Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sister Carrie, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Urban Life and Decay
Morality and Instinct
Wealth and Class
Summary
Analysis
The narrator states that “among the forces which sweep and play throughout the universe, untutored man is but a wisp in the wind.” Humans are different from animals in that they have reason in addition to instinct. At the same time, instinct often overcomes reason. In this way, the human is “a creature of incalculable variability.” In Carrie, instinct and reason are “at war for the mastery.” As of now, Carrie “[follows] whither her craving [leads].”
Carrie’s inner turmoil regarding Drouet’s offer stems from a battle between reason and instinct. Reason tells her that living as a kept woman is not respectable; however, her instinct tells her that Drouet will pave the path to glamour. Overall, it seems that for Carrie, the desire for wealth and status outweighs any moral scruples she has about being a kept woman.
Themes
Literary Devices
Minnie is anxious about Carrie’s sudden departure, but her anxiety is “not exactly touched by yearning, sorrow, or love.” Upon finding Carrie’s note, Hanson is mostly indifferent, and cynically says that Carrie “has gone and done it.” On the other hand, Minnie, having a “womanly nature higher than [Hanson’s indifference],” fears for Carrie, imagining the possibilities of what could happen to a young girl in Carrie’s situation.
Minnie and Hanson have presumably inferred that Carrie has become a kept woman—how else could she afford to live on her own in the city? Hanson’s cynicism and Minnie’s fearful reaction indicates that Carrie’s actions are symbolic of moral failure in the eyes of respectable, hardworking society.
Themes
Carrie, in her new apartment, is eager to find something to do and also wonders what Drouet plans to do with her. The narrator relates that Drouet plans to “delight himself with Carrie,” without suffering much from matters of conscience. Life in the apartment is hardly a solitary one for Carrie, as Drouet is always around, taking her out to eat, shop, and sightsee. Carrie, in her new clothes and situation, begins to perceive herself as pretty and, in this way, “[feels] her first thrill of power.”
Carrie is too innocent to realize that being a kept woman entails trading sexual favors for financial support—Drouet plans to make her his mistress. Carrie does not seem to care that her position is a dependent one—she is completely in the hands of Drouet—and, quite ironically, feels powerful with her new clothes. From this, readers can gather than Carrie equates money with power: now that she has more money in her hands, she is more powerful even though she has not earned that wealth herself.
Themes
One evening, after seeing “The Mikado,” an opera, Carrie and Drouet briefly bump into a girl with whom Carrie once worked at the shoe factory. The girl’s shabby dress contrasts with Carrie, who now dons a boa. Carrie and Drouet proceed to dine and attend the theater, with Carrie basking in all the luxury surrounding her. During the after-theater lunch, Carry briefly thinks it’s too late, but having no responsibilities or accountability to consider, falls “victim [to] the city’s hypnotic influence.” Drouet then walks Carrie home. The two are now intimate friends.
The city is a place where people can change in social station quite rapidly. Just days before, Carrie was worse off than the girl at the shoe factory. She was just as shabbily dressed as the girl she runs into outside of the opera, and also unemployed. Virtually overnight, Carrie has become the girl’s social superior. On a different note, it appears that Carrie’s childhood did little to instill values in her—she has neither habits nor scruples to curb her desire for entertainment. The city is free to fill her with new values and ideas, with little defense on Carrie’s part.
Themes
Literary Devices
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At about the same time that Drouet is walking Carrie home, Minnie has a dream about Carrie. In the dream, Carrie is swallowed first by shadow and then by water, drifting out of Minnie’s sight and reach. Minnie feels as though “she ha[s] lost something,” and is “more inexpressibly sad than she had ever been in life.” In Minnie’s last dream, Carrie slips and falls from a large rock. Hanson eventually wakes Minnie up, as she has been talking in her sleep.
Minnie’s dream symbolizes that Carrie is now a “fallen woman,” a Victorian term for a woman who has sex outside of wedlock or otherwise acts dishonorably. But the dream also demonstrates that the two sisters are out of touch with each other—they are so different that they cannot understand each other’s desires. Minnie’s sadness shows that unlike Hanson, she did have some affection for Carrie after all.
Themes
Meanwhile, after seeing Carrie home, Drouet makes his way to Fitzgerald and Moy’s to visit Hurstwood. After exchanging greetings, Drouet, “as if struck by a sudden idea,” invites Hurstwood to his house. Hurstwood is puzzled but accepts the invitation. The two make plans to play euchre and drink wine. Drouet mysteriously tells Hurstwood, “I’ll introduce you.”
Drouet views Carrie as property rather than a person. He wants to show her off to Hurstwood as one of his possessions. The fact that Carrie is something for Drouet to brag about demonstrates that she at least has the potential to become a fine lady in the eyes of high society. Despite Carrie’s innocence and lack of success without Drouet’s help, it seems she has enough redeeming qualities to rise from the common crowd.
Themes
