An American Tragedy

[numerator]

As part of my English course, I am required to write a literary criticism essay on a topic and book of my choosing.

I have selected "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser, but I am having great difficulty in coming up with a proper topic to further analyze. I was originally thinking about proving the significance of naturalism in the novel, but this idea was rejected by my teacher. Therefore, I remain clueless and cannot find any online sources that can lead me in the right direction.

So if you have read the novel, please post if you have a topic in mind.

Thanks.

[Emil Miller]

As part of my English course, I am required to write a literary criticism essay on a topic and book of my choosing.

I have selected "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser, but I am having great difficulty in coming up with a proper topic to further analyze. I was originally thinking about proving the significance of naturalism in the novel, but this idea was rejected by my teacher. Therefore, I remain clueless and cannot find any online sources that can lead me in the right direction.

So if you have read the novel, please post if you have a topic in mind.

Thanks.

It is many years since I read this great American novel, but why not write about the haves and the have nots that reflect both sides of the American dream and the psychological pressure on Clyde, the novel's protagonist, to reach out to the dream and fails to the extent that he dies in the electric chair.

[numerator]

It is many years since I read this great American novel, but why not write about the haves and the have nots that reflect both sides of the American dream and the psychological pressure on Clyde, the novel's protagonist, to reach out to the dream and fails to the extent that he dies in the electric chair.
First off, thank you for replying.

Secondly, I am going to have to ask you to be more clear. I don't seem to understand what you are referring to. From what I am reading, it seems like you are stating that I should investigate the role of the "American Dream" in the novel? If it isn't obvious, English is not one of my "better" subjects :sick:

[Emil Miller]

First off, thank you for replying.

Secondly, I am going to have to ask you to be more clear. I don't seem to understand what you are referring to. From what I am reading, it seems like you are stating that I should investigate the role of the "American Dream" in the novel? If it isn't obvious, English is not one of my "better" subjects :sick:

From my memory of the story, Clyde Griffths seeks to raise his status to the level of the rich people he comes into contact with and corrupts his soul in pursuit of the wealth necessary to obtain his goal. Eventually he resorts to murder and is sentenced to die in the electric chair. Therefore, it is a story about the corrosive effect of ruthless ambition one individual.
So what I am referring to is how a poor person's attempt to bridge the gap that divides him from the higher echelons of society can lead him to become unpricinpled in pursuit of his dream and bring about his downfall.
I would,therefore, suggest that you contrast the difference between success, as shown by those that Clyde seeks to emulate, and the failure of his own attempt to rise to their level.

This has become something of a cliche in literature but Dreiser handles it brilliantly.

[PoeticPassions]

Right... to continue off of Brian's post...
I see some parallels with An American Tragedy and The Great Gatsby... about the pursuit of the wrong dream or the so-called, fit-all "American Dream," and the consequent disillusionment and destruction that results from this chase... Ultimately, Clyde's moral degradation ends with a physical one (death). There is a numbness that is created due to this unquenchable and brutal ambition that Clyde possesses.
However, I believe the novel is more complex than that, and you could also try to look into Clyde's motivations in the murder... whether it was accidental or not (though he planned it to a degree, was the moment of the crime actually premeditated?) etc.

This is truly a great coming of age, falling from grace story...

[numerator]

UPDATE:As it turns out, my teacher didn't FULLY reject my idea of naturalism, but instead would like me to thoroughly examine one specific detail. She claims that saying Dreiser wrote in the naturalistic style is sort of a "duh" moment.

The problem is that I don't believe there are any concrete symbols in the story in order for me to trace.

Help please.

[JBI]

If you're interested, get the movie A Place in the Sun based on it - the movie is a classic - an almost must see.

[DisPater]

you can try with socialism, the class struggles.

[numerator]

Dear members of the forum, please excuse me if this thread is posted in the wrong forum. Well now, I am currently a college student and I am facing great adversary in composing a literary analysis research paper on Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.

Now, I have read An American Tragedy and have also read a few online summaries. some sort of cliff-notes-like study aid). For example, I've found a few potential themes that seemed to repeat themselves over and over again in different sources: naturalism, religion, the american dream as an illusion, the creation of a fictional story from a real-life trial, the concept of illegitimacy. I'm sure there are dozens more.

Next, I tried to formulate a thesis statement based on the text. For example, consider this: "To what extent is Clyde Griffiths the victim of environmental, social, and economic forces? To what extent is he the victim of choices he makes with his own free will? " Then I could write some sort of thesis statement like "Dreiser's use of color reinforced his naturalistic philosophical assertion that Griffiths is a victim of external forces." (I'm just making up that thesis statement - it probably makes no sense, but you get my drift.)

However, my main dilemna is that my professor wants journals (essays) written by other students to be a part of my own paper, as this paper is basically supposed to be a mega literary criticism piece compiled of from various sources. I'm not asked to write my own thoughts and opinions of the novel but instead to recount on the opinions from various lit crit sources.

So please if you have read the novel, your help will be greatly appreciated!

[Sebas. Melmoth]

Dreiser seems a little ambivalent about Clyde--which seems appropriate since everything is grey and there is no black and white (except in art).

Dreiser shows Clyde growing up poor in America where the idea of the 'self-made man' is part of the capitalistic discourse pimped by The Corporation™--'The business of America is business.'

In his late-teens/early-twenties he lands a job at a posh hotel where he falls in with other lads on the make.

Dreiser is spot on in his realistic naturalism: the lads get some gals to go on a drive where liquor is imbibed, resulting in a terrific auto accident where a little girl is killed. Things like this happen everyday in America.

Clyde flees the scene of the crime and lands in New York where a distant relative of his father's gives him a white-collar job in a factory.

Now, if Clyde had any education or even good sense he would have worked hard, kept his nose clean, and tried to work his way up.

Instead he seduces one of the women over whom he's supervisor, impregnates her, refuses to marry her, and then murders her (and their child)--all the while hoping to ally himself with a rich girl totally out of his league.

What can we make of this? Is Clyde a victim of American society? Or, is he a victim of his own nature? Or, both?

Dreiser expresses his opposition to capital punishment.

In the end Clyde's nephew (an illigitimate son of his sister) stands poised to repeat the cycle of poverty, etc. Is that the biggest tragedy of all?