Summer Reading
Edward Shaker
Mr. Gereg
English 12 AP
5 September 2013
Desire: Temptations and corruption
“Desire of having is the sin of covetousness” William Shakespeare.
Living day to day, we are constantly influenced by our inner temptations that we carry throughout our life. In today’s world, desire and temptation leads individuals to make decisions that can either benefit or negatively affect the life of that particular individual. Both Theodore Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis know first hand the effect of these desires and portray them in the themes of their novels. Elmer Gantry, An American Tragedy, and Sister Carrie all portray a common theme that states in general; desire has the most significant influence on human actions.
Throughout Sister Carrie, the main character, Carrie, struggles greatly in the city of Chicago and New York desperately trying to find herself. Although unable to hold a job for more than a week while living with her sister, she discovers early a love for acting. This one desire of working on the stage and traveling with other actors and actresses drives almost every action that Carrie makes as the novel progresses. The passion that she has for this certain desire is seen even more evidently as she discards of any sign of a relationship with a man, as they would only serve as a complication for fulfilling her desire. Not only does Carrie demonstrate this principle with her actions but the narrator also describes it later in the text; "When a man, however passively, becomes an obstacle to the fulfillment of a woman's desires, he becomes an odious thing in her eyes,--or will, given time enough" (Dreiser 395). The author demonstrates that when a strong aspiration is present in the mind of an individual, their actions become greatly influenced by that desire.
Clyde Griffiths, the main protagonist of An American Tragedy, also withholds great desires within himself. Although Clyde carries out events based on his individual desires, just as Carrie
Mr. Gereg
English 12 AP
5 September 2013
Desire: Temptations and corruption
“Desire of having is the sin of covetousness” William Shakespeare.
Living day to day, we are constantly influenced by our inner temptations that we carry throughout our life. In today’s world, desire and temptation leads individuals to make decisions that can either benefit or negatively affect the life of that particular individual. Both Theodore Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis know first hand the effect of these desires and portray them in the themes of their novels. Elmer Gantry, An American Tragedy, and Sister Carrie all portray a common theme that states in general; desire has the most significant influence on human actions.
Throughout Sister Carrie, the main character, Carrie, struggles greatly in the city of Chicago and New York desperately trying to find herself. Although unable to hold a job for more than a week while living with her sister, she discovers early a love for acting. This one desire of working on the stage and traveling with other actors and actresses drives almost every action that Carrie makes as the novel progresses. The passion that she has for this certain desire is seen even more evidently as she discards of any sign of a relationship with a man, as they would only serve as a complication for fulfilling her desire. Not only does Carrie demonstrate this principle with her actions but the narrator also describes it later in the text; "When a man, however passively, becomes an obstacle to the fulfillment of a woman's desires, he becomes an odious thing in her eyes,--or will, given time enough" (Dreiser 395). The author demonstrates that when a strong aspiration is present in the mind of an individual, their actions become greatly influenced by that desire.
Clyde Griffiths, the main protagonist of An American Tragedy, also withholds great desires within himself. Although Clyde carries out events based on his individual desires, just as Carrie