Question

《嘉莉妹妹》为何成为名著？反映怎样的主题？

读后对嘉莉和两位深爱她的人产生了同情之感，了解了作者的写作背景和当时人们的评论后，发现当时的人对这部书的意见很大。我也很想知道这部书究竟因为什么成为名著？仅因为它反映了现实？希望大家帮助解惑。

Answer 1

《嘉莉妹妹》的西奥多·德莱塞是美国现代小说的先驱和代表作家，被认为是同海明威、福克纳并列的的美国现代小说的三大巨头。小说写的是乡村女孩嘉莉去城里追梦的故事，她经历了许多挫折，最后成了歌星。虽摆脱了往日的贫困，但她的内心并没感到幸福。读这本书时嘉莉的曲折命运始终让我牵挂，吸引着我。至于它为什么成为名著，也许也有这方面的原因吧——主人公命运曲折，作者文字功底又好，书吸引人，喜欢它的人多，因而出名了，自然就成为名著了吧。

Answer 2

小说描写了农村姑娘嘉莉来到大城市芝加哥寻找幸福，为摆脱贫困，出卖自己的贞操，先后与推销员和酒店经理同居，后又凭美貌与歌喉成为歌星的故事。作家娴熟地运用自然主义的创作手法，把人的行为物化为“化学反应”的经果，使作品具有极强的社会表现力。小说的故事真正情节是这样的：嘉莉是个俊俏的农村姑娘，她羡慕大都市的物质生活来到了芝加哥谋生。严酷的现实破碎了她的美梦，迎接她的是失业和疾病。在走投无路时，她做了推销员杜洛埃的情妇，后来由于更大的欲望又做了酒店经理赫斯渥的情妇。与赫斯渥私奔后，在纽约由于偶然的机会她成了走红一时的演员，挤上了上流社会，实现了她的幻想。然而，所谓的“上流社会生活”又给她带来了什么呢？她感到空虚，找不到真正生活的意义，在寂寞和凄凉中，她坐在摇椅里梦想着那终不可得的幸福

Answer 3

。十九世纪末的美国正处在资本主义迅速发展的时期，贫富之间的差异，劳资之间的矛盾，道德
观念的败坏，人性的泯灭，正引起人们的日益关注。然而，当时的美国文坛却充斥着中世纪式
的浪漫传奇、清教徒式的说教和穷孩子靠“勤劳”、“善良”而发迹的美国式奇遇，任何事实
地反映社会现实的作品都被认为不登大雅之堂而遭到出版商的抵制。德莱塞在这时推出的现实
主义小说《嘉莉妹妹》无疑给这一潭死水扔进了一块巨石；这块巨石引起的反响也就造成了《
嘉莉妹妹》这部小说多的命运。
《嘉莉妹妹》通过农村姑娘家莉到芝加哥谋生而成为名演员的故事，揭露了资本主义社会繁荣的表面底下的失业、贫困和饥饿，对美国贫富对立的社会作了深刻的描写。《嘉莉妹妹》用巴尔扎克式的现实主义写成为美国文学开创了一个新的天地。它虽在美国被禁，后来却在英因出版。

Answer 4

。十九世纪末的美国正处在资本主义迅速发展的时期，贫富之间的差异，劳资之间的矛盾，道德
观念的败坏，人性的泯灭，正引起人们的日益关注。然而，当时的美国文坛却充斥着中世纪式
的浪漫传奇、清教徒式的说教和穷孩子靠“勤劳”、“善良”而发迹的美国式奇遇，任何事实
地反映社会现实的作品都被认为不登大雅之堂而遭到出版商的抵制。德莱塞在这时推出的现实
主义小说《嘉莉妹妹》无疑给这一潭死水扔进了一块巨石；这块巨石引起的反响也就造成了《
嘉莉妹妹》这部小说多的命运。
《嘉莉妹妹》通过农村姑娘家莉到芝加哥谋生而成为名演员的故事，揭露了资本主义社会繁荣的表面底下的失业、贫困和饥饿，对美国贫富对立的社会作了深刻的描写。《嘉莉妹妹》用巴尔扎克式的现实主义写成为美国文学开创了一个新的天地。它虽在美国被禁，后来却在英因出版。

Answer 5

Carrie not only had a beautiful face, pure heart, but also showed a warm side in her. Carrie, with a warm heart, dared to go to the big city alone in search of happiness. Though in the face of cruel reality, Carrie’s enthusiasm abated. But when she finally found a four-and-a-half dollar a-week job, her enthusiasm rose. It was fell happy where she was going to work, and she would do a great job there. At the thought of this, Carrie felt that life was full of hope. She thought she shall be able to survive in Chicago and have a good life. As a result, we could see Carrie’s passion for a better material life. When she got her first salary:
“despite her tiredness, she wanted to talk to her sister about the interesting things that made her successful, but she just smiled with approval and asked her if she was considering paying a portion of the fare. Carrie had never thought of that, and it did not affect her enthusiasm now...”(Dreiser 21).
It was Carrie's excitement about her early success and her desire to share it. Carrie was eager to see Drouet, and she had a happy look on her face when she thought of Drouet coming to see her. Later, when Hurstwood encouraged Carrie to perform, it was not difficult to see from their dialogue that Carrie showed young enthusiasm in all aspects of life. Everyone's heart is full of infinite fantasies about young people, whether it becomes reality or not. So is Carrie. When she was young, her fantasies were reflected not only in her life, but also in her emotions. She always fantasized that she would eventually be rewarded and that her efforts would not be wasted. After finding the four-and-a-half a-week job in all directions, She fantasized that “she will lead a better life than she used to be, and she believes she will be happy...”(Dreiser 21). But her fantasy was quickly shattered by the brutal reality that in an era of fierce competition, it was difficult for her to find a job, and the environment in which she was paid $4.5 a week was very bad. This made it almost impossible for her to endure any longer. Nevertheless, she had to pay her brother-in-law her meager salary, and the rest of the money was not enough for her to go home. She suddenly fell ill and lost her job. In this way, everything was restored. She began to prepare for a job in all directions, but failed. She met Drouet again. With Drouet's help, she began to get what she wanted. For example: beautiful jackets, beautiful jewelry, neat apartments, can also enter the upper class to go to the theatre and so on. After getting the material she wanted, she began to fantasize about getting better and better. For example, when Carrie and Mrs. Hale drove around grand high-rise buildings and garden houses, her childhood fantasies of fairyland palaces and palaces came back to mind. In this way, Carrie had been dreaming of happiness that she would never get, even at the end of her success.