Book-Review-on-An-American-Tragedy(6页).doc
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1、-Book-Review-on-An-American-Tragedy-第 6 页08级英本一班 + 学号:+Book Review on An American Tragedy 一Why Did Clydes Life Become a Tragedy An American Tragedy was written by Theodore Dreiser who is one of American greatest Naturalist writers. Many of Dreisers novels dealt with social inequality. His heroes and
2、 heroines, his settings, his frank discussion and celebration of sex were all new and shocking to the reading public, thus he opened a new ground of American Naturalism and pioneered the Naturalist School. He is known for portraying characters whose value doesnt lie in their moral code, but in their
3、 persistence against all obstacles. Arguably, Dreiser succeeded beyond any of his predecessors or successors in producing the great American novel. An American Tragedy in 1925 was His first commercial success, which was made into a film in 1931 and again in 1951. Already in 1892, when Dreiser began
4、work as a newspaperman he had begun to observe a certain type of crime in the United States that proved very common. It seemed to spring from the fact that almost every young person was possessed of an ingrown ambition to be somebody financially and socially. Fortune hunting became a disease with th
5、e frequent result of a peculiar American kind of crime and a form of murdering for money. When the young ambitious lover of a some poorer girl found a more attractive girl with money or position, but he could not get rid of the first girl. Usually it was because of pregnancy. Dreiser claimed to have
6、 collected such stories every year between 1895 and 1935. The murder in 1911 of Avis Linnell by Clarence Richeson particularly caught his attention. By 1919 this murder was the basis of one of two separate novels begun by Dreiser. The 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette eventually became
7、the basis for An American Tragedy. An American Tragedy told readers the tragedy life of an American young man,Clyde Griffiths. An American Tragedy left many questions for us to think.Even today many readers may wonder Why Clyde wanted money so much, even killed his lover Roberta and why Clyde walked
8、 so far away.Every person has a dream when he is still young. People dream of true love, money and good life. These dreams have nothing wrong. But some people do some immoral and illegal things, in order to come true their dreams. Clyde was such a person. But I dont think we should blame him for all
9、 the faults. The reasons why Clydes life became a tragedy are complex,not simple singular one.First,Clyde had little formal school education.Clydes parents were both religious-minded.But they had no jobs,so they were very poor.When Clyde was 12, still a child,his parents took him, his brothers and s
10、isters to the streets of various cities, where they prayed and sang in public.At that time,he was innocent and pure,and did what his parents told him.he had no great ambition and aspiration. If he had some ambition,it must be that he was encouraged by his parents as every American parents did to the
11、ir children. As he grew up,Clyde was possessed of an ingrown ambition to somebody financially and socially. But Clyde had little formal school education.He didnt know how to become somebody and no one taught him how to do.He only had the dream to be somebody. Second,it was that his family had an imp
12、act on him.Although his parents were religious-minded,they spent most of their time to pray and sing in public. The fundamentalist faith of the Griffiths was their hope and mainstay throughout the misfortunes and troubles of life.They did not have much time to educate him,and also they did not know
13、how to educate Clyde well by themselves.As they were poor,they did not have the money to send Clyde to school.They just told Clyde to believe God.But at that time,in America,people need money to buy goods,while God was invisible and he could not give people food and cloth or anything else.Gradually,
14、young Clyde became non-religious, and he always felt ashamed of the existence that his parents were living. He decided to go on his own way, as soon as he was old enough to make decisions for himself. Third,it was his friends and environment influenced him.When Clyde was 16 years old,he got rid of h
15、is parents,went to Kansas City and got a job as an attendant in hotel.In the hotel,he saw the rich wasted money like water.and did anything as they pleased.All of those made Clyde desirous of money. He felt astonished with the salary and the tips which he received the first time. It was the first ti
16、me in his life that he had money in his pocket, and he could dress well and enjoy himself.Compared with before,the God never brought him anything.Gradually,he totally forgot his religion believe.With the money which his job provided,life became pleasant for him.He could enjoy more and more luxuries.
17、He made friends with other attendants.They got together to have parties that centered on liquor and women. Clyde soon became familiar with drink and brothels. If Clyde was in another country,not America,he maybe be satisfied with his present job.But he was in America.If he was satisfied with his pre
18、sent job,that would mean he had no enterprise.Clyde had little education.He did not have his own judgement.He did not have interest in a particular job.So he followed his attendants friends,and learned to waste money from the rich in the hotel.Clyde was desirous of luxury and beautiful young women.B
19、ut at present,he could not get those,so those became more attractive to him. In addition,I think the society had also some responsibilities for Clydes tragedy. Because at that time society was concentrating on pursuing material wealth. Society often judged whether a person was successful or not by h
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