compares two different kinds of American social life—luxury and poverty，and then mainly comparatively analyzes Carries rising and Hurstwoods deterioration.

【Key words】Sister Carrie； Comparison between Poverty and Luxury； Carries Rising and Hurstwoods Deterioration

【摘要】本文主要分析小说《嘉莉妹妹》中对比手法的应用。首先对比分析了两种不同的美国社会生活方式——奢华和贫穷，然后主要对比了嘉莉的崛起和霍斯特伍德的衰落。

【关键词】《嘉莉妹妹》 奢华和贫穷 嘉莉的崛起和霍斯特伍德的衰落

I.Introduction

Sister Carrie smashed the trammels of old ideas，and established literary atmosphere of that time.Thus，it has all inestimable deep influence in the history of American fiction.This article mainly talks about the comparison on structure in the novel.It firstly compares two different kinds of American social life—luxury and poverty.On this basis，it mainly comparatively analyzes Carries rising and Hurstwoods deterioration.

II.The Comparison between Poverty and Luxury

1.Poverty

The country girl Carrie comes to Chicago to seek a better life.At the beginning，she stays with her sister whose working-class home is，however，too poor to keep her.Her sister's flat is small and located in the area resided by laborers and clerks.Carries brother-in-law has to get up very early at half past five every morning to go to work and his wife must gut up much earlier than him at 4：40 to prepare the breakfast.He comes back home very late every evening.His work is quite hard，yet he earns only several dollars each week，which just ekes out a bare living of the whole family.This couple is home-oriented and frugal that they cannot afford the “luxurious” entertainment.Carrie could not enjoy the comfort of a family in her sister Minnie's house.Thus，she realized that her sister's home will not be her permanent place to dwell in and she has to find a job soon to support herself.What she needs to do first is to guarantee her basic necessities such as food，drink，clothing and house.

However，the poor and innocent country girl has never expected how difficult it is to find a job and earn enough money to support herself.While she is hanging along the street，she feels her being stared at and understood for being a wage-seeker.After several days job-hutting，finally，she finds a job in a shoes making factory.Carries work is very dull and hard.As other women workers，she continuously and mechanically works under poor working conditions for over ten hours everyday.However，her wages are only 4.5 dollars per week.And she has to pay four dollars to her sister every week.As a result，the rest little money cannot even be used to buy a thick coat to keep out the cold.Let alone the she can go to the movies，go shopping，and buy fancy clothes.Winter is coming and she is seriously ill because of thin clothes.Whats worse，Carrie lost her job because of her illness.The second job-hutting seems very difficult.Several days have passed，but Carrie cannot find a job.And after her family stop to support her living，her brother-in-law does not show her any welcome.If she cannot find a job any longer，she cannot stay at her sisters home and has to go back her hometown.As a result，Carrie lands herself in plight.Clothes，furniture，how much one owes the grocer，and exactly how much one earns and spends，all these indicate the plight of Carrie and her desire for a better life.The world is cold and harsh to her.Alone and helpless，she walks along like a mechanism driven by desire and grasps blindly any opportunities for a better existence，which were offered first by Druet and then by Hurstwood.A feather in the wind，she is completely at the mercy of forces she cannot understand，let alone control.

2.Luxury

Conversely，those upper-class people，who often come in and go out of luxurious pub，lead a life of luxury.As Carries two lovers，Druet，a salesman，and Hurstwood，the respectable manager of a pub，they spend money without restraint.They often have dinners at luxury hotels and then drive their splendid carriages to go to theatre.Hurstwood has a magnificent villa with sumptuous furnishings in it.And his wife and children spend much money on clothing and amusement.

III.Carries Rising and Hurstwoods Deterioration

Carrie survives and prospers because of her willingness to adjust with equanimity to whatever advantageous situations develop，which was called Carries “neo-Darwinian adaptability” by critics.Conversely，the deterioration and death of her second lover，Hurstwood，is generally agreed to be one of the most powerful and moving portraits of human defeat ever written.

1.Carries Rising

At the beginning after she came to Chicago，Carrie began to find a job everywhere.The job she found was dull and hard，and the pay was very low，yet Carrie still persisted in doing it till she lost the job because of illness.Although her pursuit for material comforts should be criticized，in my view，it was this kind of desire for material that promotes her to strive to make progress.When she was in plight，a traveling salesman，Druet comes to her rescue and takes her home as his mistress.Later on，Carrie is forced by Hurstwood to elope with him and settle down in New York.For some time they experience dire poverty.Luckily Sister Carrie is an adaptable lady，making herself adjust to the situation soon.She goes out to find work on the stage.Her remarkable performance receives the spectators good recognition.At last，she becomes the most famous actress in New York.Her fame win herself luxurious living—generous pay，pretty clothes，splendid carriage，delicious food and living at a luxury hotel.

2.Hurstwoods Deterioration

Hurstwood is once a respectable manager of a pub and lead a life of luxury.He is appealed by Sister Carries beauty，so he deserts his comfortable home and family.Lured into desire，Hurstwood steels the money in the strongbox of the pub and compels Carrie to elope with him.They firstly escape to Canada and then settle down in New York.When they are caught in poverty，Hurstwood proves himself to be totally unfit to survive.He cannot find a job，and finally is reduced to begging and gets some occasional support from Carrie.When he commits suicide one cold winter night，his downfall is complete.Conversely，Sister Carrie manages to move up in her perform career.At the end of the book，Sister Carrie is seen sitting in her rocking-chair，still rocking.

There are four reasons that cause the tragedy of Hurstwood：

a.The first one is his desire for Carrie.This desire makes him lose reason.He gives up his family，his respectable position and social status，but steels the money in the strongbox of the pub and forces Carrie to elope with him to New York.Certainly，this is not the only reason for his downfall.

b.The second reason is that he gives up his social role in Chicago.Deeply troubled by his family affair and Carrie's cold reply，Hurstwood falls into great misery.Whats worse，he is confronted with an even difficult choice--making.A perfectly balanced combination of motive and chance makes Hurstwood commit a crime that finally destroy him.In the face of the company's opened safe and drawers containing more than ten thousand dollars，Hurstwood experiences a painful struggle in his mind： a voice said “count them” and his mind said to himself，“why dont I shut the safe？” Here Dreiser describes in detail his hesitation in the face of the tempt of such a large sum of money，which shows the weakness of human will： at moments of panic，a desperate person is likely to grasp at any obvious solution that suggests itself.To Hurstwood，illusion overpowers reality at that moment.

In Chicago，he can receive high pay，friends welcome and good fame.However，in New York，where the famous people are full of the big city，he can not survive completely.He can no longer remain his original fame，status and once the past glory in his career and struggles only to protect his reduced position from further loss.However，bad luck befalls him.He invests a large sum of capital in a saloon partnership，but the profits he gains from this joint saloon is not as high as he imagines.With the income just enough to cover the daily spending，Hurstwood sees no hope in the saloons prosperity.More than one year later，the building in which he holds his lease is sold to make room for a new edifice and he has to accept the original capital that he once put as the return for the bankruptcy.Having gone out of funds，Hurstwood rashly gives in to his destiny and no longer recovers his business management.Later he searches for employment as manager，then clerk，finally as anything he can get.Finally he gives in his declining fate，and this fatally destroys his self-confidence.As a result，no respectable job，no handsome income，no “genteel” family，nothing could overcome his biological need and prevent him from returning to savage.Dreisers portrait is an authentic one of the impotent modern man unfit to survive.

c.The third one is his prejudice to identity and status.In his opinion，the hard and low- paid work is completely unfit to him.After he declares bankruptcy，he goes out everyday to look for a job，but after several months have passed he still finds nothing.Although he once manages to be a bus driver，he gives it up only after one day.When he gives up looking for a job and settles for staying around the house and looking disheveled，Carrie loses her respect for him，yet she wavers between drifting along with him and being assertive.Ultimately their relationship is severed when he falls ill and Carrie is unable to be good-natured and sympathetic as she wishes.

d.The last reason is his old age.Hurstwood is no longer young，strong，and buoyant，“wholly as a man，and not as a lover or husband”.Comparing with young Carrie，he becomes older and older，which is one of important disadvantages that prevent him to find a decent position.

IV.Conclusion

Thus，we can find that the authors technique of characterization in Sister Carrie is remarkably excellent.I think this should be one of reasons why readers like the novel.

作者简介：

李雪萍（1984-），女，甘肃靖远人，甘肃农业大学外语学院讲师，研究方向：翻译理论与实践。