Abstract：Sister Carrie is the first novel of Theodore Dreiser, which is endowed with thoughts and artistic connotations. This novel set American society at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century as background, and witnessed the great changes of that time. The industrialization changed the lifestyle as well as conceptions of people, especially of women. Carrie was one of the representatives of women in that period.

This novel tells about the process of Carrie’s changing from a poor country girl to a famous Broadway star, with vivid descriptions of her living conditions and inner feelings. After its advent, Sister Carrie has won a lot of attention. People make numerous investigations from various perspectives, most of which explore the naturalism and Darwinism in the novel from the point of view of materialism, while some analyse it from the perspective of new woman. Yet no one looks into the growth of Carrie and her struggling and conflicts that propel the growth. Therefore, this thesis is going to make a research on Sister Carrie from this angle, to enrich the study of this novel.

Apart from introduction and conclusion, this thesis consists of three parts:

The first part analyses Carrie’s characteristics before her maturity, including her innocence and timidity, dependence on men and adoration of material possessions.

The second part analyses Carrie’s struggle and conflicts: struggle for survival in the city, sufferings from feverish pursuit for material pleasure and unsatisfied desire, combat of her desire and conscience.

The third part analyses Carrie’s growth after a series of struggle: from a poor country girl to a famous actress, from affiliating on men to be independent, from single-minded material pursuit to the enlightenment of  spiritual fulfillment.

Key Words: struggle; growth; materialism; desire

《嘉莉妹妹》中嘉莉的挣扎与成长

摘要：《嘉莉妹妹》是西奥多·德莱塞的第一部小说，是一部极具思想及艺术内涵的作品。小说以19世纪末20世纪初的美国为背景，当时美国正经历着巨大的社会变革。工业化的出现改变了人们的生活方式，也改变了人们的思想，尤其是女性的思想。嘉莉正是这个时期女性的典型代表。

小说讲述了贫穷的农村少女嘉莉从社会底层成长为百老汇明星的过程，生动地描写了嘉莉的生存状况和心路历程。小说一问世便吸引了国内外众多学者的注意，人们从不同角度对其进行研究。他们大多从物质主义的角度来探讨小说中表现的自然主义和达尔文主义，也有些学者从新女性主义角度分析这部小说，但是迄今为止还没有人对嘉莉的成长过程及推进这个过程的挣扎矛盾进行研究。本论文将竭力从这个角度进行分析阐述，以丰富对该小说的研究。

论文除了引言和结语之外共分三个部分：

第一部分分析嘉莉妹妹成长之前的性格特征，阐述她的天真胆怯、对男性的依赖以及对物质的追捧。

第二部分分析嘉莉妹妹的挣扎与矛盾：她为生活的基本需求所苦恼并为之不断奋斗；她对物质的狂热追求以及内心的不满足让她饱受痛苦；对物质的欲望以及为欲望做出不符合“道德”的行为的羞耻感在她脑子里来回拉扯。

第三部分分析嘉莉妹妹在一系列的挣扎和矛盾后取得的进步和成长。她从一个农村少女变成了著名的演员，从依附于男人到自强独立，从一味的物质追求开始转向精神追求。

关键词：挣扎；成长；物质主义；欲望

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Background Information 1

1.2 Literature Review 2

1.2.1 Previous Studies on Sister Carrie Abroad 2

1.2.2 Previous Studies on Sister Carrie at Home 3

1.3 The Significance of the Study 5

2. The Immaturity of Carrie as an Unsophisticated Girl 7

2.1 The Innocence and Timidity of Carrie 7