Sister Carrie -- Chapters I-XI (7/1-7/10/2010)

[dulcinea3]

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IBIS wrote:

Hi Pepper, your Fourth of July sounds very restful.

After 20 years of playing Tchaikovsy's "1812 Overture" I can do it with my eyes closed. If you ever get to visit Boston on the Fourth, the violinist in the first row with her eyes closed will be me. 

Carrie's family background is interesting primarily because Dreiser tells us nothing of it.

Minnie and Hanson didn’t invite Carrie to live with them out of familial kindness; they hoped to profit from her by charging her rent. To them, Carrie is a customer, not a family member.

This financial arrangement is pathetic because the $4 rent money isn’t enough to make much of a difference in their bare-bones existence. When Carrie can’t pay her rent, they want her to leave.

Drouet’s offer of money teaches Carrie' a vital lesson. His money is tinged with something other than simple compassion. The $20 gives him the opportunity to touch her hand. Once he presses the two $10 bills in her hand, Carrie feels bound to him by a "strange tie of affection."  

Drouet has purchased the right for physical intimacy with Carrie. By taking Drouet's money, Carrie implicitly sets her cost at exactly twenty dollars. She wants to hide her new living arrangements from Minnie and Hanson because she’s partly aware that she is selling herself.

Drouet's follow-up installments seal the contract... he buys her fancy clothes and takes her out. In return, she moves in with him and becomes his mistress. Stripped of all the trappings, the relationship between Drouet and Carrie is one of prostitution.

More interesting to me is that Carrie is paid far more for her body than she is for her labor; the lesson that Carrie is learning is that in this world, a woman's most marketable product is her body.

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Just curious IBIS - do you play for the Pops?

I like your point that Carrie's body is more profitable for her than her labor.  And the utter lack (so far, at least) of any references to sex in the narrative emphasizes that this is a material affair for Carrie, rather than a sensual one.  I do agree with the others that, while I see the point that you are making, I would not classify it as prostitution.  Carrie is monogamous, so far, and is living with Drouet, cooking for him, etc.  She is being paid to play house with him.  I have always thought of her with the term that Pepper used, a 'kept woman'.

[IBIS]

Dulcie,

I am a professional violinist with the BSO.

I also belong to a string quartet. We perform for private parties and weddings and such.

Unless I am invited to play in BSO's summer concerts at Tanglewood, summer  is when we go on tour to perform as visiting guest violinists... usually with small orchestras in Europe and Asia.

Sometimes when there is an empty slot, I fill in for someone in the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Our quartet's lifetime dream is to be invited on a tour in Africa... we would love to serenade some wildlife in the Serengeti!

[Peppermill]

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dulcinea3 wrote (excerpt):... And the utter lack (so far, at least) of any references to sex in the narrative emphasizes that this is a material affair for Carrie, rather than a sensual one.

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While I agree that the relationship with Charlie Drouet is more a material one for Carrie rather than a romantic or sexual one, the background material does indicate that Dreiser and several of his  colleagues very much "sanitized" the text in order to make it publishable in its day.

I would like to get my hands on a copy of the "Philadelphia edition" -- is anyone here reading it?  I am now quite certain mine is not that "restored" text (despite the description accompanying my edition on at least one of the book selling sites).

[IBIS]

Dulcie, Pepper and tj_happygirl,

I was unclear in my post when I used the term “prostitution” to describe Carrie's living arrangement with Charlie Drouet. I didn't mean it in the literal sense... as if Carrie would stand on street corners plying the world’s oldest profession.

I meant to suggest, that despite all the trappings and respectability of keeping house and pretending to be married, it was an economic relationship… one of convenience for them both. Although they kept up a charade for others, they didn’t pretend to each other that it was anything else but convenient economics.

I used the term in the colloquial sense, as in “She prostituted herself by going to Hollywood and writing hack screenplays.”  

In this sense, its clear that she isn’t a prostitute. But the implication is that she's deliberately putting herself in a situation that she’s ashamed of. It's clearly in direct conflict with her upbringing.

Dreiser is giving us an sharply focused view at how she will re-shape her basic ethics... her core values... to accomodate her transformation from innocent country girl to big-city actress.

[kykena45]

Given Carries options, its easy to see the allure of capitalizing on her assets. Brains and beauty opens many a door to this day. I dont see it as prostitution since she is so young, naive and maleable. Many men (and even her sister) would love to mold her to their own ends. I hope that ultimately Carrie is intelligent enough to learn to weld that double-edged sword to her advantage without compromising her values.

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IBIS wrote:

Drouet’s offer of money teaches Carrie' a vital lesson. His money is tinged with something other than simple compassion. The $20 gives him the opportunity to touch her hand. Once he presses the two $10 bills in her hand, Carrie feels bound to him by a "strange tie of affection."  

Drouet has purchased the right for physical intimacy with Carrie. By taking Drouet's money, Carrie implicitly sets her cost at exactly twenty dollars. She wants to hide her new living arrangements from Minnie and Hanson because she’s partly aware that she is selling herself.

Drouet's follow-up installments seal the contract... he buys her fancy clothes and takes her out. In return, she moves in with him and becomes his mistress. Stripped of all the trappings, the relationship between Drouet and Carrie is one of prostitution.

More interesting to me is that Carrie is paid far more for her body than she is for her labor; the lesson that Carrie is learning is that in this world, a woman's most marketable product is her body.

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[kykena45]

Thanks for the analogy to Factory Girls, IBIS. I will have to pick that up now. Fascinating! I just read Bolano's 2666 about the maquiladora murders along the Mexican border. Reading Dreiser is a veritable vacation after Bolano. haha

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IBIS wrote:

It’s fascinating to see the exact economic circumstances of Chicago circa 1900 replay itself in today’s international scene.

For example, China’s undergoing huge-scale industrialization and urbanization. This 21st Century  industrial revolution propels millions of rural citizens from less developed provinces as Sichuan and Human into prosperous cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The young girls in “Factory Girls” mirror Carrie’s similar economic status… numerous Carrie-like young women flock to these big cities. They too want to accumulate money for their material well-being.

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Peppermill wrote:

Reading the short synopsis of relationships in the shoe factory reminds me so much of the stories in Factory Girls, tales of modern day women working in the factories of China. 

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[IBIS]

Some thoughts about Dreiser's narrative technique that I wanted to share:

Dreiser's journalism background is obvious when he uses concrete, physical details to describe his characters’ moods. We can gauge their states-of-mind by how he describes their surroundings.

For example, in Chapter 1, there's a corresponding relationship between Carrie and Chicago. Whenever Dreiser describes an aspect of the city, it's directly related to how it affects Carrie, or how it shapes her moods.

When the train comes within the view of Chicago, Dreiser writes: “They were nearing Chicago. Signs were everywhere numerous. Trains flashed by them. Across wide stretches of flat, open prairie they could see lines of telegraph poles stalking across the field towards the great city.”

“Sister Carrie gazed out of the window. Her companion affected by her wonder, so contagious are all things, felt anew some interest in the city and pointed out its marvels.”

Through Carrie's eyes, we see the beauty of the city lights, the wide expanse of land , the telegraph poles as signs of industrial progress... the writing reflects what Carrie is feeling at the moment: wonder and amazement. She's blown away at the scenery.

In the same vein, the description of the environment changes when Carrie’s mood changes: “Her heart was troubled by a kind of terror. The fact that she was alone, away from home, rushing into a great sea of life and endeavour, began to tell. She could not help but feel a little choked for breath... a little sick as her heart beat so fast. She half closed her eyes and tried to think it was nothing, that Columbia City was only a little way off.”

Within a couple of paragraphs, Carrie’s emotion swings to that of fear. Dreiser captures  the fear that she feels by switching to aggressive images:

“Chicago! Chicago!” called the brakeman, slamming open the door. They were rushing into more crowded yard, alive with the clatter and clang of life. She began to gather up her poor little grip and closed her hand firmly upon her purse. Drouet arose, kicked his legs to straighten his trousers, and seized his clean yellow grip.”

Suddenly the environment becomes unfriendly and intimidating. The brakeman “slams” the door open. There is rushing into crowded yards with the violent images of “clatter” and “clang.” Drouet “kicked” his legs, and "seized" his grip.

The words that Dreiser uses corresponds with Carrie’ state of mind. They tell us why her heart is suddenly troubled, and why she suddenly feels all alone.

As we go further into the book, this technique becomes much more obvious.

[dulcinea3]

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IBIS wrote:

Dulcie,

I am a professional violinist with the BSO.

I also belong to a string quartet. We perform for private parties and weddings and such.

Unless I am invited to play in BSO's summer concerts at Tanglewood, summer  is when we go on tour to perform as visiting guest violinists... usually with small orchestras in Europe and Asia.

Sometimes when there is an empty slot, I fill in for someone in the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Our quartet's lifetime dream is to be invited on a tour in Africa... we would love to serenade some wildlife in the Serengeti!

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Interesting!  And you get the experience of both a large and a small group.  When I was in grade school, there was a kind of family subscription available to the BSO, geared towards children ('Young People's Concerts', or something like that), and my parents did that one year.  We got to go to a series of concerts, sitting up in the balcony at Symphony Hall.  I'm sure it was long before you were playing with them, though - in the 60s!

Apropos of the descriptions as Carrie approached Chicago, the city's situation in the prairie reminded me of an oasis in a desert.  I suppose that it was somewhat like that for Carrie - bright hopes for a future in a drab uneventful life.

[Peppermill]

Kykena -- thanks for your comments and for joining this discussiion.

I have never read An American Tragedy.  (Sister Carrie was my first Drieser acquaintance.)  AAT seems long and daunting, but it is certainly considered Dreiser's masterpiece, as I understand what I have read.

I rooted for Carrie, too, even to and perhaps beyond the very last sentence.

Pepper

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kykena45 wrote:

Dreiser's characters in An American Tragedy were similar, in that they were defined more in terms of status and class, then as individuals, especially in the eyes of the protagonist. That delineation of status and class - specifically regarding the two women he was conflicted over - predominantly drove the plot of that novel.

I like how Carrie hears a distinctive voice in her head that speaks what is perceived as "socially acceptable behavior" of the period - a product of striving upwards and being painfully aware of her class and status. I like the fact that presents conflict for her, because it seems so very stifling for a female.

It is also reinforced by her sister and husband, in that you can almost see them with a checklist with what is appropriate for Carrie and what is unacceptable. GAH! I would lose my mind!

So despite the flatness of her character, I cant help but root for the girl, and hope she can rise above the oppressive environments she finds in Chicago - the golden city of opportunity.

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[Peppermill]

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JediHanson wrote:

I just picked up the book last night, started reading, and got through Chapter 7.  I hope to get some additional chapters read tonight.  So far, I've really enjoyed the book.  It's not that "tough" of a read (as other classics are), and I enjoy how the author, through Carrie's eyes, tells us about society during that time. 

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Jedi -- glad you are here!

I did finish Sister Carrie this afternoon and will say that I am grateful for the read, which I am unlikely to have undertaken without this board and group.  I think the writing gets better (but not more difficult) as one reads.  I quite agree with you that it is not as "tough" a read as many classics.

Pepper

[chadadanielleKR]

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Peppermill wrote:

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While I agree that the relationship with Charlie Drouet is more a material one for Carrie rather than a romantic or sexual one, the background material does indicate that Dreiser and several of his  colleagues very much "sanitized" the text in order to make it publishable in its day.

I would like to get my hands on a copy of the "Philadelphia edition" -- is anyone here reading it?  I am now quite certain mine is not that "restored" text (despite the description accompanying my edition on at least one of the book selling sites).

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Good point!, we don't know what Dreiser had written in his first text. But it looks like Carrie doesn't seem or doesn't want to put a name on what she lives. I wonder what her education was. She never seems to be full of remorse, to lament  over lost or forgotten religious or moral principles. She just takes life as it comes as long as her fate improves.

[Peppermill]

In the "original", Hurstwood's resort is Hannah and Hogg's, rather than Fitzgerald and Moy's. Hannah and Hogg's were actual bars throughout Chicago, apparently continuing to exist through Prohibition.

The following is from this article by Jack Sullivan:

"Alexander Donnan (known as “A.D.”) Hannah and David Hogg both were natives of Scotland. Hannah was born there in 1845, the son of Alexander and Mary Hannah. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1868 at the age of 23, going first to Kansas City to work as a store clerk. In 1872, he moved to Chicago where he was employed in the liquor business as a traveling salesman. In that pursuit, he met David Hogg, who was running a small business in Chicago. Hogg was born in 1842 in Kinrosshire, Scotland, and came to the U.S. in 1863, working first in the East and then in Chicago as a painter and wall paper hanger.

"In 1873 Hannah & Hogg decided to go into business together and opened a store at 190 Madison Street. They called their drinking establishment 'The Thistle,' the symbol of their native Scotland. Soon they branched out into retail sales of liquor and cigars, buying more stores in several parts of the Windy City. Hannah was president of the company and Hogg was vice president. They appear to have married sisters. Hannah wed Catherine Grady in 1874 and Hogg married Mary Grady in 1878. The Hannahs had three children; the Hoggs had four. The two families lived within a block of each other on Chicago’s fashionable Oak Street.

"These transplanted Scotsmen were eminently successful and soon became well recognized figures in Chicago. Canny about politics, they covered both bases: Hannah was a prominent Democrat, Hogg an active Republican. So well known was their establishment that the American author, Theodore Dreiser, used it as the backdrop for scenes in his famous 1910 novel, Sister Carrie.  In the book, he described Hannah & Hogg’s as 'a gorgeous saloon from a Chicago standpoint' and his story fictionally included its manager as a major character.

"In time Hannah & Hogg came to own and operate the Brevoort Hotel, one of Chicago’s premier hostelries. This establishment, in the city’s Loop District, was built in 1906 and still stands as a landmark at 120 W. Madison Street...."

Bold added.

More pictures of jugs are associated with the article.

[Peppermill]

When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago, her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, a small lunch in a paper box, and yellow leather snap purse, containing her ticket, a scrap of paper with her sister's address in Van Buren Street, and four dollars in money. It was in August, 1889. She was eighteen years of age, bright, timid, and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth. Whatever touch of regret at parting characterised her thoughts, it was certainly not for advantages now being given up. A gush of tears at her mother's farewell kiss, a touch in her throat when the cars clacked by the flour mill where her father worked by the day, a pathetic sigh as the familiar green environs of the village passed in review, and the threads which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken.

Opening lines of Sister Carrie

When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, which was checked in the baggage car, a cheap imitation alligator skin satchel holding some minor details of the toilet, a small lunch in a paper box and a yellow leather snap purse, containing her ticket, a scrap of paper with her sister's address in Van Buren Street, and four dollars in money....

Pennsylvannia edition  [bold added]

I previously "imagined" Carrie's past, that she did not have the emotional ties nor the relationships with family and friends that might have provided care and kindness (as well as probably some elements which would have restricted freedoms).

The Spark Notes emphasize that Dreiser gives an economic, consumeristic introduction to Carrie, rather than one of relationships to family and community.  The notes point out that the "imitation" alligator skin already suggests a desire for something more valuable.

It is also interesting to note the small trunk in the original version.  That might have impeded Carrie's leaving her sister a little bit?