Sister Carrie

“Dreiser’s portrayal of the Realm of Desire”

Sister Carrie can be looked at as a study of the effects of desire upon human beings. The characters within the novel range from those who have accepted that life is not gracious, and does not provide leeway for the pursuit of unnecessary desires, to those who become wholly engrossed in their “realm of desire”, and completely lose touch with solid reality.

Dreiser discusses the glitz and glamour of a place such as New York through the following statement, “Little use to argue that of such is not the kingdom of greatness, but so long as the world is attracted by this and the human heart views this as the one desirable realm which it must attain, so long, to that heart, this will remain the realm of greatness” (Dreiser, 265). While both humans and animals share the basic instinct of desire, it is more developed within us. The fact that we are aware of our possession of a hunger that pushes us to reach to achieve goals that lay within “desirable realms” should be a positive characteristic, however it often proves to be a source of downfall. What the human race lacks is an overall sense of intuition, and the ability to be rational when considering our pursuit of the “desirable realm”. At often times the light of our pursuit is brighter and more colorful than the natural hue which it truly possesses. Furthermore, the strength, and effect of our actions are given far more weight than what they are truly capable of achieving. Sister Carrie’s characters are accurate representations of the human error of being driven by falsely colored dreams and poorly estimated actions.

The strongest example of this concept is represented through the character of Hurstwood, who is driven by his unrealistic love for Carrie. When contemplating his pursuit of the protagonist, his thoughts are described as such, “He would make a try for Paradise, whatever might be the result. He would be happy, by the Lord, if it cost all honesty of statement, all abandonment of truth” ( Dreiser 130). It’s interesting that he is portrayed as seeking Paradise, and through his actions eventually ends up in New York, the place which we defined as a fake sense of Paradise, in the previous paragraph. Hurstwood’s passion which eventually leads him to New York is representative of his poor judgment in his actions to secure Carrie’s love. The Critic Rupin Desai says the following, “When Hurstwood, a total failure at the end of the novel, yet never without a touch of human, and even tragic, dignity, commits suicide by

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