

Subsequently, Carrie settles in to her sister’s modest apartment and is excited at the thought of working in the city. After sharing contact details, the pair makes arrangements to meet later in the week. During her travel, she meets Charles Drouet, a warm-hearted salesman, and is instantly allured to his charm and expensive clothing. The novel begins with the introduction of Caroline Meeber, an eighteen-year-old girl who leaves her rural hometown and travels to the bustling city of Chicago, where she is to live with her stern sister and brother-in-law, in the hopes of fulfilling her ambitions. Effectively illustrating his reputation as one of America’s greatest naturalists, Dreiser deviates from the established norms and moral values present in the Victorian era, and instead focuses his attention on accurately portraying the basic instincts that influence human behavior. Published in 1900, Sister Carrie follows its protagonist, Carrie, as she resolutely makes her way through the bustling city of Chicago in the hope of achieving her ultimate goal of a securing a better and more glamorous life for herself.
