Theodore Dreiser's 'dual approach' to nature and the city in "Sister Carrie"

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2011 im Fachbereich Amerikanistik - Literatur, Universität Erfurt, Veranstaltung: Reading Course: City and Literature, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: According to Giles, Theodore Dreiser -s Sister Carrie set the -model - for the -dual approach- (24) to the literary description of the city: -From the beginning [with Dreiser -s Sister Carrie], the diverse body of American urban fiction has projected a dual response to the city as the embodiment of fascination and promise and as a corrupt, even brutal landscape- (ibid. 35). Giles uses the term -dual approach - to point out that the authors of most -city novels - attribute both positive and negative characteristics to the city. While some of them -emphasize one half of this dichotomy over the other- (ibid. 24), Theodore Dreiser -s -approach - to the description of the city in Sister Carrie clearly is of a -dual - nature, as he describes positive and negative attributes of the metropolis. Similarly, his approach to nature is also a dual one.