In Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser creates a world in which people are defined by desire. By observing this world through the eyes of its protagonist, Carrie, the reader becomes aware of a dichotomy. On the one hand there is the desire for wealth, status and material goods. While most of the novel is devoted to this type of desire, there is another type of desire of the "feeling mind" (398), which aspires to beauty. For most of the novel, Carrie becomes increasingly aware of the superficiality of the first type of desire, as well as the nobility of the second, which she explores through her acting experience. At the end of the novel, Dreiser praises Carrie for having transcended the first kind of desire and embraced the second, more noble kind of desire. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay When Carrie is taken in by Drouet, she is confronted with intermittent instances of moral doubt about her situation. Dreiser writes, "[Carrie] looked into her glass and saw a prettier Carrie than she had seen before; she looked into her mind and saw a worse one. Between these two images she wavered, hesitating which to believe" (74). When Carrie is alone, a voice tells her: Oh, you failure! Look at those around. Look at those who are good. How would they despise doing what you did? Look at the good girls; how they will turn away from people like you when they know you have been weak. You hadn't tried before you failed. (75)These flashes of morality, which go virtually dormant for most of the book, reappear in the voice of Ames, who is extremely influential in helping Carrie shed the desire for material things and focus on the desire for beauty. Carrie's introduction to acting marks the beginning of her exposure to the positive type of desire. However, at first she only likes acting for the praise she receives; he is unaware of his potential to have a positive influence on the world. The following passage, in which Dreiser addresses the reader, is one of many that deal with Carrie as an actress. These passages serve as points of reference in Carrie's realization of the best kind of desire: Carrie possessed that sympathetic and impressionable nature which, always in its most developed form, has been the glory of the drama. It was created with that passivity of the soul which is always the mirror of the active world. He possessed an innate taste for imitation and no small skill. And a little later: In such weak tendencies, we know, in such a manifestation of the desire to reproduce life, lies the basis of all dramatic art. (125-126). In this passage Dreiser recognizes Carrie as a talented actress, capable of "reproducing life." The importance of this ability is explained later by Ames. In her first meeting with Ames, Carrie begins to see the artificiality of the desire for material wealth in the following passage: "I wouldn't care to be rich," he told her, as the dinner progressed and the supply of food warmed his sympathies ; "not rich enough to spend my money like this." "Oh, isn't it?" said Carrie, as the new attitude made itself clear to her for the first time. “No,” he said. "What good would it do? A man doesn't need this kind of thing to be happy." Carrie thought about it doubtfully; but, coming from him, it had a weight for her. (257) This "new attitude" explicitly denounces the desire for wealth and everything that is material. At this turning point, Carrie begins to see the wrongness of her desire to adopt the "cosmopolitan standard of virtue" (1). Not only does he begin to see this, but he also begins to see the righteousness in the pursuit of a better kind ofdesire, which he demonstrates in acting. Carrie certainly agrees with this idea when she soon after asks Ames, "Don't you think it's pretty cool to be an actor?" (258). Ames' approval is all she needs to set her on the path to the good kind of desire. Dreiser points to this dawning of awareness: "Through a fog of longing and conflicting desires she began to see. Oh, ye legions of hope and pity of sadness and pain! She swayed and began to see" (258). critical point of the novel, Dreiser initiates the chiasmus of the plot between Carrie and Hurstwood. Carrie, due to her growing awareness of the right path, begins to ascend, while Hurstwood, for opposite reasons, begins to decline. The key idea in Dreiser's analogy between a man's material progress and his bodily growth is that once a man stops moving forward, he begins to decay. Carrie doesn't decline because she doesn't stop looking forward. In fact, he constantly desires something that can never be achieved. However, it is this perpetual desire that keeps her in “youthful growth” (259). In contrast, Hurstwood never transcends the emptiness of the desires of the material world. It lives for itself and subsequently begins to decay. This passage parallels the one at the end of the novel, in which Ames warns Carrie of the evanescence of her gift for acting: You can lose it, you know. If you walk away from it and live only to satisfy yourself, everything will go pretty fast. The look will leave your eyes. Your mouth will change. Your power to act will disappear. You might think they won't, but they will. Nature takes care of this. (386)The first significant part of this passage concerns the danger of living only to satisfy oneself. This is exactly why Hurstwood doesn't grow up like Carrie does. The other significant aspect is Ames' comment that "Nature takes care of that." Ames's mention of Nature as an agent of destiny is a direct reference to the passage in which Dreiser describes the scientific process of growth and decay, which, in Hurstwood's case, results in a "falling toward the grave" (259). When Hurstwood chooses not to go out on that winter's day and look for work, he stops looking for something more and Nature takes over. The previous paragraph is preceded by one in which Ames tells Carrie how she has the power to give voice to the feelings of others. "The world is always struggling to express itself," he tells her, and "most people are unable to express their feelings. They depend on others" (385). Of her "sympathy" and "melodious voice", he tells her to "make them precious to others. It will make your powers last." This is Dreiser's way of suggesting that using one's valuable abilities for others is the best way to preserve the self. Dreiser ends the scene by saying, “The road to this better thing has been a long one” (386). At this point Carrie fully realizes her duty to use her gift to express the desires of others. She realizes that doing so is a "better thing" than living for herself and wanting material possessions. Although this kind of life seems like "a long road" for Carrie, it is important to note that she strives for something that can never be achieved. Just as the desire for prestige will never be satisfied, “the blind strivings of the human heart” will never end. But it is from the desire of that which cannot be obtained that those feeling minds derive pleasure. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In the final pages of Dreiser, Carrie reflects on the futility of the first kind of desire: "Chicago, New York; Drouet, Hurstwood; the world of fashion and the world of the stage were only.