Abstract

Sister Carrie is Theodore Dreiser’s masterpiece who is recognized as one of greatest realistic writers and the pioneers of American modern fictions in 20 century. Death of a Salesman is also one of the greatest works of Arthur Miller who is one of the most famous and successful dramatist in America after the World War II. Both of these two works have a great impact on American literature. And they both share the same topic, that is, American Dream. The two characters in the novel, Carrie and Willy both have their all American dream, but unfortunately, their dreams broke up finally. The paper aims to analyze the connotation and social background of Carrie’s American dream and Willy’s American dream as well as to analyze the social, environmental and personal factors that lead to the disillusionment of their dreams. In addition, my thesis is going to seek the similarities and differences between them and reveal the correlation and necessity of their disillusionment. Analysis can help me better understand the essence of American dream as well as deepen the understanding of the topic of the works. 

Keywords: American Dream; sister Carrie; Willy Loman; disillusionment

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 About the authors and the two books.-1

1.2 Literature review-1

2. The American Dream in Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman.-3

2.1 The basic characteristics and development of American Dream-3

2.2 The general social background-3

2.3 The connotation of their American dream-4

2.4 The way to realize their dreams.-4

2.5 The disillusionment of their American dream-5

3. Reasons leading to the disillusionment of their dreams-6

3.1 The promoting role of society-6

3.2 The environment influence-6

3.2.1 Willy’s two sons, wife Linda and his neighbor-6

3.2.2. Carrie’s neighbors and lover Hurstwood-7

3.3 Personal factors-8

4. Conclusion-9

References-10