Sister Carrie: The Evolution of Character Development by Theodore Dreiser

Sister Carrie, The first novel that was published by Theodore Dreiser in 1900, portrays a timeless cinderella story. Dreiser tends to entrance his characters naive minds with the ornate or quite simply, the irresistible. The overt cultural desire of the unattainable is highly influenced by the ideals of capitalism and the time period in which Sister Carrie takes place. The competitive values of capitalism become apparent in both the professional and private lives of all three main characters in Sister Carrie.

The unfulfilling lifestyles portrayed by Dreiser allows insight into his perception of reality through his intrusive narration style. Theodore Dreiser seeks to question rather than answer the intrinsic problems that are commonly associated with unrestrained desire. Caroline Meeber is consumed, both internally and externally, by the cosmopolitan values of society. The elusive importance of class structure and the compulsive desire for material objects are two values that Carrie accepts the importance of, very early on in the book. She begins to view happiness as a product of these values. The happiness is superficial however and she remains unhappy throughout the book even with her success. It was after the Great Fire of 1871 had claimed victory over the vast majority of the city of Chicago. It was shortly after, Chicago turned its greatest disaster into opportunity. It was the "growth spurt that made it, as the 19th Century ended, the only major city on the planet that hadn't been a city at all at the beginning of that century" (Leroux). Business was booming and "People were rich" in Chicago (3 Dreiser). Unlike rural Columbia City, Chicago was quickly becoming a mecca of industry. A standard for production and of course, consumption.