英语本科毕业论文-从《嘉莉妹妹》女主人公的悲剧分析美国的拜金主义

英语本科毕业论文-从《嘉莉妹妹》女主人公的悲剧分析美国的拜金主义 山西农业大学信息学院 本科毕业论文 从《嘉莉妹妹》女主人公的悲剧分析美 国的拜金主义 系部名称:山西农业大学信息学院 专业名称:英语 学生姓名:、 学 号: 指导教师: 二?一六年六月 BACHELOR'S DEGREE THESIS OF CISAU An Analysis of the Money Worship of the United States: The Root of Sister Carrie’s Tragedy College :College of Information, Shanxi Agricultural University Subject :English Major Name : Number :2012600404 Director :Niu Zhiping June 2016 郑 重 申 明 本人呈交的学位论文，是在导师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果，所有数据、图片资料真实可靠。尽我所知，除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本学位论文的研究成果不包含他人享有著作权的内容。对本论文所涉及的研究工作做出贡献的其他个人和集体，均已在文中以明确的方式标明。本学位论文的知识产权归属于培养单位 本人签名: 日期: i 摘 要 在一个时代，经济发展的水平决定该时代人们的精神高度，而人们的精神追求也反映一个时代经济发展的阶段。在西奥多?德莱赛生活的19世纪末20世纪初的美国，正处于商品经济发展的上升阶段，唯物主义渐渐占据上风。琳琅满目的商品点缀的人们的生活，增加了他们的幸福感，但同时盲目追求这种“幸福感”也使人们的心灵逐渐“病化”。嘉丽作为这个时期典型的代表人物，充分体现了社会底层的人们在面对物质满足时道德约束渐渐处于劣势。在嘉丽的经历中，她内心的变化就是对这个时代经济发展水平最好的反映。她一个人来到芝加哥大都市，从衣着破旧的乡下小姑娘到最终成为了百老汇明星，身份，地位应有俱有，看似嘉丽是幸福的，但嘉丽在得到物质享受的同时却也一直在失去，如每个女孩子渴望的忠贞不渝、天长地久的爱情，以及内心道德的自我满足。本文就嘉丽的悲情为线索，从嘉丽出生的悲剧、爱情的悲剧及个人发展的悲剧分析当时导致嘉丽心境变化的拜金主义。 关键词:西奥多?德莱赛; 嘉莉妹妹; 欲望; 物质追求; 拜金主义 ii ABSTRACT In an era in which economic development determines the level of the spirit of the times, people's spiritual quest also reflects the stage of economic development. In the late 19 century and early 20th century of the United States, the commodity economy was developing in upswing, materialism prevailing. Dazzling array of merchandise embellished people's lives, increased their sense of well-being, but at the same time the blind pursuit of this "happiness" also makes people become morbid. Carrie as a typical representative of this period fully embodies the underprivileged people whose was tested when they faced the satisfaction of materialism. The change of Sister Carrie greatly reflected the level of economic development of this era. She, a country girl with ragged and old-fashioned clothes, came to the city of Chicago, ultimately became a Broadway star, who owned identity and status. It seemed that Carrie was happy, Carrie get material comforts, but also lost something, such as everlasting love that every girl constantly longed for, and inner moral self-satisfaction. This paper will analyze Carrie’s tragedy from three aspects: the tragedy of her humble birth, the tragedy of her love, and the tragedy of her personal pursuits, so as to explore the Money Worship of the US’s influence on her life. Key words: Theodore Dreiser; Sister Carrie; Desires; Pursuit of Material; Money Worship iii Table of Contents 摘 要 ........................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ................................................................................. iii I. Introduction ................................................................................2 1.1 Project Background and Significance ........................................................ 2 1.2 The Main Content of the Paper .................................................................. 2 1.3 Organizational Structure of the Paper ........................................................ 3 II. At Home and Abroad Research Status of Sister Carrie .............5 2.1 The Research Status of Sister Carrie At Home .......................................... 5 2.2 The Research Status of Sister Carrie Abroad ............................................ 5 III. Analysis of Carrie's Tragedy Composition ..............................7 3.1 The Tragedy of Carrie’s Humble Background .......................................... 7 3.2 The Tragedy of Carrie’s Love .................................................................... 8 3.3 The Tragedy of Carrie’s Personal Pursuit ................................................ 10 IV. The Influence of Money Worship on Carrie’s Tragedy .........12 3.1 Humble Background VS Money Worship of the United States............... 12 3.2 True Love VS Money Worship of the United States .............................. 14 3.3 Personal Pursuit VS Money Worship of the United States ..................... 15 V. Conclusion ...............................................................................17 References ....................................................................................19 Acknowledgments ........................................................................20 1 I. Introduction 1.1 Project Background and Significance Theodore Dreiser is one of the famous American naturalistic writers of the 20th century. Dreiser lived in a poor family, so he dropped out at high school to earn a living. He was influenced by progressive ideas because he read Darwin, Huxley et al.'s work. To survive, Dreiser worked as dishwasher, tellers, laundry workers and furniture salesman and other chores. In 1900, Dreiser published the first novel Sister Carrie. He describes the disillusionment of happiness that Carrie pursued, and criticized the darkness of the capitalistic society. He pointed out that honest laboring is no way to be successful in the United States, but by betraying one’s soul, could we get money and status. Theodore Dreiser stressed the desire and environment are the main factors that affected the fate of the characters. For instance, Carrie is the best model. The subject of my graduation paper is An Analysis of the Money Worship of the United States: The Root of Sister Carrie’s Tragedy. Sister Carrie tells the story of a young girl who lived in the bottom of the society and at last became a Broadway star. Carrie shows the growing desire in this course. In this materialistic age, everywhere is full of temptation; each of us could be the next Sister Carrie. Could we keep a clear mind, and hold the bottom moral line in the materialistic society? This paper attempts to analyze the tragedy of Sister Carrie, and reveal that money worship exerted great influence on people’s character and life so as to give modern people enlightenment. 1.2 The Main Content of the Paper This paper tells a story that a country girl who was lived in the capitalist 2 society became a Broadway star at last. Carrie was a girl from a poor family, because she was driven by the Worship of Money, she used unfair means to get success. It was seemed that Carrie was happy, but she didn't get the true love, and she has lost family members.The third part and the fourth part introduced the cause of the tragedy of Carrie in detail. The third part introduced the tragedy of Carrie from three aspects, they are the tragedy of Carrie’s humble background, the tragedy of Carrie’s love and the tragedy of Carrie’s personal pursit. The fourth part is the analysis of the influence of Money Worship on Carrie’s tragedy. Therefore, research methods used in this topic are: (1) version of the literature research: to solve their own problems based on the data obtained through investigation and information, so as to fully and correctly grasp the background knowledge and theory to solve the problem. (2): the qualitative analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization methods, thinking of all kinds of materials processing access to do so, the inner essence of things, to understand and reveal the inherent regularity. 1.3 Organizational Structure of the Paper This article mainly analyze Carrie’s tragedy through the novel “Sister Carrie” making a conclusion that the influence of Money Worship on people at that time. In order to express the content of this article very well, the article is divided into five parts. The first chapter mainly introduces the research background and scientific significance and the structure of this paper. The second chapter mainly introduces domestic and foreign research status of “Sister Carrie". 3 The third chapter mainly analyses the tragedy of Carrie from three aspects: the tragedy of the Carrie’s birth, the tragedy of Carrie’s love and the tragedy of Carrie’s personal pursuit. The forth chapter combining the contents of the third chapter, describes the relationship between Carrie’s tragedies and the money worship of the United States . The fifth chapter makes a summary of this article. 4 II. At Home and Abroad Research Status of Sister Carrie Sister Carrie is the famous naturalist writer Theodore Dreiser's first novel of the United States in the 20th century. The author revealed the reality of the 20th century America in a unique vision by Carrie's story. People enjoyed the happiness that material satisfaction brought to them and blindly chased it. Domestic and foreign scholars had a lot of research on Sister Carrie. This chapter mainly introduces the domestic and foreign scholar’s studies on the money worship of the United States’ s influence on Sister Carrie’s life . 2.1 The Research Status of Sister Carrie At Home Domestic scholars Wei JingJing explores the cause of Carrie's desire combining with the theory of Maslow's hierarchy of needs from Carrie behavior characteristics and psychological factors. She believes that everyone has a dream just like Carrie who had been looking forward to a goal. The key of the desire lies in the desire for achievement. Gao Yufen through the analysis of Sister Carrie and others, especially the relationship between Sister Carrie and two men, Drew and Hurst wood, reveals the character of Sister Carrie whose life has never been satisfied. With the help of Drew, she achieved the first goal: stable material life, and then, Hurst wood helped Carrie realize the second goal: greater material wealth. After that, she started chasing the third goal: the pursuit of the spirit. She has always been chasing a new goal all the time. 2.2 The Research Status of Sister Carrie Abroad Current researches in foreign countries on "Sister Carrie" are mainly confined to literary criticism, moral philosophy and cultural fields. Mickey Clark 5 said: Theodore Dreiser equated the city to the desire. A detailed description of the city he described not appeared before. Dreiser's city life is the largest record of the United States. The city represents the separation of people and self-sufficient world, the order created by the natural order of power.(Clark 1967:35-38) Carrie’s choice was because the evil influence of American society. The city to rural areas have a decisive victory. During this period, Carrie left the rural areas, went in Chicago world to get success. She can get luxury fashion and luxury, but these only by a road of crime. Philosopher Martin Heidegger said that the essence of the new era is non-apotheosis; God from the world will disappear，and science and technology will make people lose their spiritual homeland. Carrie is in such a state of mind. (Song 1991 :57-59) 6 III. Analysis of Carrie's Tragedy Composition Sister Carrie vividly described during the 20th century of the United States that obsessed with material comforts, people in the pursuit of material enjoyment lost themselves. Carrie as a representative of this period, changed from a country girl into a Broadway star. It seemed that Carrie was successful, but from the analysis of the process that Carrie pursued her success, this is a tragedy undoubtedly. This part will analyze Carrie’s tragedy in detail from three aspects: the tragedy of Carrie’s humble background, the tragedy of Carrie’s love and the tragedy of Carrie’s personal pursuit. 3.1 The Tragedy of Carrie’s Humble Background Carrie is a girl from Columbia City, compared with Chicago, there being no tall buildings, no commercial streets, and no noise. People do not know how to drink wine in a restaurant, watching the show to go to the theater, because the environment of Columbia does not allow people to do these activities. They use their own labor to make a living. He earned a little money in the flour factory to support his family. Although her sister has married, her father's income was not enough to allow Carrie to buy new clothes and live a comfortable life. So Carrie went to Chicago. When she came to Chicago full of fantasy, she wanted to find a good man to take her to live a good life, and was eager to get success through her own efforts. However, what she had were just only four dollars, outdated clothes, her own beauty and innocence. She looked like a knight who was not fully equipped, risked exploring the mysterious city, imagining she could dominate her life one day in the future. Carrie thought that sister could help her change the situation of the poor, but when Carrie saw her sister’s haggard face on the train station she felt disappointed. 7 Carrie felt that it was so hard for the people living the in bottom of the society to live in the city of Chicago. Although Chicago was prosperous and wealthy, Carrie’s sister’s clothes were still so outdated, her sister's hands are so cold, and her eyes are so numb without vitality. Carrie living in the elder sister’s family, her brother-in-law has never cared about her presence. The condition that Carrie could stay in her sister’s family was that Carrie needed to pay 4$ for the cost of living every week, and this was a large sum of money for Carrie. Enthusiasm of Carrie to the new world disappeared in half after seeing her sister. 3.2 The Tragedy of Carrie’s Love Carrie is a beautiful woman, who is in the best years of the life. Beautiful black hair, perfect figure, and a pair of wisdom eyes made Carrie very charming. There were many boys who went after Carrie in her hometown, Carrie could choose a boy she liked and get married. But Carrie understood that there will be many boys who are more handsome and wealthy that she can make choice. Carrie would not have been living in the remote and backward country, so she abandoned the people that she really likes, and to find someone who can bring her a comfortable life. Carrie's mind is totally taken over by material desires of the fantasy, rather than hardworking. On the train, Carrie felt a man who paid attention to her, this was Drew. He was a salesman of a factory; the fashionable dress has a deep attraction for Carrie. His appearance attire is a good advertising: "button large gold plated cuff button, studded with called 'cat's-eye' yellow agate. Finger wears several rings. " (Dreiser, Sister Carrie 3) The fashionable appearance, which is made up of gold and silver and the material, and the bulging purse, made Carrie vaguely feel that he was the center of the world of wealth. He talked a lot with Carrie and depicted Chicago as 8 a large assortment of shopping malls. Then, Drew helped Carrie when she lost job because of injuries. He gave Carrie some money and bought new clothes for her. She stood in front of the mirror, and felt the power for the first time, the previous sadness disappeared too. Compared with the life in her elder sister’s family, and each month paying four dollars for living expenses, Carrie felt Drew can bring a better life for her. She thought that living with Drew together was the best choice undoubtedly. Therefore, Carrie chose to live with Drew, even if she was not Drew’s wife. With Mrs. Hale riding along the walking the shores of Lake Michigan, Carrie saw the villas, private cars, private lawn, and luxury interior furnishings, her desire was instigated. She was sure that was happiness. At this time, Drew introduced Hurst Wood to Carrie, who was the manager of the Fitzgerald and Moy. Due to the need of the work, Hurst Wood knew many people who lived in the upper society. Hurst Wood's demeanor, noble temperament, and decent work had attracted Carrie deeply. Carrie’s appearance also attracted Hurst Wood, and if he could get along with Carrie, he was willing to sell his soul. When Carrie felt Hurst Wood loved her, she chose to accept rather than refuse. Because Drew was even not worth mentioning in front of Hurst Wood, Carrie wanted a more luxurious life that only Hurst Wood could bring to her. So Carrie eloped with Hurst Wood almost without hesitation. Carrie is a young girl with beautiful appearance, but she did not get true love, and became man's mistress twice. Drew is the liar in emotion. In the eyes of Drew, women like good that displayed in the window. "He paid attention to some of the trendy clothing or appearance beautiful woman, on their overcritical in the street." (Dreiser, Sister Carrie l7) He never wanted to get married with Carrie, he 9 just wanted to get Carrie’s body to highlight his success. When Carrie asked him what time to get married with her, he just found an excuse to refuse. Hurst Wood is representative of this era. He dressed well, and lived an extravagant life. He tried to meet her physical and physiological needs. He abandoned his wife who accompanied him by years, and fell in love with Carrie who was intelligent and beautiful. The age of Hurst Wood was enough to be Carrie's father. Though Carrie lived with two men together, Carrie loved none of them really. This is the tragedy of Carrie’s love. 3.3 The Tragedy of Carrie’s Personal Pursuit In the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century of the United States, technology developed quickly, and the gap between the rich and poor was growing. The rich can live a luxurious life, buy what they want and enter into the upscale restaurants. But the poor can only rely on labor to earn rewards to maintain their livelihood. Carrie is a poor girl, living in the bottom of society that there were bad living conditions and low economic sources. Carrie was unwilling to live in such environment, and she was eager to enjoy noble treatment. She hoped that she could live in a beautiful house, have her own servants, and gorgeous costumes for one day. So Carrie came to Chicago to look for hope. When she went to Chicago to find work, the street wall woke her up from the mysterious fantasy. Carrie wanted to get all kinds of goods in the shop. Carrie knew she must find a job before she can continue to live in the city yet. Because Carrie was not interested in books, she can only be engaged in some physical labor. However, Carrie's vanity is not allowed to let others know that she was looking for a job. During the process, Carrie did not only understand the difficulty to find a job, also felt the 10 strange eyes from the women who were fashionably dressed. However, Carrie wore old clothes, holding out of fashion handbag, she felt that she could put into a wrong place in the city. Reality let Carrie felt frustrated; she realized that it was impossible to live a life in her imagination only relying on her own labor. Therefore, Carrie achieved the goal through the abnormal way. In the era of consumerism, money is the only way to meet her needs. This chapter mainly describes the tragedy of Carrie’s humble background, the tragedy of love and the tragedy of personal pursuit. Carrie’s humble background determines that she lived in the bottom of the society; Carrie's pursuit distorted her love; And Carrie's reality and desire lead Carrie must use abnormal method to achieve her goal. The fourth part of this paper will introduce the influence of money worship on Carrie's tragedy. 11 IV. The Influence of Money Worship on Carrie’s Tragedy The realistic significance of Sister Carrie is considered by the British public as a true realism novel. Domestic scholars Wang Dan once said that at that time, the United States is in from free capitalism to the later development of monopoly capitalism, the rapid development and prosperity of the financial sector in the coming out of a group of bold, selfish, ruthless speculator, they are good at grasping the opportunities in the transformation period of the society, by hook or by crook to amass wealth, and the use of the power of money climbed subsequently consolidated the special social status. (Wang :7) With the development of capitalism rapidly in the United States, the standard of people's life was improved greatly. In order to enjoy the pursuit of the substance, more and more people began to worship money blindly. Therefore money worship is a kind of phenomenon; many people equate money to happiness. They are eager to have much money to live a better life. But the influence of money worship on each person is different. It can not make everyone become the "Carrie". In this chapter, I will combine the tragedy elements in the third chapter with the money worship of the United States to analyze the relationship between these factors. 3.1 Humble Background VS Money Worship of the United States At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Consumerism was more and more popular. Consumption ideology emphasizes the cost and material possessions, which weakens the traditional moral standards such as thrifty. Consumption is realized through money, due to the enormous flow of money, money worship gradually appeared. The performance of the Money 12 Worship is that people care material wealth too much , and ignore the spiritual and inner regulation, which go to the extreme, The money worship emphasizes the money to much when you do some choices, and regards wealth as the standard measure of happiness. Carrie was born on a farm which located in Columbia, she is a girl of the poor family, her father worked in the flour factory, and her sister was already get married. The whole family was only relying on her father's wages to support their life. Due to the life at the bottom of the society, Carrie had no extra money to buy new clothes for herself, and there was no extra money to buy what they want. When Carrie went to Chicago to find a job, there were only four dollars and her sister's address in her pocket. Outdated clothes and worn-out shoes made Carrie look so shabby. In this bustling metropolis of Chicago people revealed noble temperament, and wore fashionable clothes, Carrie felt that she does not belong there. Zhu Zhenwu said that Rapid economic growth is a heavy cost. People, especially as Carrie such vulnerable groups, generally feel that they can not dominate their daily activities. Their body and mind under control and oppression of the invisible. They become more and more impotent, and suffer in tension and anxiety. (Zhu :18) Although Carrie lived in the countryside, she knew that the world is big, not just in this place of her life. Carrie had no material wealth, but she had a progressive heart. She longed that she could be a noble who lived in a beautiful house with gorgeous costumes for one day. She hoped that she could have a lot of money to buy a variety of things she like, and she could go to upper-class restaurant to drink wine. She hoped that she was able to enter the circle of the 13 upper class. However, the reality does not allow Carrie do this, Carrie’s fantasy was only the day dream. There was a big gap between her life and noble’s life. 3.2 True Love VS Money Worship of the United States In the United States, the mammonism prevails. People put money as the highest pursuit of life. The money became a measure of the value of life, as a result, people became the slaves of money, and they were driven by the money. People think that the more money they have, the more valuable they will be. Engels once pointed out: "In a capitalist society, money determines the value. If a person's value is one million, then he must have one million of the property.The richer a man is, he will get more respect. The money is the forces.”(Wang :89) What is true love? It is generally believed that true love is that two people could share and communicate something together, and they are willing to forgive and understand each others’ thoughts. At first, we like a person because his appearance, talent, and so on. I personally think that the true love is wonderful. Love is a duty, and love is a promise. We are not only willing to fight for something for someone we love, but also willing to give up something for him. As a girl, Carrie also longed for love like this. Carrie is a young girl with beautiful appearance, but she did not get true love, and she became man's mistress twice. When she met Drew, the fashionable dress has a deep attraction for Carrie. Then, Drew helped Carrie when she lost job because of injuries. He gave Carrie some money and bought new clothes for her. She stood in front of the mirror, and felt the power for the first time, the previous sadness disappeared too. Compared with the life in the elder sister’s family that with shabby living environment, and each month she needed to pay four dollars 14 for living expenses, Carrie felt Drew can bring a better life for her. She thought that living with Drew together was the best choice undoubtedly. Therefore, Carrie lived with Drew, even if she was not Drew’s wife. Hurst Wood is a manager of upper-class restaurant when Carrie met him. Due to the need of the work, Hurst Wood knew many people who lived in the upper society. Hurst Wood's demeanor, noble temperament, and decent work had attracted Carrie deeply. Carrie’s appearance also attracted Hurst Wood, and if he could get along with Carrie, she was willing to sell his soul. When Carrie felt Hurst Wood loved herself, she chose to accept rather than refuse. Because Drew was not worth mentioning in front of Hurst Wood, Carrie seemed to see more luxurious life that only Hurst Wood could bring to her. So Carrie eloped with Hurst Wood almost without hesitation. 3.3 Personal Pursuit VS Money Worship of the United States In the era of rapid development of mechanization and commercialization, the appearance of material wealth leads people to regard commodities as idolatry. This kind of worship becomes a kind of prison, and drives people to pursue the matter. Dreiser said that in the era of mammonism prevails, wealth seems to be only the pursuit of people. Only those who was wealth could enjoy the life and realize their own value. Therefore, people in order to obtain money used foul means to achieve their purpose. Carrie is a immigrant of American society , she is enough to warn that we should revisit the distorted human nature and spirit world of women who is in the patriarchal society for a long time. (Zhu :38) Although Carrie was poor, she also has her own American dream. She was eager to live a life that she imagined all the time, and join in the upper class. 15 However, Carrie has a humble family background. Because she is not interested in books, it is difficult to find a good job in the big city, thus she can only rely on labor to earn a little pay. Carrie realizes that it is too difficult to achieve her American dream. Dreiser shows the people’s different performance and fate who were been driven by desire. In several major figures, people can see the desire for materials and sex. The author describes the burst of Carrie's American dream, exposing the darkness of the capitalist society. He said that the only way to get success is selling your soul rather than by honest labor. Desire leads that Carrie was unwilling to live a humble life, and what she can do is only to depend on others to reach her goal quickly. Drew and Hurst Wood were the man who helped Carrie. Carrie finally made money quickly in this way and became a Broadway star with the wealth and status. At last, she lost Drew and Hurst wood even her family. When a desire has been achieved, there will be a new desire. Enjoying the material satisfaction makes people fascinated; people begin to pursue more material to get a better enjoyment. To sum up, money worship distorts the thought of Carrie and makes her get obsessed with material things. 16 V. Conclusion Theodore Dreiser is the famous American naturalistic writers of 20th century. In 1900, Dreiser published the first novel Sister Carrie, and criticized the darkness of the capitalistic society. He pointed out that by honest labor in the United States is in no way to be successful, but only by betraying the soul, could people get money and status. Theodore Dreiser stressed the desire and environment are the main factors that affect the fate of the characters. Sister Carrie tells the story of a young girl who lived in the bottom of the society and at last became a Broadway star. Carrie shows the growing desire in this course. In this materialistic period, everywhere is full of temptation; each of us could be the next Sister Carrie. Could we keep a clear mind, and hold the bottom line in the materialistic society? The development of productivity will bring us a better life, and the superior material comforts. The development of mechanism makes it easier for high-rise buildings to be built. The development of light industry makes our clothes more fashionable and gorgeous. The development of transportation makes us travel around the world no longer just a fantasy. Life becoming better and better attracts people to enjoy the superior material life. But many people think that if you want to get the enjoyment, money is the most basic thing, for instance, clothes need money to buy, food need money to taste, and planes need money to take. Gradually, money worship appeared. Living in the bottom of society, people have no money to enjoy life, only by laboring to earn a few wages to make a living. They can't afford the clothes, and expensive wine, they also don't have money in their spare time to see a comedy. Carrie is the representative of these people, but 17 the difference is that Carrie's beauty has captivated men. After leaving the elder sister’s home, Drew helped Carrie, he offers hope for Carrie, and made Carrie think she can live a good life. After meeting Hurst wood, Carrie seemed to see more luxurious life that only Hurst Wood could bring to her. So Carrie abandoned Drew, and eloped with Hurst wood. Carrie is not accepted by people, because she broke the moral principle. Although Carrie became Broadway star, when she recalled the past, whether she would regret for that decision or not? Nowadays, China is in the era of development rapidly, just as the United States at the end of the 19th century early 20th century. Living standards are rising greatly, and more and more area needs money. A century ago, the Dreiser records the realistic brushwork and describes people's fate in a materialistic society in the United States. Now, China is like the United States that a century ago. People have the amount of money as a measure of a person's success, because of the pursuit of money, the cheating appeared, such as financial fraud. A lot of people in order to get what they want, betray their own soul like Carrie. For example, in the contemporary, a lot of beautiful college girls became the mistress of others to get expensive bags and clothes. Carrie's story made us understand that "Life is not only struggling, there are still poetry and distance." We should learn more knowledge to enrich our brain, rather than excessively pursue material comforts. 18 References [1] Abraham Maslow. Personality and motivation. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc, 1817. [2] Bernadett Veres . The Fall of the American Dream: In Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy Paperback – 21 Nov 2008 [3] Dreiser Theodore . Sister Carrie. New York Public Library Collector's Edition. 1997 Doubleday. [4]崔艳杰. 对嘉莉妹妹两次转折的生态女性主义解读[J] 女性研究，2006(12):89 [5]高玉芬. 永不满足的性格探索——析德莱塞塑造的嘉莉妹妹艺术形象[J] 辽宁师范大学学报，2005(3):87 [6]胡蓬原. 物质?事业?精神——评嘉莉妹妹的人生追求[J] 开封教育学院学报,2007(2):37 [7]蒋道超:《德莱塞研究》，上海外语教育出版社，2003年 [8]魏京京. 对嘉莉妹妹欲望的心理解析[J] 安徽文学，2006(12):44-45 [9]王钢华:《外国文学研究》——《嘉莉妹妹》的欲望和驱动力 [10]王丹. 评《嘉莉妹妹》消费主义和自然主义的现实意义[J] 沈阳农业大学学报(社会科学版) 2006(4) [11]张合珍. 《嘉莉妹妹》哲学思想探微——兼论德莱塞小说的现代主 题 快递公司问题件快递公司问题件货款处理关于圆的周长面积重点题型关于解方程组的题及答案关于南海问题 [J] 杭州师范学院学报,1999(2):28，31 [12]朱振武 生态伦理危机下的城市移民“嘉莉妹妹”[J] 武汉:外国文学研究 2006(3):138 19 Acknowledgments After some months’ painstaking efforts, I have finally brought this thesis into existence. I am deeply indebted to a number of people without whose encouragement and assistance this thesis would not have been completed. First of all, I have to show my tremendous gratitude to Niu Zhiping, my supervisor, whose illuminating instruction and expert advice have guided me through every step of my writing of this thesis. She gave me lots of inspirations and encouragement. She read every word of every draft, pointing out the mistakes and helping me to clarify my ideas. Her broad and profound knowledge gave me great impression as well as great help. Secondly, my great gratitude also goes to some of my friends and classmates who have selfless and generously helped me with my thesis. Thirdly, I thank my family members who have given me their constant encouragement and support in my academic terms. Hopefully, readers would find this thesis somewhat useful. And I also appreciate suggestions and comments that will contribute to the improvement of my thesis. 20