从马斯洛层次需要理论重新解读嘉莉妹妹
A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF SISITER CARRIE BASED ON
MASLOWS’ HIERACHY OF NEEDS
by
Gao Juan
June, 2007
Xiaogan University
Abstract
Sister Carrie tells the story of a small country girl Carrie who moves to Chicago to realize her “American Dream”and eventually becomes a Broadway star in New York. Despite living a luxurious life, she is lost in sprit. Reading the novel, we may easily notice Carrie’different needs and desires arising gradually and also the betrayal of traditional moral code in the process of pursuing material gain. The paper analyzes the reasons why Carrie has various needs at different stages of life, mainly based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. One is Carrie’s inner desires; the other is the outside force, including temptations of environment, cities, etc. The interaction between them makes Carrie lose herself eventually. It seems to tell people that in modern society material supplies more and more abundantly, but we should never pursue it blindly and much importance should be attached to happiness and stability created by spirit. It is essential to ponder the significance and the value of life.
Key words: Sister Carrie; desire; lost; hierarchy of needs
从马斯洛层次需要理论重新解读《嘉莉妹妹》
摘要
《嘉莉妹妹》讲述一位农村女孩嘉莉不甘贫穷来到芝加哥实现自己的“美国梦”，最终成为纽约百老汇一位著名的演员，享受奢华的物质却陷入精神迷失的故事。阅读这部小说我们很容易注意到嘉莉不断升级的需要及日益增长的欲望，及在追求欲望的过程中对传统道德的违背。本文主要依据马斯洛不同层次需求理论，分析嘉莉在不同时期拥有不同需要的原因，即一方面是嘉莉内在的欲望，另一方面是环境、城市的诱惑等外在因素。这两方面的相互作用最终导致嘉莉陷入精神的迷失。《嘉莉妹妹》的故事似乎在警示我们，在物质越来越发达的今天，人们不应该盲目追求物质的享受，应该充分认识到精神带给人们的幸福感和满足感, 思索自己人生的意义和价值所在。
关键词：嘉莉妹妹；欲望；迷失；层次需求理论
Contents
1.Introduction (1)
1.1About the author and the novel (1)
1.2 About Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1)
2.Carrie’s material pursuit (2)
2.1 The physiological needs: leaving for Chicago (2)
2.2 The safety needs: becoming Drouet’s mistress (3)
3. Carrie’s spiritual sublimation by degrees (4)
3.1 The love and belonging needs---- awaking step (5)
3.2 The esteem needs---- advanced development (5)
3.3 The self-actualization needs---- ultimate goal (6)
4. Significance of the novel (7)
5. Conclusion (8)
Notes (8)
Bibliography (9)
Acknowledgements (10)
A Brief Analysis of Sister Carrie Based on Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
1. Introduction
1.1About the author and the novel
Theodore Dreiser is one of America’s greatest writers, and its greatest naturalist writer as well. With the publication of Sister Carrie in 1900, Dreiser committed his literary force to opening the new ground of American naturalism. The general reaction to Dreiser has always been negative. He has been called a “Crag of basalt”, solemn and ponderous and the world’s worst great writer, but his influence is evident in the works of Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, and James T.Farrell, among others. One of thirteen children, Dreiser was raised in Terre Haule, Indiana, in misery and bruising poverty. At fifteen Dreiser fled from home and went to Chicago, where he washed dishes in a cheap restaurant, clerked in a store, and painted advertising signs. He read constantly, like one of his own helpless characters, he dreamed of wealth and social success in the great metropolises. When he was eighteen, a sympathetic teacher helped him enter the University of Indiana, but Dreiser quitted after a year and returned to Chicago, where he embarked on another sseveral of menial jobs and wandered the city streets at night, storing up impressions of drunks, thieves, prostitutes, and beggars. Dreiser’s own experience in Chicago and New York were the perfect materials for the story of a poor country protagonist who comes to the city to seek whatever she can find. The heroin of the novel is Carrie Meeber, who leaves her rural home to try her fortune in Chicago. She meets Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman on the train. After arriving in Chicago, she finds a job in a shoe factory, but the poor income and hard work oppress her imagination. She quits the job, lonely and distressed, she becomes Drouet’s mistress. When Drouet is away on a business trip, Carrie falls in love with George Hurstwood, a married manager. Hurstwood and Carrie elope to New York, and live together for more than 3 years. In these 3 years, Carrie becomes more and more popular while Hurstwood declines. Carrie walks out on him. Hurstwood becomes a beggar, sinks lower and lower and finally committed suicide. Carrie becomes a popular star of musical comedies. However, in her massive success, she still feels lonely and empty. Sister Carrie represents Dreiser’s belief in representing life honestly in fiction. Dreiser accomplished this through accurate details, especially in his descriptions of the urban settings in which many of his stories take places. In his naturalistic portrayals, Dreiser sees his characters as victims of social and economic forces and of date.
1.2 About Maslow’s hierarchy of needs