In the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser there are many instances in which characters will go to extremes to meet what they think will satisfy their wants or needs. Sometimes desire is so strong that it blinds someone from seeing what truly matters instead of superficial requests.
In the beginning of the book when an 18 year old girl, Carrie, moves to Chicago she sets her sights high. As soon as she got there she decided that she was going to be wealthy and live a good life. "And yet she was interested in her charms, quick to understand the keener pleasures of life, ambitious to gain in material things. A half-equipped little knight she was venturing to reconnoiter the mysterious city and dreaming wild dreams of some vague supremacyâ¦"(8) After living with her sister she decides to move in with Drouet because they way she is living won't get meet her desires, richness.
American writer Theodore Dreiser.
Portrait of Theodore Dreiser
American writer Theodore Dreiser. (c1910/1915)"As for Carrie, her understanding of the moral significance of money was the popular understanding, nothing more. The old definition: "Money: something everybody else has and I must getâ¦"(63) Carrie's desire for money is leading her, and will continue to lead her through many different paths that will affect her. Unfortunately what Carrie doesn't know, that she will find out is that having money doesn't necessarily mean that you will have happiness. "In you rocking chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking chair, by the window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel." (465) Imitation and genuineness can very often be interchanged. For people like Carrie she is easily fooled by people. She considered Hurstwood and Drouet to be genuine because they were spending money on her and taking her places. When really the...