Vivid Heroine

——On Sister Carrie

Carrie was such an ordinary rural girl at the beginning of the story. Sitting on the seat of a bus, she couldn’t help feeling exciting at the sight of the metropolis’ spectacle. She was impressed deeply by large crowd on the avenue, the spacious square or tall buildings.

Far more different from other heroines, Carrie was not a plain pure angel like Snow-white, nor was she brave enough to be a heroine of revolutionist or even a reformer, nor was she so clever as to be a successful career woman who start from scratch.

What attracted her most, after her entering this huge metropolis was the incredible fineries, fashion shoes, smart handbags displaying in the shop windows, the jewellerys shining brightly behind the glass. She dreamed that one day, she could wear all of these, jogging gracefully into the most luxurious hotel with focused sights of admiration.

And this was not merely a dream. Because she had large eyes which can earn others’ sympathy, even love. She had wonderful figure which can win others’ hearts. However, anything she got, anywhere she reached, had not come from her ambition. Things happened, and then she accepted. That’s what she had just done — just to accept willingly from the bottom of her heart. She was not at all an evil woman who would give anything

for the fortune or fame. However, she would give uo something for a better life when her instinct defeated her intellect.

That was Carrie, a girl had her own desire, a human being just like many others in the realistic world.

There’s one sentence written in chapter VIII:” When this jangle of free-will instinct shall have been adjusted, when perfect understanding has given the former the power to replace the latter entirely, man will no longer vary.” However, how many people can go that further. And I want to quote another sentence to wind up my essay:

“In Carrie — as in how many of our wordings do they not? — instinct and reason, desire and understanding, were at war for the mastery.”

美 国 文 学 论 文

嘉莉妹妹英文论文

系 别 工 学 院 专 业 电子信息科学与技术 学 号 2011012027 姓 名 张 婷 婷

 

第二篇：嘉莉妹妹 读书报告

Carrie Sister

于 茜 1325010708 2014. 10. 28

Theodore Dreiser （1871-1945）was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. He was born in Terre Haute Indian,American.After a difficult childhood spent in poverty.Dreiser begin writing for Chicago newspapers in 1892.After a nearly decade of success in journalism, Dreiser composed his first novel,Sister Carrie,in1900.In the work,Dreiser realistically portrayed the social and economic problems of his time . It is for this quality realism that he had became best known .He also wrote other works,such as Jennie Gerhardt ,An American Tragedy, and so on.

The summary of Sister Carrie:

Sister Carrie ,honest ,innocent and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth,came to Chicago to make a living .On the train ,she met Charles Drouet,a salesman,who is attracted to her because of her beauty and charms.And soon they showed their love each other and lived together.but she didn't satisfy all.Then she met the richer manager Hurstwood.Soon they started an affair .But good times didn't last long.Carrie found Hustwood had married before and he wouldn't like to divorce with his wife for property.At same time ,Drouet knew their affair and he left Carrie.Carrie felt frustrated and decide not to meet Hustwood any more. But now Hustwood accidentally stole a large amount of money and elope with her.However,soon Hustwood failed in his business and stared degraded. Carrie had to find a job as a actress. This moment,Carrie hated Hustwood more and more, so she left him finally. Later Carrie became very popular. Nevertheless,she was not happy but lonely and void.Meanwhile, Hustwood was reduced to a beggar and committed

suicide.

My ideas :

After reading this novel,I want to talk about my ideas about it .There isn't a flat road in everyone's life,either was Carrie 's.At first , Carrie was very innocent, honest and had a great dream to pursue a batter life .That's wonderful and everyone will have a dream like Carrie's.But that's very hard for every not just Carrie,who finally felt void after pursuing everything. So in this course we should know there must be a lot of setbacks and face them bravely.

Keep a real yourself and never abandon your primary dream.Everyone 's life is very short.Our fates are controlled by ourselves.So we should treasure our lifetime and try our best to pursue something meaningful and useful as much as we can instead of those things like money ,power,luxury clothes delicious food and so on.If so, we will always feel fulfilled instead of void.At the same time,there are a lot of temptations around us. Facing these temptations,we must keep smart and clearly know what we are and what we want .

Maybe ,there are someone who thinks that Carrie is too arrogant and has too many endless desires ,making her walk up to a wrong road. I think so. As far as I 'm concerned,it's very important to have dreams and pursuits. But more importantly,we should know what is right and wrong. If it is right ,we can make efforts to achieve. If it is wrong, we must abandon it in time. Never as Carrie achieved a lot but she didn't want them.

Then I want to say “No pains,No gains.” Life will give you what you want only if you make your great efforts and keep on it .Your effort will give you at least some experience that is good for you. Then it will make you feel happy .Whatever you do anything ,you must be down to earth . And like Carrie she later became a famous actress by her own efforts. Carrie’s success fully improves this. At least ,we

should learn her to work hard. At the same time ,we everyone live a complex society . So we must try doing something ,communicate with others and adapt this society as much as possible . You will be experienced and will probably not be hurt as long as you do that.Carrie was hurt because she lacked right judgement and rich experiences. So experiences are our best teacher who teaches us how to grow.

And I want to ask what's true happiness？ Can money buy everything? Carrie got fame and money , however ,is she really happy？Finally,she felt nothing but void and lonely because she didn't have friends,family and true love.In my opinion, the true happiness is a simple possession of love from our parents,friends and those who give us help. Fame and money are not almighty but just a possession of material,which don't make us feel really satisfied.Nowadays,with the speedy development of economy and especially under the social press,people are always busy with the promotion of social status and earning more money,while they ignoring the fulfillment of their spiritual world. Therefore,people should spare more time to accompany and communicate with our friends and family to listen and enjoy the true love.If so,you get not just the success of materials but the simple happiness.

At last,I think a girl must be self -reliance and never want to rely on others.Carrie relied on Drouet and Hustwood to get living support.But finally Carrie 's dream failed and she was hurt.As a girl,we should depend on ourselves to do something we can，learn something useful and meaningful to enrich ourselves and know how to protect ourselves well. After all, a girl should understand love and treasure herself. Once a girl are hurt,she must protect herself by legal ways and ask for help in time. If so, a girl will probably get more happiness.