Strolling in the American Literature Garden [Part 12]

Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (1871–1945) was an American novelist with a naturalistic tendency. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, the ninth of ten children in a poor working-class family of German descent, who were Catholic, and was raised as a Catholic.

American novelist Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (1871-1945).

Dreiser's childhood was marked by poverty, and his father was a strict, authoritarian, yet short-sighted man. He received little formal education and subsequently worked as an unskilled laborer, a journalist, wrote low-budget novels, and achieved considerable success in publishing. His later novels reflect these experiences.

The lavish lifestyle of his older sister, a high-class prostitute who became a stage star, inspired him to write Sister Carree (1900), depicting a changing society. The story is about a young woman who flees rural life to the city (Chicago), cannot find a job that pays a living wage, becomes prey to some men, and eventually achieves fame as an actress. The work caused scandal, was met with public opposition, and censorship intervened. The author could not fight back and had to remain silent for 11 years.

In 1911, he returned to the issue of the "marginalized" woman in Jenny Gerhardt, this time receiving critical acclaim and public approval.

The book *An American Tragedy * (1925) brought glory to the author. The public had matured and accepted the bitter reality. At the age of 56 (1928), Dreiser went to the Soviet Union and wrote a travelogue about the Soviet Union, *Dreiser Looking at Russia* (1928). He also wrote the essay *A Tragic America * (1931), which described American society during the Great Depression and discussed reform measures to move towards a more just social order. The short story *Ernita* in the collection *A Gallery of Women's Portraits * (1929) created the image of a true female communist fighter.

Two of Dreiser's masterpieces are An American Tragedy and Jenny Gerhardt.

An American tragedy recounting a murder in suburban New York, a crime that garnered widespread media attention. Although the novel sold very well, it was also criticized for depicting an immoral man committing a vile murder. The work shattered the illusion of American achievement. It is a significant work of American critical realism. In a modern America painted with the ideal of tradition, the author discovers a rotten capitalist society: an ordinary man, consumed by lust and vanity, becomes a murderer. Dreiser has a pessimistic, skeptical, and disillusioned outlook.

He based his stories and characters on real events and real people. In his writing, sometimes he followed the events exactly, and sometimes he reflected personal details from his own life, for example, his childhood.

Clyde was the son of a poor, wandering, and fanatical pastor. From a young age, he endured a strict and fanatical upbringing . He lived in poverty, neglected by his parents. With a charming face and not inherently cruel, Clyde lacked decisiveness, was easily swayed by material pleasures, and enjoyed showing off. He worked in a shady establishment from a young age, which exposed him to many bad habits. He got involved in a scandal and had to leave. Fortunately, he met a relative who found him a job at a collar factory in a large city.

The new world of wealth dazzled the young man who wanted to climb the social ladder at all costs. He charmed a female employee named Roberta; when she became pregnant, he planned to leave her for a wealthy, eccentric aristocratic woman. Roberta demanded that he marry her instead.

Gradually, the thought of killing her arose in Clyde's subconscious. He lacked the courage to carry out his plan while taking her boating; unexpectedly, the boat capsized, and he left her to drown, silently rowing the boat back home. There was no evidence, but a detective uncovered the truth. When the trial took place, Clyde's mother came to his side and brought him to God.

The work analyzes a social and psychological phenomenon from a pathological perspective. American industrial society is responsible for presenting the alluring image of the dream of wealth, blinding weak souls.

Jenny Gerhardt tells the stories of young women who are the main characters in the social changes brought about by urbanization, as young people move from rural areas to cities.

This is a didactic novel written during the period of extreme Puritanism, proposing a rudimentary view of life as a black-and-white struggle between Good and Evil. Dreiser's realistic writing dared to address then-taboo issues such as love and illegitimate children. Beyond polemical writing, he succeeded in creating the gentle and compassionate character of Jenny.

The story takes place in a small town in Ohio. Jenny, the eldest daughter in a large, impoverished German-speaking Puritan family, meets a wealthy, elderly senator named Brander, who treats her like his own daughter, helping her and her family. Gradually, he falls in love with her and intends to marry her, but he dies suddenly. When her father learns she is pregnant, he kicks her out of the house.

After giving birth to a daughter, she went to work for the wealthy and dynamic Kane family. Kane found Jenny to be a woman compatible with his personality. At first, Jenny refused his advances, but later, due to her gentle and compassionate nature, she agreed to live secretly as his mistress for many years. Kane's family found out and tried everything to separate them. Jenny herself did not want Kane to sacrifice his social status for her sake.

Eventually, he grew weary and married a classmate from his own social class. But he couldn't forget Jenny, and when he fell seriously ill, he summoned her. She secretly came to care for him until his death. She had to attend the funeral in secret, not daring to meet his official wife and her family.

Then Jenny returned to her loneliness. Her parents were dead, her daughter was dead, and she lived with the memories of her deceased lover, enduring the same suffering as before.

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