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Theodore Dreiser on the American scene
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Authors Praeger, Howard A., 1908-
Publisher The University of Arizona.
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Theodore D re is e r on the American Scene
by
Howard a. Praeger
Submitted in p a r t i a l fu lf i l lm e n t of the
requirem ents fo r the degree o f
M aster of A rts
in the College o f L e t te r s , ^ r t s , and Sciences, of the
U n iv ersity of Arizona
1933
O s > K : v : C % zr..z - e ^ E C ' 0 $ -*-
&jda
i i i
e 9 j 9 // 9B3
2- O utline.
I . The approach to Theodore ^ r e is e r i s a d i f f i c u l t one•
A. The America before l i s t e r C arrie re v ea ls the f e e l -
• ing of middlewestern destiny#
3. The open sym pathetic mind i s necessary to an under
standing of th is American l i t e r a r y g ia n t.
(That i s tlie American scene?)
II* His h e r i ta g e , background, and ea rly awakening to exper
ience are im portant in flu en ces .
A. k co n sid e ra tio n of h is fam ily l i f e and of the s ta te
of h is b i r th i s e s s e n t ia l .
1# Indiana i s re p re se n ta tiv e o f the middlewest.
£• Haul, h is s i s t e r s , h is mother, and h is fa th e r
have a keen e f f e c t on him.
3. His ea rly l i f e i s f a i th f u l ly presen ted in Dav/n and
Newspaper bays.
C. The c r i t i c s recognize the importance o f h is youth.
3 . The force of the church i s s t i l l a dominant no te .
I I I . The dominant c h a ra c te r is t ic s of Theodore D re is e r 's w rit
ing are c lo se ly a sso c ia te d w ith h is youth.
A. His sex obsession has a d e f in ite place in h is f i c t io n .
B. D re ise r 's sympathy fo r the working c la s s in America
and h is fe e lin g fo r the c o n tra s ts o f c i ty l i f e and
fo r the "jungle tenement” ex istence are s tr ik in g
charac te r i s t i c s .
90786
C. Th« Geroan-AaeriGan philosophy o f l i f e i s d is t in a t ly
present*
2), D re is e r^ id eas on American M aine as e s ta b l is h him
as the h is to r ia n of the business scene*
B. The co lo r and. movement of h is g re a te s t works are a
r e a l achievement in sym pathetic rea lism and in in
te rp r e ta t io n o f the American scene*
1. S is te r C arrie*
2. Jennie Gerhardt*
3. An American Tragedy*
F. E arly in flu en ces give evidence th a t h is w ritin g s
sp rin g from the c ru c ib le o f lep u b llo an b e l ie f ;
m odified socia lism i s a la te idea*
The rugged l i f e o f a newspaper re p o r te r i s one o f the •
c h ie f in flu en ces in h is w ritin g s ,■ . ■ _ ■ . . •
A* The "Genius” i s an example o f d ire c t tranaferenoe
of newspaper experience*
B, S ty le , grammar, fe e lin g , photographic and r e p o r te r -
i a l q u a l i t ie s come d ir e c t ly from the newspapers*
C. newspaper work c rea ted an enthusiasm fo r - l i f e which
was never lo s t*
1. R eporting in troduced him to American thought
and a c t iv i ty ,
2* lewspaper work developed h is in tro sp e c tiv e
a b i l i t y ,
3 . B ep o rto ria l a s so c ia tio n in troduced him to
B alzac, Rousseau, and F lau b e rt.
111-
D» The jo u m a lls te today recognize D releer as good oopy*
B. An exam ination of newspaper in fluence i s a ^ p a r t i a l
key to h is philosophy..
V, He has e s tab lish ed h im se lf as the c h ie f In te rp re te r of
the American scene.
A. An understanding of the motivating fo rces behind
Theodore ^reiser can be had. by an i n t e l l ig e n t ex
am ination o f e a r ly in flu en ce s .
B. He i s a type o f au th en tic genius who has sensed the. ;
in d iv id u a li ty o f America. .
C. O rig in , search ing attitude, and newspaper experiencecaused him to become one of A m erica's g re a te s t l i t
e ra ry re b e ls .
- 1 -
I'heodore D re iser on the American Scene.
A study o f the in fluence o f D re is e r 's youth on h is in te r -
p re ta tio n of the American scene.
The approach to Theodore ^ r e is e r , th a t g ia n t of Ameri
can l e t t e r s who has been as much fought a g a in s t as f o r , i s a
d i f f i c u l t one. D reiser does no t c a l l loudly fo r h is re a d e rs ;
on the co n tra ry he o ften chooses to wear them out one by one
through h is mass o f d e ta ile d in form ation , h i s in s is te n c e on
au th en tic background, and h is ponderous s ty lo . But the reader
o r c r i t i c who would judge f a i r ly th is American w rite r must
tu rn to an honest and sym pathetic study o f h is works and .
weigh them fo r what they are worth. In the case o f D re iser i t
i s w ithout question a v ic io u s p ra c tic e to judge h a s t i ly and
w ith f i n a l i t y on the b a s is o f what the c r i t i c s found twenty
years ago. In most ca ses , however, th is has been the p o licy
o f the American read ing p u b lic . That i t has had a dangerous
e f f e c t i s unquestionable and th a t i t has confused our under
standing o f him i s apparen t.
An examination of Theodore D re is e r 's e a r ly l i f e and o f
h is experiences from bojdiood u n t i l the age o f tw enty-three
o f fe rs a key to much o f the D re ise rian outlook th a t has been
overlooked by many o f h is c r i t i c s . The in fluence o f D re is e r 's
youth p e r s is t s throughout h is e n tire c a re e r and forms the
groundwork on which the massive D re ise rian s tru c tu re i s la id .
—2—
I t i s the purpose o f th i s study to examine these in f
luences and to note the tran sference o f experience ev ident
in h is w ritin g , ^any of the ideas th a t B-peiser p re sen ts are
c lo se ly a sso c ia ted w ith h is background and awakening to ex
p e rien ce . Examples o f th i s are h is jo u rn a l is t ic a t t i tu d e , h is
sex obsession , h is German-Amerioan philosophy, and h is con
cep tio n o f American b ig business. A ll o f the evidence o f th is
research emphasizes the f a c t th a t hlo e a r ly years wore most: > - •
in f lu e n t ia l in shaping h is in te rp re ta t io n o f the American
scene.
Ten years before the b i r th of D re ise r the n a tio n exper
ienced a v a s t change. U n til th is .p e r io d time and place u t i l
i ty was sca rce ly understood and the ra ilro a d s were looked up
on as supplem entary, no t prim ary, forms o f tra n sp o r ta tio n .
Then same the e ra o f d e l ir io u s r a i l ro a d co n s tru c tio n and the
s p i r i t o f the g re a t c i ty . With these Ohioago and the fo o lin g
o f m iddlewestern d es tin y were born. And th i s was the business
scene before S la te r C arrie was w rit te n . American w r i te r s ,
n ev e rth e le ss , d id no t p o rtra y th i s scene in' the same s p i r i t
as th a t in which i t was born.
The rea lism o f the w rite rs before S is te r C arrie was a
shaded e f f o r t as compared w ith the l a t e r works o f D re ise r,
Lewis, Dos P asses, and Faulkner. The tu rn in g o f the century
was td w itness a new s p i r i t in American l e t t e r s , a f r e e r
a t t i t u d e , a love o f frankness, and a s in ce re attem pt to make
l i t e r a tu r e r e f l e c t l i f e . But the American pub lic was no t
ready fo r the change when i t came and th i s la ck o f read in ess
c rea ted the S re ise r ia n legend o f had ta s te which has haunted
him to the p re sen t day*
The open sym pathetic mi8d i s com pletely necessary fo r
an understanding of Theodore D reiser# Without the in te l l ig e n t
use o f a sense o f humor the read er fin d s h im self swallowed up
in a sea o f aim less d e ta i l and fa ls e values# D re ise r e a r ly
re a liz e d th a t there i s a drama o f the commonplace and th is
outlook has made him powerful in American letters#^"* Hr* Hen**
cken s tre s s e s the d e s i r a b i l i ty o f the c o r re c t approach when
he d e c la re s : ■ ' - ' ■ : ■■ ' : ' . ' ; .
°A D re iser novel, a t l e a s t o f the l a t e r oanon, cannot he read as o th er novels are read—on a w in ter evening o r summer afte rn o o n , between meal and m eal, t r a v e ll in g from ^ew York to Boston* I t demands th# a t te n t io n for^alm ost a week an* u ses up the f a c u l t i e s . fo r a m onth.11 *
A pparently, Theodore D re ise r d id not d e l ib e ra te ly shoose
to be a r e a l i s t any more than we are able to choose our par
e n ts . dealism was a n a tu ra l development fo r him, even though
he began l i f e w ith rom antic tendencies*
"There was never a youth who s ta r te d out in l i f e w ith a more grandiose equipment o f rom antic i l lu s io n s? and there was never a romantic youth who encountered fewer dragons to s la y , fewer maidens to rescue and fewe r v a r le ts to pu t in th e i r p laces than Hr. D *eiser.
His adventures wore more o ften those o f the s p i r i t than
o f the f le s h , fo r as he stumbled along in h is r e p o r to r ia l way
1. H. L. Mencken, "D re iser" , A Book o f P ro faces, p.67 f f • 2* I b id . . p . 6 7 f f . ” . -3. Surton dasooe. Theodore D re ise r , p .70.
ho oonsea the deep tragedy of Amerloan tenement and s t r e e t .
l i f e and brought a dram atic im agination to an ex cep tio n a lly
hi^L point# But when he t r ie d to rev ea l h im self through the. % . ' ■one medium he could u se , Amerieansooiety bared i t s te e th ,
fo r i t s minds as w ell as i t s houses were an eggshe ll blue or
a pale parlor pink*
What then i s the American scene? Who i s to p o rtra y i t ?
Has the g rea t American novel been written or w il l i t ever be
w ritten ? These are perp lex ing q u estio n s, fo r the American scene
as viewed by Theodore D re iser i s no t the American scene as
revealed by any of h is contem poraries# S t i l l i t i s apparent
th a t the delineation of ch a ra c te r in D re iser i s au then tic and
th a t he i s f a i th f u l ly re p o rtin g America as he sees i t — through
the eyes o f an Im aginative jo u rn a l is t .
What i s t r u ly American? Is i t I*os Angeles, Hew York,
Dubuque, Chicago, or Warsaw, Indiana? They are a l l a p a r t of i t and D re iser haa..given as cred itab le :, accounting as any. A
person can walk down Hollywood Boulevard and declare the c in
ema town to be the d u l le s t place in the world, or he can stand
a t the entrance of the Hollywood H otel and watch a parade of platinum blondes a l l re d , w hite , and blue w ith sp a rk lin g mesh
stockings and be entranced by the strange a llu re of feminine beauty. I t depends on the point of view.
H©w Baskin would have berated the luncheon clubs i f he
had liv e d in th is age, and how C arlyle would have decried the
la c k o f the s o c ia l po in t o f view in the fa c to ry system. When
- 5 -
D relaer speaks he i s no worse than o r i t io a of a previous age#
In f a s t , he does not attem pt obvious m oral!za tion in h is nov
els# He puts the f a c ts down in raw re d s , b lack s, and yellows
and d ec la res th a t th i s i s l i f e . And to a s trong degree i t i s
l i f e as Theodore D re ise r sees i t . Yet w ith a l l h is love o f
r e a l i t y he does no t ip iss the rom antic fe e lin g o f youth. H*
can s t i l l c rea te a p ic tu re of a town th a t looks l ik e a th e a t
r i c a l backdrop# I be lieve we are concerned p rim arily w ith h is
s in c e r i ty , and i f he sees the Aaerican scene as something d i f
fe re n t from our conception of i t th a t i s due to h is experience and no t to a v ic io u s attem pt to co lo r tiie news#
■ - f i
l l .
" I f bqt name were Drelsershefsky," sa id ^reiser when S ls to r C arrie was o p p re sse d , "and I sa id I came from Warsaw, I 'd have had no trouble, bu t I oame from Ind iana , so Good H ig h tI"*•
%ms ^ re is e r looks a t h is background and wonders why
the American au thor i s f i r s t s ing led out fo r p e rsecu tio n in -
h is own. country . For ^ r e is e r i s very much o f the middle west
and p a r t ic u la r ly of Ind iana . This h e ritag e i s resp o n sib le fo r
a g re a t dea l of h is a t t i tu d e toward l i f e .
A Hoosler Holiday s t r ik e s the h i^ i note o f h is love fo r
the s ta te of h is b i r th and in d ic a te s th a t i t has had a pro
found in fluence on him. By some he i s h e ld to be a hyphenate,
or product o f a conglomerate Americanism th a t sp rin g s from
o th e r ro o ts than the E nglish t r a d i t i o n . I t i s ra re to f in d
a t a le n t th a t i s thoroughly American and wholly un-E nglish
because c u l tu ra l t r a d i t io n has tempted us to suppress the
hyphenate.
D re iser confesses in A H oosler Holiday th a t as a youth
he believed in an enchanted rom anticism , but th a t he soon
discovered th a t the American world o f th a t day wanted a p er
son to e a t , s leep , and dream money and power. And th a t to
some ex ten t i s what he wrote about in the F in an c ie r and the
f i t a n . Then, too , every middlewest town reminds him o f h is 1
1. William Saaglo, % the Puro. p . 57.2. "D re ise r 's Hovels as a R e v e la tio n ," C urrent Opinion ,
66:191 S e p t.1917 .
- 7 -
fam ily l i f e and h e r lta c o , '-orro Haute, S u lliv an , In d ian a p o lis ,
Warsaw, and Vincennes; these are the towns th a t ootno to l i f o
through D re ise r 's works. Indiana i s very much th e re , from the
"Banks o f th e ■Wabash,” a ^au l and Theodore D re iser com position,
to the sm all town o rig in s of h is c h ie f c h a ra c te rs .
A ll o f the members o f D re ise r 's fam ily l iv e in h is works
in some manner. She f a i th f u l observa tion o f h is youth i s used
to r e a l advantage here and g ives h is c h a ra c te rs an au th en tic
touch th a t i s lack in g In the co n tr ib u tio n s o f so many o f our
n o v e lis ts .
P au l, b is .m o ther, M s " s is te r s , h is o th e r b ro th e rs , and
h is fa th e r w il l no t s tay hidden and sca rce ly a book comes
from the pen of th is American w r i te r th a t does no t look to
M s e a r ly fam ily l i f e fo r d e ta i l , a t t i tu d e s , and background.
D re ise r 's f a th e r i s c e r ta in ly o ld G erhardt in ^etmie G erhardt.
At l e a s t many of the c h a ra c te r is t ic s are h i s . Yhe fam ily l i f e
o f tiie D re ise rs , touched by occasional poverty and n ea rly a l
ways tu rb u le n t, i s adequately tra n s fe r re d to h is novels# M s
s i s t e r s , th e i r hopes," t i ie i r dreams, and sometimes th e i r way-
wardness, fin d ample space in h is c re a tio n s . And when he
th in k s o f the c h a ra c te r is t ic s o f a good woman he. i s immediat
e ly reminded of h is m other. D reiser admires h e r above a l l o th
e rs and does no t h e s i ta te to say so.
The p o r t r a i t o f h is b ro th e r P au l, given in Evolve Hen,
i s excep tiona l and one o f the m ost.rev ea lin g c h a ra c te r s tud
ie s in a l l American l i t e r a t u r e . " I f ny b ro th e r had had more
- 8 -
Iron o r oaloium In h i a system he might have "been a C olossus,"' ' 1. *dec la res Theodore D re ise r. * As a youth he t h r i l l e d to the
com positions o f h is much tra v e lle d brother* "T ell Them That
You Saw Me," " I Believe I t fo r ^y Mother Told Me So," and
a soora o f o th e r song h i t s were a d e f in ite p a r t o f the youth
fu l D re is e r 's heritage* Through h is b ro th e r ho came c lo se to
the medicine show and sm all town vaudev ille as w ell as the
-easy l i f e o f the m etropo litan dandy* Baal was f u l l o f middle
c la s s romance, humor, tenderness, and g rossness; q u a l i t ie s
which D re ise r was quick to perce iv e .
D re ise r t e l l s us th a t he and h is two .younger b ro th e rs
o f te n picked up coal from the ra i l ro a d tra c k s because there
was no money fo r fu e l -and th a t the experience® in poverty
which he shared have stayed w ith him throughout l i f e . % e
tw e lfth c h ild in a fam ily o f th i r te e n , he knew what i t was
to want and to go hungry. I t was h is b ro th e r Romo who wand
ered o f f and then re tu rn ed a t re g u la r in te rv a ls to weave
strange t a le s o f the p laces he had been and o f the wonder
and movement o f American l i f e . D re iser l is te n e d to a l l these
eagerly and never fo rgo t.them . % ese in flu en ces d is tu rb ed h is
outlook and kep t him from becoming a s ta id l i t e r a r y type*
"H© i s a rom antic , a r e a l i s t and a m ystic a l l in one*There i s s t i l l encased in hir. to th is hour, the wandering, wide-eyed c h ild who was roared in th a t German household In Warsaw, In d ia n a .. . . . . .H is C haracters 1 2
1. Theodore D re ise r, Dawn, a . 112.2. Theodore D re ise r, twelve"Mon, p.78*
are a l l hear eziotigli alilce to haw M en members o r a t l e a s t near r e la t iv e s o f the D re iser fam ily . He k iase 's ana t e l l s w ith In f in i te advantage to h is f l o t l o a . " ! .
I t has been advaneed th a t the s to ry o f D re ise r1s own
o o n f lio t with so c ie ty I s the theme o f a l l h is novels and th a t
i t i s one of the most h e ro ic in a l l 1 l i t e r a r y h is to ry , e In
te l l in g o f h is o o n f lio t w ith soo lo ty he spared no member o f
h is fam ily and Is nothing I f not fran k . When the D roloers .
were guests of ano ther fam ily , th a t group and a l l i t s hopes
and fe a rs immediately became p a r t o f the D re ise rian stock In
tra d e . Throughout I t a l l the co n stan t urge toward the gen tee l
in the D relsere was defeated by poverty , and the s e l f - s a o r i f -
io lng idealism o f h is mother oould not change the p ic tu re * *
^any o f h is o h arao te rs goim out o f o r have th e i r beginnings: >
in h is .youth, fo r the moment when he looked about him and de
s ire d to r i s e v;as the moment th a t bred S is te r . C a rrie , Jennie
G erhardt, Frank Gowporwood, Eugene W ltla, and Clyde G r if f i th s .
These ch a rac te rs arc a d e f in ite p a r t o f D re iser and the hope-* ■ '
f u l ia e r lo a o f h is . youth and manhood* I t i s sa id th a t th e i r‘ ' . ga s p ira tio n s , s i l l y , sad, o r m agn ificen t, a rc h is* *
Dawn and Newspaper Days a re the c h ie f records o f D reis
e r ' s a c t i v i t i e s in h is youth and manhood and should be cxaro-> . -
ined both as l i t e r a r y e f f o r t s ' and as au tob iog raph ica l m ater-
1 . Robert T. Duffus, "D re iser", American ^lerourv. pn .71-6 ,Jan . 1926
2 . Charles R. Walker, "How Big Is D reiser?" Bookman, pp. 146-9A pril 1926
3 . C lif to n /adim an, "D reiser and the American Dream",• H ation . p p .364-5, O ot.19, 1932
-1 0 - .
l a l e When a study-o f h is works i s a ttoap 'ted thoy are d isoover-
od to he crowded w ith the experiences o f youth. How strangely
the h is to ry and development o f Theodore D re iser and. D re is e r 's
acquain tances resemble the development o f the c h a ra c te rs o f
h is novols, p lay s , and sh o rt s to r ie s w il l 'b e seen th rou^ i th is
exam ination.
D re ise r regarded h is f a th e r as a re l ig io u s e n tto ts ia s t
. o f uneven balance and does no t h e s i ta te to say th is in Dawn ;
and to dec la re a g a in s t the C atholic church throughput h isT • ' ' - :
works. H@ t e l l s u s tiia t a p a r t from wanting to teach h is sons
the technique o f woolen m anufaoluringt M s fa th e r had no sug
g estio n s o f any value. Ho seems to r e g re t th a t he had a fa th e r
on one hand, but re jo ic e s on the o th e r f e r the d e f in i te chara c te r memories given him.
The homo l i f e o f the D reisero was no t an easy one* Mov
ing from town to town* keeping a l l of the c h ild re n fed and
c lo th ed , and y e t try in g to in c u lc a te in them a fe e lin g fo r
fam ily u n ity and a love o f moral va lues was the d i f f i c u l t
ta sk th a t f e l l to ^ r e i s e r ’s m other. At one time a p a r t o f the
fam ily oooupied a f l a t above a f i r e house.and the debauchery
o f the firem en and th e i r women companions i s a you th fu l Baby
lo n ian experience th a t seems to have impressed the members
Of the D re iser fam ily in a la s t in g way. At any r a te they mov
ed, and qu ick ly , when Mrs.. D re ise r d iscovered the tru e nature
o f her place of residence* 1
1 . Theodore D re ise r. % im . p . 25.
-11
D reiser*s in te r e s t in women began a t an ea rly age and
w ithout doubt there i s a tran sfe ren ce o f the m is tre sse s o f:
Paul ^ r e is e r to the m is tre sses o f Theodore D re ise r , s novels
and sh o rt s to r ie s . Perhaps i t was sh o r tly a f te r the fam ily
moved to Chicago th a t D re ise r sensed what he c a l l s the “Id e a l
is a t io n o f e ig h teen ," a theme th a t i s c a r r ie d ou t in the
"Genius." love to him a t the beginning m s something s tro n g• * ' ■-
and enduring, l ik e the love F aust bore M arguerite and Dante’s
worship o f Beatrice.
The Chicago l i f e o f the D releers re v ea ls young Theodore
as an experience-seeker o f the f i r s t o rd e r . He went ou t in to
the s t r e e t s o f the c i ty l ik e the young her© o f dime novel suc
ce ss . Hemboy, dishw asher, hardware worker, r e a l e s ta te he lp
e r , stove p o lis h e r , laundry d r iv e r , and in s ta llm e n t c o l le c to r ,
he saw the c i ty from as many angles as one boy could . Old
la d ie s t r i e d to make love to him, the passing beauty o f young
working g i r l s was h is to n ic , and throughout i t a l l the glam
our o f the new America th a t was a r is in g h e ld him fa sc in a te d .
Uten D re ise r went down to the U n iv e rsity o f Ind iana ,
through the help o f one of h is form er school te a c h e rs , he
was in troduced in to a world th a t was q u ite fo re ig n to th a t
which he had known. Despite h is p ro te s ta tio n s th a t a l l went
f a th e r w ell w ith him th e re , the s tu d en t o f D re ise r senses
th a t he never became acclim ated to i t . H@ stayed bu t one y ea r,
and although he became in te re s te d in a few o f h is c lassm ates
the U n iv e rsity o f Indiana made l i t t l e c o n tr ib u tio n to h is ex-
-1 2 -
p erien o es . soaroe ly ovon met any of the g rea t sch o la rs
who had gathered there under the lead e rsh ip o f P re s id en t
B arld S ta r r Jordan*
Turning to D re is e r 's newspaper experiences we see the
c h ie f you thfu l influence in h is re p o r tin g o f the American,
scene. I t was h is f i r s t ex e rc ise in objective writing and
the memories o f i t stayed w ith Mm throughout l i f e . He wanted
to be a g re a t newspaper man and to ach ieve , perhaps, an ou t
stand ing e d ito rsh ip , but h is dram atic im agination would not 1 • * . -
l e t him alone. He might have become a g re a t Sunday feature
writer had he m t turned to novels; h is brooding and philos
ophizing kept him from being a g re a t re p o r te r .
Eugene Field* s nSharps and F l a t s , a column in the
"Chicago D aily Hews,” f i r s t tu rned h is a t te n t io n to the pos-g " : , '
A b i l i t ie s o f newspaper work. %.t he had no Idea how to begin,,
aM s t r e ^ ® ly enou^i h is- f i r s t job was on the "H erald” d ea l
ing out Christmas packages to the poor. D re ise r saw th is fo r
what i t was-ballyhoo for the a d v e rtis in g and c ir c u la t io n s t a f f ;
a le g itim a te newspaper p ra c tic e th a t has been c a rr ie d to near
ly every o ity in the. United S ta te s .
This was Chicago a t the beginning o f i t s fe v e rish pub
l is h in g experiences* Ho newspaper knew how f a r i t could go,
but there was the fe e lin g o f d es tin y in the a i r . The newspap
e r f r a t e r n i ty was w ell rep resen ted by such able reporters as
. ......— .... ................... ................... . ' ' " " " ■ " ' — ------------------------ ---------- - 1 " ....... . — ...- ............ ........... .
1 * Burtan Hftsooe. Theodore D re ise r , n .71 .2. Theodore D re ise r, ^owsoaner pays, p . l .
•13-
Bugene Flo14, Joseph ^eorge M e, and M elv ille Stone.
% e patienee of t i l ls man D re ise r i s apparen t when i t i s under
stood th a t he got h is f i r s t ro p o r to r ia l joh by s i t t i n g around
a t the o ff ic e o f the old; "Globe” and re fu s in g to leave u n t i l
they had given him an assignment# And th a t was weeks a f t e r hef ir s t came to them.
, / -Mere i t vzas th a t he met the personages of the p o l i t i c a l
world a t the Democratic convention and was a t t r a c te d to the
glamour o f the h o te l lobb ies and the back rooms o f the p o l i t
ic a l bosses. In h i s novels D re ise r I s quick to bring h is chara c te rs up the ladder to mingle w ith the h igher personages and
to p lace them in the lob b ies o f the g re a t h o te ls , newspaper
l i f e gave him over to the pulse o f the c i ty and f re e d him of
the m o ra lis tio mush and r e l ig io u s qualms of h is childhood.■ ? • .
H® lis te n e d eag erly to what h is companions talked about con
cern ing the business world and unconsciously began to form
the ch a rac te r o f Frank Gowperwood. D re ise r w rite s :
,uao s t of these young men looked upon l i f e as a f i e r c e , grim s tru g g le . i n which no q u a r te r was e i th e r given oi> taken , and iti which a l l men l a id t r a p s , l i e d , squandered, e rred through i l lu s io n : a conception with which I now most h e a r t i ly ag ree . The one th in g I would now add i s th a t the brigandage o f the world i s in the main g o n ia l and that in our hour o f success v/e are s t i l l in c lin e d to bo more o r l e s s l i b e r a l and warm h e a r te d .”1*
From Chicago Dreiser went to St. Louis and was exposed1 -
to the u su a l experiences o f a re p o r te r , an outstanding b i t
1 . Theodoro D re ise r , Howscawor Days, p .7 0 .
-1 4 -
"being the time ho oonductod a p a r ty o f sdhool teach er a from
M issouri to a tou r o f the World * a % l r a t Chicago* In S t,\ ' ' ' ■ •
io u ls he d iscovered the P e te r McCord o f ■‘■wolvo Hon and i t was
there th a t he received the p a th e tic note from A lic e , the Chi
cago g i r l whom he l e f t behind. I t i s the same note th a t Etig- / " - . ~ .
ene W ltla in The ”Geniusu receivoB from h is Chicago Ruby.
Prom S t. Louie ho wont o a s t , ga thering experience in
Toledo, P it ts b u rg , P h ila d e lp h ia , C leveland, and- f in a l ly Bow
York* When h is novels were w rit te n these experiences were
ab ly rep resen ted and although none j> f)h is e h ie f ch a ra c te rs• . . * V. - ‘ •
climb the r e p o r to r ia l la d d e r to success, a t l e a s t one o f them,
W itla , achieves faM tlirough blie a r t departm ent o f the g re a t - • . •
newspapers, lifhat W itla saw aad caught in p a in t , P re is e r has
seen and caught in prose* .• * .
Al"tiiou^i C tu a rt Sherman, P helps, and o th e rs are not con
cerned w ith D re is e r 's youth as an in f lu e n c e , some in d ic a tio n
i s given by Bourne, Rascoe, Seag le , and Duffus th a t they sense
the f a c t th a t w ithout doubt D re is e r 's boyhood and manhood
gave a d ire c tio n to h is ou tlook and fe e l in g th a t has never been lo s t .
Burton Rascoe seas him as a h igh ly i l lu s io n s d young man
and a w rite r who w in s t i l l give a sym pathetic war to any new
mystery of l i f e th a t i s rep o rted . He i s s t i l l chasing down ru
mors and search ing fo r scare heads.
"He i s , l ik e the George Moore o f 'H a il and Farew e ll, ' much and o fte n a booby# he i s lik e , the S t. Augu s tin e o f the 1 C onfessions,* much and o fte n a noodle;
-1 5 -
he I s , l ik e Housseau, wmh and o fte n an a s s ; he i s l ik e CassanoTa, nmoh and o ften a vain and com ical to a s te r ; he i s l ik e Banyan and Biokens, in froguont bad t a s t e ; - b a t he i s fo rev er and always fran k , honest* and sincere*" 'L*
The sen tim en tal boy in D re ise r, th in k s Robert D uffas,
i s n o t dead and the s p i r i t o f the lone ly Indiana c h ild s t i l l
c lin g s to him* * He wanted to bo a r e p o r te r because t iw ir l i v
es were la id among the r ic h and the famous and although j ie a r -
l y a l l o f h is c h a ra c te rs have sm all town h e r ita g e s they fo llow
much the same paths a s the one taken by the w is tfu l D re ise r.
S truggle as he w i l l , &r. Mencken p o in ts o u t, he cannot
shake o f f the chains of h is c u l tu r a l and in te l le c tu a l in h e r
i ta n c e ; and although ho i s an in te l l ig e n t , th o u ^ itfu l , and
sound a r t i s t m e Indiana peasan t s t i l l p e rs is ts* * Mencken
b e liev es th a t D re ise r i s s t i l l in me t r a n s i t io n stage between
Warsaw, Ind iana , -and. the S oo ra tic grove and between being a
good im erioan and a fre e man, and conse&uantly th a t he "some
tim es v a c i l la te s perilously between a moral sen tim entalism and4e ' • "a someehat ex travagan t r e v o l t ."
Begis Michaud in d ic a te s th a t D re ise r1s a b i l i t y i s alm ost
a d i r e c t outgrowth o f the r e p o r to r ia l - h i s to r ic a l method and
expresses the opinion th a t D re ise r should no t be catalogued
among me so o ia l n o v e lis ts as he had no d es ire to improve• . ' > ■.
so c ie ty .
1. Burton Mascoo, Theodore ^ r e i s e r , p . 76.2 . Bobert Duffua, "D re iser" ; Mercury* J a n .1926,p p .71-63. H. L. Mencken, "D re ise r" , 4 iook o f Pro face s . p .83 .4. Ib id *. pp.Q Sff.
1 6 -
"Hq i s the h is to r ia n of a d ia illu o io n e d Aawrloa, of an America which s i t s anxious among i t s heaps o f r ic h e s , an America which has l o s t the rom antic f a i th in i t s e l f . . . . . . the most u t i l i t a r i a n c iv i l iz a t io n th a t theworld has ever soon, a Bahel of towers scrap ing the sky to make i t r a in more money: ouch i s the America in Theodore D re ise r 's massive and consc ien tious The F in an c ie r. The T ita n , and A& American Tragedy. n2-e
.Why huy the Arabian B ights when wo have' the d a ily paper
and the l a t e s t nows? .asks Michaud in exp la in ing the source of
much of D re ise r 's s ty le and a t t i tu d e . A r ic h and very moving
scone i s ready fo r tiie eager r e p o r te r . To him belong the pa
thos, humor, and drama th a t boour in the morgue, the charnel
house, the b ro th e l, the ward b o ss ' o f f ic e , the slums, the
h o sp ita l , and the p o lice s ta t io n . I t i s ev id en t th a t one can
not be a re p o r te r and s t i l l sing d a ily Browning's hymn to
optimism. .
At times D re ise r does appear to be a h o p e lessly unor
ie n ta te d , h a l f edufhted youth who had to f ig h t fo r every
inch of success he ach ieved$ but he learned th a t when he had
no ready genius to re v e a l, the way to succeed was to make
a p lace through s in c e r i ty and perseverance. He had one th ing
to spur him onward and th a t was an in s a tia b le c u r io s i ty .
Randolph Bourne seems to have caught the s p i r i t o f D re ise r’s
awakening to experience and i t s e f f e c t on him when he w rite s :
"You are seeing th is vacuous, w is t fu l , s p i r i tu a l ly ro o t le s s , ralddlewcstern l i f e through the eyes o f a naive but very wise b o y ... . . . .M r* D re ise r seems queeronly because he has c a rr ie d along h is you th fu l a t t i tu d e in unbroken c o n tin u ity . He i s fa sc in a te d w ith sex be- 1
1. Regis Miohaud, "D reiser as a B io-C hem ist," Tha AmericanHovel To-dav.n .71 .
17-
oause youtii I s u su a lly obssssod w itli.scz . pusslos about the un iverse because youth u su a lly p u ss ie s . He t h r i l l s to c ru d ity and v io lence because s e n s it iv e youth u su a lly r e s e l l s from the savagery o f the in d u s t r ia l world* 1#
This c r i t i c advances the Idea th a t D re ise r I s com pli-. 1
anted in a very understandable Awirloan way and th a t he i s
tiie product o f the uncouth fo rces o f sm all town l i f e and the
v a s t d iso rg an iza tio n o f the wider American w orld. Be sees
nothing strange in the f a c t th a t the y o u th fu l D re ise r was
a t t ru e te d to feminine beauty as the most p o ten t fo rce in
l i f e * This typo of beauty . Bourne b e lie v e s , was a l l th a t mid-
w estern America had to o f fe r to the starving*^* Everything
e lse i s l ik e ly to be one long f la u n tin g offense o f u g lin e ss
and depression* Thus D re ise r was eager fo r l i f e and eager to
worship beauty , a fo o lin g th a t has demanded c re a tiv e expression
from the beginning o f the world* The tragedy of D reiser seams
to be th a t he had so few p laces to seek beauty*
The church would no t leave D re ise r alone in h is youth
and by way o f r e ta l i a t i o n D re ise r w ill no t leave the ehureh
alone in h is w ritings* Throughout h is works, sometimes in s id
io u s , o f te n b la ta n t , c reeps the Influence o f Dreiser* s e a rly
C atholic tra in in g * . %o sim ply w ill not leave i t alone* .
Condemning the ehuroh during h is youth was the d e lig h t
f u l experience o f condemning a u th o r ity , a p leasu rab le fe e lin g 1
1. Randolph Bourne, "The A rt
2. Op. Gi t . . n.5Q8*
*18*
that OOD08 to every budGlng c r i t i c , aa& out of th is sprang a' ' " ' 1/
;• l i f e - lo n e h a tred o f a l l t ^ o c o f a u th o r ity -A* He would be the
l a s t to ad m it. th a t tho ohiiroh d id anything fo r him, bu t i t i s
ev iden t th a t a l l o f I t s in fluence was n o t, as he i n s i s t s , bad.
There appears to be s tro n g evidence, to uphold ^ a sco o 's
con ten tion th a t the remnants o f the C atholic f a i t h s t i l l l iv e .
' in D re iser and. th a t w ith th a t remnant and growing ou t "of i t
there i s a lso a mystic s t r a in in h is natu re th a t. M S le d him
to in v e s tig a te psychic phenomena and to seel: th a t which dd f-2
fe r e n t ia te s r e a l i t y from, dreams.
D re ise r t e l l s u s th a t he doesn* t have much use fo r r e l
ig io n in a personal way, bu t th a t he I s fa sc in a te d by the g rip
i t oan m aintain on im ericans o f a l l c la s s e s . There i s a creed
fo r every type o f in d iv id u a l whether I t be Roman C atholicism
o r C h ris tia n Science and o fte n i t i s the dominant force in
d ire c tin g a person’s a c t iv i t ie s * D re ise r lends an a t te n t iv e
e a r , shakes a weary head, and exclaim s;
"Great Pan o f the Greeks, and you, I s i s o f tfre Egyptians, save me* These Moderns are a l l insane."^*
1. Hebert D uffus, "D re ise r,' ittiLUL*'2- Burton Rascoe j D re ise r . 'p .bV , "3* Theodore D re ise r, A Hoosior H oliday, p . 2%*
1, 7 ;71-6 , J . ‘ 26
-19
In oxanlnlng tlie a o a p ls ti works o f ‘-^haodoro D roicor I
have been oonatan tly on tlie a l e r t fo r evidence th a t h is youth
was an im portant f a c to r In h is re p o rtin g o f the American
scene and the in d io a tio n s have been ample Indeed, Hot only
has there been a d i r e c t tran sfe ren ce o f tiiese y ou th fu l exper- ienoos to h is novels, .short s to r i e s , and p lay s , but a lso there
i s the evidence th a t they wore a l l im portan t';ln shaping h is
e n tire outlook, h is a t t i tu d e , s t y l e , vocabulary , and grammar.
There i s some th ing unusual in th i s in fluence in fciiat i t i s
not oofloon fo r American n o v e lis ts to b rin g such a s tro n g tm n s -
f ere nee o f youth to th e i r works. The nature o f h is l i f e expl
a in s i t in p a r t ; the fe e lin g o f m iddle-w astern d e s tin y th a t
ex is ted in America h e lp s ; and the f a c t th a t D re iser owed h ia
deliveranoe from tiie environment o f h i s e a rly l i f e to tho
f a c t th a t he could w rito about i t so w ell c le a rs tho is su e .
I t i s necessary to study D re is e r 's e a r ly l i f e fo r a r e a l
understanding o f h is c o n tr ib u tio n to American l e t t e r s , Without
t i l ls background the approach to him i s extrem ely d i f f i c u l t
and i t occurs to me, th a t many have been turned from him be
cause they doubted h is s in c e r i ty . iVhcn he has been thoroughly
stud ied the way becomes sim ple fo r wo understand th a t h is r e
p o rtin g o f the scene i s tru e to h is conception o f i t and i s
no t a manufactured b i t o f f ic t io n . In t r u th , what D re iser
e le c ts to c a l l "the queer chem istry o f l i f e ” o ften appears to
' ■III.
be nothing more than siraple l u s t . I m ain ta in , n e v e rth e le ss ,
th a t he 'i s sincere in h is pr###a$atlon*
People irtio know D re ise r p e rso n a lly are impressed by
the f a c t th a t ho i s s t i l l the wondering, perplexed in d iv id u a l
who oame out o f Ind iana so many years ago. has no t made up
h is mind about l i f e y e t, but keeps on re p o rtin g i t f a i th f u l ly .
Sometimes i t i s touched w ith a rom antic tendency and again i t .
i s grim, fo r who knows b e t te r than a re p o r te r th a t l i f e o&n* *
be hard and co ld and as r e a l i s t i c as a s t i l l photograph o f a
fam ily reunion? At a d inner p a r ty in the V illa Madrid in H olly-twood a t C hristm as, I lea rn ed th a t D re ise r ap p rec ia te s the
f a c t th a t h is m iddle-w estern background was a p o ten t fo rce in
shaping h is view point. My companion, who had been D re ise r 's
h o s te ss sh o r tly before my v i s i t , was im pressed by what he had
to say about h is youth. Looking back on h is experiences in
the tw ilig h t o f h is l i t e r a r y work, he confesses th a t men are
n e ith e r wholly bad as'Nhe sometimes re v e a ls them nor wholly
above rep roach . In stead i t i s a happy f i f t y - f i f t y mixture o f
good and e v i l t ’n a t produces the b e s t c h a ra c te r and adds z e s t
to th is business o f l iv in g .
D re iser does no t want people to make excuses f o r M s
novels. Works should stand on th e i r own m e rits as l i t e r a tu r e
and the a d d itio n of d u ll p re faces to m asterp ieces o f human
emotion i s l ik e adding lemonade to sp a rk lin g I t a l i a n wine.
D re ise r has t r ie d to be r e a l i s t i c in the grand manner and in
h is epic novels of the American business scene he i s concern-
Sl
ed w ith the sweep o f the whole p ic tu re and u n lik e many o f h is
fe llow s in rea lism i s not down under the k itch en tab le looking
fo r f i l t h .
D re ise r and Ibsen have something in common. They both
f e l t re lie v e d when they had exposed th e i r fe e lin g s to the
p u b lic . I t i s re la te d th a t Ibsen kep t some f r u i t and a sp id e r
in a j a r on h is tab le and observed th a t when the sp id e r was
i r r i t a t e d to the breaking p o in t he emptied h is poison in to the
f r u i t and f e l t b e t te r fo r i t . The n o v e lis t o r p layw right # 1 0
can become d is tu rb ed over human r e la t io n s , can re le a se h is op-. . . . • . : ■ _p re ss lo n s , and then go beck to work again i s in f in i t e ly g re a t-
• r than the one who broods and su lks and accom plishes no th ing* .
"0, those who' fo llow him s h a l l have many th ings th a t D re ise r does no t have. That i s a p a r t o f the wonder and beauty o f Theodore D re ise r, the th in g s th a t these s h a l l have because o f him ."1*
: 1 • ■ ,Thus Sherwood Anderson pays tr ib u te to D re ise r s genius
and p re d ic ts a l i t e r a r y fo llow ing th a t w i l l sweep P uritan ism
and P h ilis t in is m from American l i f e . For i s determined
to t e l l the t ru th about the America he knows and o fte n c a l l s
fo r th the experienees o f h i s youth to serve a b i t t e r end. #e
has s e t h im self to a severe ta sk and r e l is h e s every e a r ly im
p ressio n th a t may be used to b la s t the high and mighty from
th e i r p laces o f a u th o rity and s e c u r ity . .
1 . Sherwood A nderson, H orses and Hen, p . l .
-2 2 -
D reiaor may have been a ro m a n tic is t; he suspected that the mean in America w as:f a r superior to the l i f e he had le d
a t Warsaw, Ind iana ; hut when he found ou t that the tenements, the coal mines, the sweat shops, and the f a c to r ie s had a f a r
more p i t i f u l tale to t e l l the co lo r o f h is mind was d e f in i te
ly determined and th is color has p e rs is te d . I t even creates
a warm place in h is heart for the Russians, d isillusioned as
they appear to him. Hq met a l l o f the raw r e a l i t i e s o f h is1youth— poverty, M rtii , d ea th , and sex* Theodore D re ise r
s t i l l held on to h is f a i t h in romanticism, weakly i t i s t ru e ,
u n t i l h is re p o rtin g days in Pittsburg. I t was th e re , through
co n tac t w ith the works o f Balaao, Huxley, Spencer, and V iet*
ssche, th a t h is susp ic ions about the world were confirm ed.
^e had not been seeing thing® from the wrong a n g le ; the world
was wicked and the e v i l eye o f M ephistopheles lee red in the
background o f each so u lle s s corporation* These w rite r s had
a l l adm itted i t before him. So D re iser b a tte re d away a t the
theory o f Puritan ism in o rd e r th a t we may smile a t i t today.
Hg never re le n te d fo r he believed th a t he needed a mountain
o f evidence to convince the world th a t the America i t knew
was wrong.1 2* He believed w ife George Ho o r a th a t the middle
ages produced no l i t e r a tu r e because they wore a f ra id o f h e r -
1 . C lifton Fadiman, nD re ise r and the American Dream,"The, R ation , 155:564-5, O ot.19, '3 2 .
2. Henry Canby, "An American Tragedy HQview ed," _Saturday uaview o f L i to ra tu re . 2 :569,Peb*20,*26
esy and fe a t fee tw en tie th eenl&ry was in dj# . <W
r of producing
"fX
)
none because i t was a f ra id of m o ra lity . This lie s e t . about to
c o r re c t.
Pawn has been c a lle d the most, in tim ate confession o f. .
youth since Rousseau, and th i s n ineteen years o f m iddle-
w est h e r ita g e i s sa id to have g iven D re iser the necessary
background fo r nearly a l l o f h is n o v e ls .1* The book i s an
excep tional account of h is awakening to experience and i s
an example of a you thfu l autobiography th a t can claim unusual
l i t e r a r y m erit. In i t he sp ares no member o f h is fam ily and
adm its th a t as a boy he had a l i f e hunger th a t swallowed ev
ery experience th a t came to him w ith in d isc rim in a te greediness*
In re tro sp e c t D re ise r sees the p a ro ch ia l school system
as an e v i l in s t i tu t io n and the in flu en ce s o f the ohurch in
h is l i f e as an element th a t came c lo se to k i l l i n g beauty . The
equation i s a l l wrong, in d ic a te s Dr e is e r , when the bishop has
a palace too la rg e fo r h is needs and the s c i e n t i s t lack s ao ■■ ' ■ • .
proper lab o ra to ry . •
The youthfu l D re ise r was fa sc in a ted by the s la u g h te r
house and etirnddered when he passed pen a f t e r pen o f p ig s
squealing in greed to g e t .th e e n t r a i l s o f tiie c a t t l e th a t
were being butchered. " I am haunted by the t ru th th a t l i f e i s: ■ '■ • . ' V ' ' '
b u i l t on musder and l u s t , and tiling e ls e ," dele a re s Theo- 1 2
1 . Robert ^ e r r ic k , "Dawn Reviewed
2. Theodore D re ise r, Dawn, p .28 .
Sere ^reiaer*^" Bms the su rv iv a l o f the f i t t e s t i s the oh-4-
je c t le sso n g ives to young Cowperwood when he w itnesses the
• to the death s tru g g le " he tween the lo b s te r and the sqiiid in
the opening pages o f The F in aso ie r .
.: ^ r e i s e r 's s i s t e r s wore average A m rloan g i r l s f u l l o f
longing fo r the h o t te r th in g s o f l i f e ,and d isco n ten ted w ith
a permanent sm all to m existence* In a very d e f in i te way they
form the background fo r many ch a rac te rs in .h is novels and the
m ysterious working o f b io -chem istry i s ev id en t in th e i r a t t
itu d e toward e l ig ib le young men* D re iser i s trem endously in
te re s te d in sex throughout h is l i f e , an in te r e s t th a t began
yearly in youth although h is bashfu lness long k ep t him v i r
g in a l. His b ro th er Romo had p le n ty o f experience w ith the op
p o s ite sex; Amy, a s i s t e r , had a baby ou t o f wedlock; and
P sa l kep t sev e ra l m is tre sse s in f in e apartm ents, th i s i s the
way of the world, observed Theodore, and tucked h is impres
sions away to be c a lle d fo r th a t some fu tu re date*
Hewspauer pavs i s . o f course , D re is e r 's youth* th a t the' ' • ' ' ' • - . ■ • . - • ■
au thor h im self r e a l iz e d the importance o f these e a r ly re p o r t-
o r i a l days to the c a re e r th a t he was to carve ou t fo r h im self
in .America i s apparent p a r t i a l ly in the f a c t th a t he chose to
give such ex trao rd in a ry emphasis to th is phase o f h is l i f e by
s e t t in g i t fo r th in a huge volume. Here i s a book th a t i s a l - 1
1 . On. G i t . , p. 47.
most a l l youth, in i t s c h a ra o to r ia tio s and in i t s su b je c t
m atter* %# fo rc e s th a t underlie , D re is e r 's e n t i r e scheme o f
w ritin g are to be found h e re . A d e ta i le d exam ination o f i t i s
Im portant because h is o th e r works f in d so many ro o ts o f ohar-
.m eter, s ty le , and background in the im pressions th a t go W
make up Hownoa-ner Dave.
Chicago fa sc in a te d the youthful Jbretsor— i t s new found
w ealth , the course o f the d izzy ca ree rs o f the f in a n c ia l g i
a n ts , and the t r a d i t io n s o f a new world th a t were in the mak
ing . While he was c o lle c tin g fo r an easy-payment fu rn itu re
company the idea o f becoming a re p o r te r g rad u a lly formulated,
i t s e l f in h is mind* A fte r a sh o rt period ho succeeded in g e t
tin g an in tro d u c tio n to the business departm ent o f the "Her
a ld ” and from then on, but no t too s a t i s f a c to r i ly a t f i r s t ,
ho was in .
Along w ith the d e lig h ts o f a new and e d i to r ia l world,
•^reiser proceeded to f a l l in love w ith a young lad y whom he
c a l l s A lic e , and h is re la tio n s h ip w ith h e r and the . p rogress
• o f h is love a f f a i r w ithout doubt gave him many id eas th a t
have been incorpora ted in to h is works* * Ho i s y o u th fu lly
dismayed over the p rospec t o f com petition fo r h e r fav o r, but
when ho fin d s h im self on the verge o f winning the lady , o ther
p a s tu re s begin to look greener and h is i n t e r e s t pales*
1* Theodore ^ r e i s e r , Hewsuaner % v s. u .E l.
—26-
Thla a f f a i r anti, l a t o r experience's le d E ro isc r to remark!
"I doubt tiia t I havo over been in lovo w ith anyone o r w ith
anything save, l i f e as a w hole."1* This c h a ra c te r iz e s h is a t t
itude toward matrimony and we s h a l l see evidence o f the work
ing o f th i s philosophy in him sh o rt s to r ie s , novels, and c r i t
i c a l w ritin g s . .
"P ic tu re a dreamy cub o f tw enty-one, long , sp indl in g , a p a ir o f gold framed sp ec ta c le s on h is nose, h is h a i r combed a l a pompadour, a new sp ring s u i t c o n s is t - • ing o f l ig h t checked tro u se rs and b r ig h t blue co a t and v e s t , a brown fedora h a t , new yellow shoes, s ta r t in g
o res h is way in to the newspaper world o f Chi-
Thus D re iser sees h im self in re tro s p e c t in h is e a r l i e s t
r e p o r to r ia l days. The one th ing th a t h u r t him most deeply was
the insolence of the o ff ic e boys who guarded the e d i to r ia l
'saneturns o f the g ro a t d a i l i e s ; th i s insolence growing s tead
i l y worse as the r e p o r te r worked h is way eastw ard. D re ise r
has never fo rg iven these boys and f la y s them unm erc ifu lly in _ ' / ' ‘ ■ VV-
lewsnauor Days and a t every, o th e r oppo rtun ity .
A fte r Chicago come S t. L ouis, the "Globe-Democrat," andv . ■ ■ : - ■ ' ■ . . . . - .
pugnacious, aggressive'' Joseph B. MoCulla^h. A c ru e l in tro d u o -
t lo n to a now c i ty room and an opportun ity to study types
are two S t. Louis memories th a t D re ise r c a r r ie d w ith him th ro
ughout l i f e . D re iser was c o n s ta n tly embarrassed as he went
about h is work, fo r he assumed th a t he was e x c ep tio n a lly hoae-
ly and not aooeptablo to women. This was q u ite unfounded as
out to « f oago .,,2e
:1» Oa._ Git. . u.22.
-& 7-
f a r as p h y sica l appearance goes. 1 t kep t him, n ev o rth e le ss ,
in a eonstan t s ta te of a g i ta t io n , fo r love o f fem inine beauty
was, perhaps, the dominant c h a ra c te r is t ic o f h is moots.
D reiser saw 3*4' Ldnla- the eyes o f more than one
newspaper, fo r h is se rv ice on the "Republic" was probably
more d is tin g u ish ed than h is r e p o r to r ia l e f f o r t s on the "Globe
Democrat." Baring h is newspaper days here he found f r ie n d
ships vdiioh served him fo r l a t e r ch a rac te r sketches and in c i
dents th a t ware the background fo r sev e ra l sh o r t s to r ie s*
Conducting a p a r ty o f school teach ers to the World*s
5a i r a t Chicago i s an ou tstand ing memory o f l i f e on the "Rep-
u b l io ." The teachers were c o n te s t winners in a c i r c u la t io n
and a d v e rtis in g s tu n t campaign o f the paper and the fre e t r ip- . .
was the reward. The glamour o f youth and the sp a rk lin g pro
mise o f adventure were in the a i r when Lae t r a in s ta r te d fo r
Chicago and the subsequent amorous adven tures o f Mr* D re ise r
w ith c e r ta in o f the school teach ers have w ithout doubt had a
tran sference to h ie l i t e r a r y im pressions of women*
After S t. Lpuis D re ise r was alm ost in v e ig led in to a
country newspaper career*, bu t the thought o f l i f e in a sm all
town amid the r u s t ic s whose c h ie f occupations were meeting
the t r a in s and d iscu ssin g backwoods p o l i t i c s was too much fo r
the you th fu l jo u rn a l is t . He slipped away and continued east*- • . . _
Once e s ta b lish e d in P i t ts b u rg h is a t te n t io n was a r re s te d by
the phenomenal growth of fo rtu n es in s t e e l and by the person
a l i t i e s o f the men who were b u ild in g America. D re iser f in a l ly
reached. Bow York, tho goal o f a l l nov/apaper men# His sueeeae
was not g re a t In th a t m etropoll# and tM ooolness and the im
personal a i r o f tho How York newspaper world tu rned h is a t t
en tio n to the p o s s ib i l i t i e s then being p re se n te d .in the f lo u r
ish in g f ie ld of the magazine. He never re tu rn ed to the news
papers , save as a w r ite r o f Sunday fe a tu re s . •
The manner in which D re is e r 's newspaper days in fluenced
h is l a t e r w ritin g s and found an adequate tran sfe ren ce to h is
works w ill be seen l a t e r . For the p re sen t we s h a l l consider
the a t t i tu d e s , p re ju d ic e s , and experiences o f youth, exolus-
i r e o f the newspaper w orld, th a t had a profound e f f e c t on
h is w ritin g .
Much has been Said about D re is e r 's so -c a lle d sex obs
ess io n . I t i s an idea th a t was developed in h is youth and
has been c a rr ie d to ssueh o f h is f ic t io n . Am exam ination o f h is
works w ill re v ea l i t ae a dominant p a r t o f the D re lse rian
s ty le . He o fte n uses the c h a ra c te rs m erely as dummies fo r h is
own fe e lin g s on the su b je c t. *
The m ental doubts and lean in g s o f Mr. haymaker in the1 * : ■ '
s to ry "F re e ,R contained In Free and Other S to r ie s , a re s tro n g
ly D re lse rian . D is s a tis f ie d w ith h is em otional and m arried l i f e ,
Mr. Haymaker runs the gamut of c o n f lic tin g , d e s ir e s . .A t one
moment he fin d s h im self w ishing fo r Mrs. Maymaicer's daath^and
1 . Theodore ^ r e i s e r . F ree and O ther S t o r i e s , p .1 3 .
h is own freedom. At another he shew s h im self fo r th is a t t i t
ude. D re is e r 's m arriage t/as understood to bo u n s a t is fa c to ry
and he has repea ted ly a s sa r to d th a t th e 1one love id e a l ' would
not work out happ ily in h is case . There i s r e a l evidence to
in d ica te th a t M s personal fe e lin g s in th i s re sp e c t have found
’ an adequate spokesman in %Ir. Haymaker. A fte r the b rig h t flame
o f romance died In Hr. D re is e r 's own m arried l i f e he s e t t le d
down to nu rtu re what he :sees as a pale flame o f du ly . He has
had many m isgivings and doubts about m arriage and f in a l ly con
cludes th a t many people cannot a d ju s t t h e i r temperaments to
romantic love.
The romanticism of D re is e r 's s i s t e r s and th e i r matrimon
i a l hopes seem to come to l i f e through the pages of "The Second
C hoice." The observant "Dorse" must have sensed the longing
they had fo r the b e s t ohance and the compromises they made fo r
love . This longing f o r the b e t te r th in g s and the grim acceptance
o f the humdrum ex istence are a d e f in i te p a r t o f the American
scheme. R elative happ iness, D re ise r observes, depends to a high
degree on proper adjustaeatu.-A ^person may see beauty and co lo r
where he has seen only drabness before i f he i s w ill in g to
change h is p o in t o f view# Daring h is boyhood th is adjustment and acceptance were going on a l l around him and to some ex ten t
in h is own fam ily . x.7hy n o t make the b e s t o f l i f e as i t i s p re -
1 , D re is e r 's you thfu l nickname•
-30
s®nte& to n s , he im plies when he \7 ritea : • v
But'what'1 a .the use?* -she ashed o f h e r s e lf weari l y and re sig n ed ly a f te r a tim e. U’fay should I cry? Ihy shouldn’ t I marry Burton? I d o n 't ' amount to anything, anyhow. A rthur w ou ldn 't have me. I wanted him, and I am compelled to taka some one e ls e —or no one-what d i f f e r ence does i t r e a l ly make who? My dreams are too high,, t h a t 's a l l . I wanted A rthur, and he w ou ldn 't have me. I d o n 't want Burton and he crawls a t my f e e t . I'm a f a i l u re , t h a t 's w hat's the m atte r w ith mo. *
"And them ,-tu rn ing up h e r s leev es and removing a fich u which stood cu t too prom inently from her b re a s t , she went in to the k itch en and, looking about f o r an apron, observed:
" 'C a n 't I help? Where's the tab lec lo th ?* and f in d ing i t among the napkins and-silverw are in a drawer in the ad jo in ing room, proceeded to s e t the ta b le ."
An improper in tro d u c tio n to l i f e may have the e f f e c t o f
tu rn ing youth away from a robust acceptance o f sex, according
to D re ise r. An a t t r a c t io n to sex may e a s ily change when r e a l i t y
i s im properly p resen ted in f i c t io n and then the pendulum w ill
swing in the opposite d ire o tio n .
$he haunting prom ises of glamorous en terta inm ent and en
joyment th a t lu re the youth o f the middlemost have been f a i t h
fu l ly portrayed in "Sanctuary ," a sh o r t s to ry . Going to the
l a t e s t danoe h a l l , r o l l e r sk a tin g r in k , o r noisy beach these
young people are looking fo r an esoaps from r e a l i t y , a lthough
they a re no t in te l l ig e n t enough to know what they are seek ing ,
fhe ch ild who grows up on the c i ty s t r e e ts , who i s sen t ou t
to " J e r ry 's D isca" each n ig h t f o r a grow ler o f b ee r, and who
looks upon a s in g le t r i p to "Hoseland" as the l a s t word in
X. Theodore D re ise r, "The Second Choice," Free and Other S to r ie s .P» 162. ■ “ ------------- :—
- H -
ro»an tio d e l ig h t , has ho on sta rved of a l l a p p rec ia tio n of beau
ty , th inks D reiser* I t i s easy fo r sueh a c h ild to make the
wrong ch o ice , as D reiser lo g io a lly ro v ea ls in nS anctuary ,n
aM p ro s titu tio n , i s o f te n the oifLy door to independence* % en
Madeleine t i r o s o f s t r e e t l i f e and fin d s r e s t w ith in the s h e l
te r of the S isterhood o f th e Good Shepherd, she has adm itted
both fe a r and f a i lu re to cope w ith l i f e - But can wo blame h e r ,
asks D reiser? A fter a l l she i s the product Of her you th fu l en
vironment. lo v e , o ften the only so lu tio n women have f o r le a rn in g
and l iv in g , has been fa ls e to h e r . I t i s a tragedy of the Amer
ican Scene.
Coarse, hoydeniah S delle o f "Chains" could mot have been
crea ted were i t no t f o r D re is e r 's e f fe c tiv e y ou th fu l con tac t
w ith the fo re ig n element o f the m iddlewest, the P o lish , French,
and Russian. He has the in tu i t io n to sense the d ire c tio n they
wish th e ir l iv e s to take when they have the opportun ity to d i
r e c t them, and th e i r backgrounds are h is own in a very d e f in ite
way. The photographic q u a li ty o f h is d e sc r ip tiv e passages speaks
with a l l the a u th o rity of the n a tiv e son when he suggest# :
"^heae wide yards and th a t ruck o f shabby yellow - and b lack houses, begrimed and d i r ty e x te rn a lly , and in te rn a l ly no doubt, w ith sou ls in them as drab perhaps*wl#
Here too , we have th a t carry -over from youth, the g lo r
i f ic a t io n o f e igh teen , the wonder year in D re is e r 's e a r ly con
cep tion o f feminine beauty. I t i s ev iden t again th a t s e l f ama-
1* Theodore D re is e r , C h a in s , p .7 1 .
■ly sa tio n i s one o f the g re a te s t fo rc e s in the f ic t io n o f Theo-
V dore D re ise r. ■ -. • •
The women in Theodore D reiser*s l i f e laxot blush w ith
in d ig n a tio n a t tim es to read M s l i t e r a r y ev a lu a tio n o f them
in the two volumes th a t compos® A G allery o f Women.Flrom the
a sso c ia te s of h is youth to "lohemlto" ^reemrioh v il la g e they are
a l l here and pa in ted w ith sw if t sure strokes* D re iser i n s i s t s
th a t from h is boyhood u n t i l now ho has boon a r re s te d by the
.a l lu re of. feminine beauty and has had a keen fe e l in g fo r har
mony in d re ss . This he c a r r ie s to n early every one o f the
ch a rac te rs in a G allery o f Women. The women he p re sen ts seem
. to be f a i th f u l p o r t r a i t s o f h is a sso c ia te s and there i s no
overdose o f rea lism o f ; the k ind th a t i s indulged in by Dos
P asses, ^aulkner* and hemingway* Tlie Greenwieh v illa g e back
ground fo r Hho&a and the sympatliy he arouses fo r the poor,'
v the oppressed, and the wretched i s probably d i r e c t from Drei
se r *s e a r l i e s t Hew York experiences*1 2*
The unbelievab le m ystica l q u a li ty in D re ise r .s youtii
i s .c a rr ie d out in h is s trange acceptance of. the a r t o f the
fortune t e l l e r in the p o r t r a i t o f G iff and tlie id ea o f .recur
rence of acc iden t in the B bosiar H oliday. Thera i s some pos
s i b i l i t y , th inks P re is e r , th a t power and sense o f d ire c tio n
era more im portant than science and e l e c t r i c i ty . In the a r t
of tea cup fo rtunes he sees a so lid A seriaan t r a i t . G iff
1 . 0p5_C ito.ip .74.2. Theodore D re ise r, A G allery o f Women. V o l . I . , p .73 .
works4 p a r t time in a “throw a n ick e l on the dnua and save
your so u l17 type of ijoopel house* D reiser i s a t t r a c te d to the
in e v i t a b i l i t i e s o f some of h e r fo rtune t e l l in g and suggests
th a t there i s a p o s s ib i l i ty o f fo rces a t work here th a t the
' -world does not drear, e z is t*
- D re ise r tli-Lrlco th a t he can understand the m otivating
fo rces behind a g i r l ' s d e s ire to run away from home. He draws
hero on the experiences he went through w ith h i a f a th e r and
makes the a s s e r t io n th a t a c ru e l in s is te n c e by fa th e rs on
. th e i r p a re n ta l r ig h ts i s a r e a l and u u ff io ie n t cause fo r a~
l ic n a t in g the a f fe c tio n s o f a dau^hter.^* In a d d itio n , he
'in tim a te s , those who forsake m o ra lity o f te n go f a r th e r than
i f they had remained pure .
Hq lea rned to c la s s i fy types of women e a r ly in l i f e and
th i s a b i l i t y w ithout doubt b rings a c le a r e r in te rp r e ta t io n
to the C a lle rt of expects c e r ta in q u a l i t ie s in the
women of h is .acquaintance and then searches d i l ig e n t ly u n t i l
he f in d s them. American g i r l s in D re is e r 's op in ion have astound-
in g ly sensual aud im aginative appeal. * Some women, he b e liev
e s , are p e r s o n a l i t ie s , but many are looked upon as more chem
ic a l .a ssa u lts on the hormones o f the male. % i s s t i l l touch
ed, however, by the b ash fu l approach he experienced when.he. -
was a youth in C hicago 's days o f lu s ty growth or a co lleg e 1 2
1. lhaodorc ^ r e i s e r . A G allery o f iVomen. V o l.I* ,p .363.2. Ib id . . p .532, Vol. n .
**34*;
undergraduate a t Ind iana , ite i s fa ao in a ted , teat d i s t i m t l y
teewildered.
Hollywood, adm its Theodore ^ r e is e r in the G allery o f
Women, r iv a l s h is you th fu l im pressions o f th e .pagan o rg ie s
o f Sidon, Tyre, Greene, Rome, and Antiooh*
"The t in s e l I The arrogance! The v a in g lo ry i The a s in in i ty ! The w aste l The fo l -d e - ro l i The rush o f a l i t t l e temporary p ro sp e r ity to the head. V ulgarious mental lig h tw e ig h ts posing as gen iuses, c re a to rs , h e ir s to the Bard o f Avon h im se lf , and surrounding and overflow ing a l l , t h i s downright g ross and savage and d e f ia n t v u lg a r i ty .n l*
D re ise r draws on h is e a r ly knowledge o f country l i f e to
en rich the c h a rac te r sketch o f Ida Hasuehawout, a r u r a l g i r l .
H® could sympathise w ith and understand the background th a t
produced h er. He, too , knew o f men who had slaved a l l t h e i r
l iv e s in o rder to leave a s u b s ta n t ia l in h e ritan ce to th e i r
ch ild ren . And i t was D re is e r 's o b serva tion th a t the ch ild ren
u su a lly d is s ip a te d the fo rtu n e as qu ick ly as p o ss ib le . Thus
he cannot be too much in sympathy with Id a . And in concluding
h is sketches o f women D re ise r s t r ik e s back to the same idea
th a t engaged him when he was a raw youth s ta r t in g out in the
world, "The wonder o f emotion, I thought; o f p assio n ; o f sex;
the g re a t, the dominating fo rc e !" 2*
The e v e r-fa sc in a tin g su b je c t o f sex has p e r s is te d in
h is philosophy and has co lored h is e n tire a t t i tu d e toward l i f e .
1 . Theodo re ^ r e i s e r . A G a lle ry o f V.'omon. V o l . I I , p .5 4 6 .
An im pression e f s tud ied oonfasion i s rece iv ed from
D re ise r’s book o f ph ilosophy, Hgy Rdb-A-Ddb-Dob. In i t he bor
row® l i t t l e from o th e r g re a t p h ilo so p h ies , fo r he a ttem p ts
to produce a new theory o f l i f e o f h is .own* th e re i s evidence' ■ ■ ■ ■:■■■■ ' ■■ • ■ : ■ ■ . ■ ■ " ■ ■■■
o f you thfu l in fluences here fo r he pussies; to f in d Divine
Kind, l i g h t . Wisdom, t r u th . J u s t ic e , and Kercy in the human
trag e d ie s o f youtli*x* Hq s tren g th en s th i s Im pression Wien he
In d ica te s th a t ou tstand ing phases of Amerioan l i f e are the
fo rces o f youth, optimism, and i l l u s i o n ,2? and he confesses
th a t he was immeasurably and fo rev er h u r t when h is schoolboy \ . - , ■ '
i l lu s io n s were sh a tte re d by the c ru e l p ra o tic e s o f the oom-
m erolal world*
VBy i s th i s the sweet land o f secrecy in a l l th ings th a t.
p e r ta in to sex? That i s the q u estio n D re ise r a sk s , the- questio n
which has perplexed him since Warsaw days*' - • ‘ ' 1 : ' .
”1 sometimes th in k th a t a calm and exhaustive study o f the American temperament in r e la t io n to sex and i t s various m an ife s ta tio n s would r e s u l t in the s c ie n t i f ic conclusion th a t th i s country , taken as a whole, i s as much a v ic tim o f a deep sea ted n eu ro sis r e la t in g
• to th is impulse as any,, the most morbid„of those who appeal to psycho-analysis fo r trea tm en t."^"
In th i s philosophy o f Theodore D re ise r are the marks o f
the Chicago o f h is youth; % 1 stead s t r e e t w ith i t s c o n tra s ts
o f p ie ty and in iq u ity , the Haymarket w ith i t s ra sh bu rlesques,
the lu s t in e s s o f commercial am bitions, and the suggestive oom-
1. Theodore Dr a i ger> Ilgy Rnb-A-Dub-Pub. p .13 .
I : t l i k .
-9 6 -
■binations o f o l ty o o lo rs . A ll of. these memories have found a
p lace in h is philosophy o f l i f e . Observing the problems o f
young America and. the m arriage t i e s and remembering experienc
es of h is own# P re ise r d ec la re s th a t " fo r a l l the h igher dev
elopment (o f the marriage id e a ) , the s t r a in o f p r a c t ic a l l i f e
seems to be too much fo r i t . " 1* Thus ho ad v ise s , when love and
passion d e p a rt, abandon m arriage, o r "you may pay your money*
and take your ch o ice ," fo r you cannot w ell serve passio n and
m ateria lism a t the same tim e ,1 2*
• : - " In my ,youths " says Theodore B fe lae rs "jK>,pomsteywas so s ig n if ic a n t as the tTnited S ta te s , o f c o u r s e s o wonderful, so f u l ly re p re se n ta tiv e o f the n a tu ra l s p i r i t o f a s p ira tio n in man, h is dreams, hopes, su p e rio r and. oonstruo tlvo p o s s ib i l i t i e s . A ll th a t America d id , could do, had done, was in l in e w ith the n o b le s t and b e s t p r in c ip le s in n a tu re , as I then understood n a tu re . And .. I s t i l l b e lieve th a t th i s n a tio n might be one o f tremendous s ig n ifican ce in connection w ith in te l le c tu a l development, but some marked changes w i l l need to come
. about. ^d* : V. . - V ' ' , . . . . ,
D re ise r’ s sympathy- fo r and understand ing o f the working
people o f the g re a t c i t i e s . Hew York and Chicago, h is in te r e s t" V : ; ' ..
in the ju n g le -lik e l i f e of the tenem ents, and M s fe e l in g fo r: ■ ■ ■ ' ' ■ ■ . ; : ' ■ ' • ' ' ........."
c o n tra s ts has p e rs is te d I n h is f i c t i o n . .
%# "Cruise o f the Id le w ild" i s f u l l o f tiie dreaminess
o f you#i and i s a t a l e th a t has i t s beginning in D re is e r ’s
labo ring days. Making a game of work and the d e ta i le d m ata- v
morph#sos th a t change a shop In to a sea-going v e s se l i s the
1 . Oft. C i t . , . p.215.2. III., p.215. 9* Op... -C it,. p . 225.
- 3*
business o f youth and o f men who can s t i l l use th e i r imagin
a tio n s . What boy has not d e liv ered the message to Garola as
he sped to the grocery s to re on a minor errand? Who in youth
f u l days has not communed w ith prime##* p i r a te s , f i e l d mar
sh a ls and w aited ex p ec tan tly fo r the p la u d its o f the m ult
itude? fhe s p i r i t of the Id lew ild makes l i f e r o s ie r fo r a . .
time fo r a group composed o f c a rp e n te rs , m illw rig h ts , wood
tu rn e rs , tin sm ith s , p a in te r s , b lacksm iths, an eng ineer, and
a_yard foreman. % e ls e r has p a in ted an e v e r la s t in g p ic tu re
of the happy workshop and of men and boys who can masquerade
and achieve cooperation in a world o f mako'bolieve*
Hfhe in e v i t a b i l i t i e s of our fa te a r e : "love and hope,
fe a r and dea th , intom oven- w ith our la c k s , in h ib i t io n s , ‘ je a l -
oup ies, and g r e e d s , w r i t e s fheodore ^ r e is e r in in troduc
ing h is hook Chains. In the book are ta le s which are r e a l
in d ic e s to h is ch a rac te r and to the brooding th a t th is young
American did while he watched the strugg le ,-o f those about him,
unconscious o f the f a c t th a t while he was w atching th e i r s tru g
g le s , h is own problems wore being solved through lack o f a t
te n tio n to them.
What do people th in k abou t, these people w ith m enial\ ■ 1
d a l ly ta sk s and oircum soribed afte r-w o rk a c t iv i t i e s ? That i s the perp lex ing question which p resen ted i t s e l f to D re ise r
e a r ly in l i f e . He tu rn s to h is innor s e l f fo r p a r t i a l answer
1 . Theodore ^ r e i s e r . C h a in s , forew ard*
-3 8 -
ln "Harriaea For One" and in d ic a te s h is b e l ie f in the f a c t
than an unim aginative youth in America i s g en e ra lly concerns*
w ith few and simple problems and i s con ten t to l im i t h is in
t e l le c tu a l a c t i v i t i e s to a hare understand ing o f the business
w ith which ho i s associa ted# The narrow d e f in ite views of the
c le rk are a l l here and i f they are drab .and m eaningless a t
l e a s t they have the appearance o f r e a l i t y . Another phase o f
you th fu l American b e l ie f i s the idea th a t any person w ith enough
rugged ind iv idualism may a t t a i n the top . 2h is thought i s ex
pressed in "F u lfilm ent"—a rag s to r ic h e s conception . D re ise r
a tta in e d the peak of l i t e r a r y success through an adherence to
th is myth of youth and he upheld ind iv idua lism f o r many y ea rs .
$he change in th i s conception has come la te in l i f e as we s h a l l
' - see . ■ ■'
For the ch a rac te r sketches in Twelve Men D re ise r draws
o fte n from h is r ic h s to re o f you th fu l im pressions and s tu d ie s .
The p ic tu re o f h is b ro th e r Paul i s one o f the b e s t sketches in
American l i t e r a t u r e . The mighty Ronrke o f Twelve Hen i s a char
a c te r out o f h is youth and th is w ild I r i s h ra i l ro a d c o n tra c to r
w ith h is rough humor and h is 11 'Gome M att I Come Jimmie I Get
the shovels now J Get the p i oka 2 Jasus C h ris t hu rry up 2* " i s1* , •-
u n fo rg e tta b le . Culhane "the so lid man, the t r a in e r who brought
D re iser back to normal h e a lth a f te r h is f i r s t few years in
Hew York, i s ano ther c h a ra c te r out of h is ap p ren ticesh ip days.
1 . Theodore D re ise r* "The H ig h ty R ourke ," Twelve Hen, p , 2 8 ? .
I t was th is man who toured iUcarioa v/ith llad.am8 Modjeska as
Charlos the W restlor in "As You Like I t . " P a te r Mo Cord i s one. ■ ................................
of D re ise r’s f i r s t staunch f r ie n d s and an in fluence o fe x c o p
t io n a l s tre n g th . The ch a ra e te r sketch o f McCord i s one o f the
b e s t In Twelve;Men, "th® day I f i r s t saw h im ,” r e la te s D re ise r,
"he was bent over a drawing hoard i l l u s t r a t i n g a snake s to ry' 1 .
fo r one o f the Sunday issu es o f ’G lo b e - D e m o c ra t* I n devel
oping h is ch a rac te r ho w riM s: - . ; ’ ; ; •
"P eter v/as as much th r i l l e d and entendored by the braw ling strum pet in the s t r e e t o r the bagnio as by the v irg in w ith h e r s ta r r y crow n ," .2,
P e te r was re sp o n sib le fo r a tu rn in g p o in t in D re ise r’ s ,
e a re e r ana. t r i e d to in je c t in to him an alm ost R abela is ian gus
to fo r l i f e » He had a whole ch a ra c te r to rem odel, fo r D reiser
• ind icates- how.naive ho was when he say s : \ .
"As I see m yself now, I was a poor sp in d lin g , ..prying f i s h , anxious to know U f a , and y e t because of my very narrow tra in in g very fearsome of i t . , o f what i t m ight do to me, what d read fu l contag ion o f thought o rdeed i t m ight open to me." 3 .. ™ .
% e excep tiona l a b i l i ty D re ise r had fo r drawing h is. char
a c te rs d i r e c t ly from l i f e i s considered to bo a r t of high o r-4 .
d e r . C-aihane i s , o f c our so , a f i c t i t i o u s name given to Mul-
doon, and Da. Maupassant Ju n io r o f Twelve Men i s H a rr is Merton
Dyon, an e a r ly l i t e r a r y a s so c ia te who liad a m eteoric c a re e r . 1
1 . on. c i t . "P e te r ," p* 5 .2. on* oijt. p* 3*
9*■^ozen o f D re is e r la n i i1: ■w C u rren t^ O p in io n l 6 6 :3 8 9 -9 0 ,
~40~
In the Color o f a G reat C ity Theodore ^ ro io e r loans
h eav ily on h is f i r s t days in Hew York fo r I t m s these photo
graphic and im p re ss io n is tic id eas th a t dominated the e n t i r e
tone o f the book. In h is foreword he in d ic a te s th a t Hew York
seemed more i d e a l i s t i c and p o e tic in h is youth than i t d id
a t any o ther time and th a t a l l o f h i s le is u re time was spen t
- vi''in waM erlng through tiie s t r e e t s o f the m etropo lis an a ly z in g -
- the types w ith which he came in co n tac t and c la s s ify in g th e ir
methods o f s tru g g lin g fo r e x is te n c e . C on trasts were on every
hand and he lea rn ed o f the magnetic force o f the c i ty when one
poor seam stress to ld him "I would r a th e r l iv e in my h a l l bed-
room in Hew York than in any 15-room house in the country
th a t I ever-saw .#^e
Out o f these e a r ly days he has given the world some. l i t
e ra ry p ic tu re s th a t i t w i l l n o t soon fo rg e t . She parade of tpHk wagons a t fou r o ’c lock in the morning winding i t s way
a t the bottom o f the deep c i ty canyons, the e lev a ted ra ilw ay !
ca rs speeding through a d riv in g ra in sto rm , the a c t i v i t y o f
the w ater f ro n t , the hulking toughs and roustab o u ts of the
bowery, the g h e tto , and the e a r ly morning caravan o f Jews
pushing th e i r o a r ts ac ro ss W illiamsburg bridge— ”A v a s t , s i l
en t mass i t i s , marching to the music of n e c e s s i ty .n2. '* . .:' ■
He has caught i t a l l , . rogues, C u tth ro a ts , pickpockets.
1. Theodore A re lse r , Color o f a Great C ity , p .2 .2. Ibid., p .5 .
-A l
and ragam uffins th a t take l i f e l ik e ch a ra c te rs o u t o f the o ld
Spanish picaresque novels o r the ta le s o f C harles Dickons. %
was an eager s tu d en t o f ward p o l i t i e s and g r a f t in c i t y admin
istration and h is e a r ly im pressions in regard to these a c t
i v i t i e s d id no t req u ire much a l te r a t io n as the yea rs advanced.
Hq in d ic a te s to us th a t poverty o f mind i s the most d read fu l.
and in h ib it in g o f a l l forms o f poverty . I t i s so com pletely
d e s tru c tiv e .
"Without money, o r a t tim es w ith so l i t t l e th a t : an o rd inary day la b o re r would have scoffed a t my supply,
I s t i l l found m yself m ed ita ting 'g loom ily and w ith much show of reason on the poverty o f o thers ."**
&e b rings a wealth of experience to h is p o r tra y a l of the
ra i l ro a d yards and the tempo of the new e ra of transportation
in America. His knowledge o f yard work i s f i r s t hand fo r he
had a re a l and u n fo rg e tta b le in tro d u c tio n to i t when he was
a youth in Chicago. This personal experience adds the authen
t i c touch which d is tin g u ish e s h is work.
"For a time in Chicago, between my e ig h teen th and n ine teen th y ea rs , I was employed as a c a r - t r a c e r in one of the g re a t f r e ig h t te rm in a ls of a r a i l ro a d en te rin g Chicago, a huge, windy, fo resaken realm f a r ou t on the g re a t prairie west o f the c i ty and harboring l i t e r a l l y a thousand o r more e a r s .
The ch ap te r e n t i t le d "Whence the Song" i s a p o r t r a i t o f
the su ccessfu l song w r i te r on Broadway and i s undoubtedly a .
c h a ra c te r is a tio n o f the moods and a c t i v i t i e s o f h is b ro th e r 1
1. p .77 ..2. On. P i t . , p .69 .
-4 2 -
P anl. How w ell D re ise r knew the background o f the song w rite r
i s understood when i t i s remembered th a t Paul D re ise r was
h is f in a n c ia l anchor and companion during h is e a r ly days in
Hew York*
There i s a pathos in some o f h is ©harac t e r sice tehee th a t
1b extrem ely w ell done. For example observe the c h a ra c te r of
the messenger boy who was being ragged by a l l o f the "boye*
on the s t a f f o f the "World" because o f h is i l l - f i t t i n g clo thes*
D re is e r 's and our sympathies go ou t to him when he breaks
down and sobs: "I never d id have no home—- I never d id have
no fa th e r o r mother, l ik e you people, nor no ehanoe e ith e r* I
was ra ise d in an orphan asylum*n l*
"Hell* s K itchen" w ith i t s boarding house f ig h t s , i t s
common s t r e e t braw ls, i t s human n e ig h b o rlin e ss , and i t s s tub
born r e s is ta n c e to ou tside s lan d er i s a s t r ik in g sk e tch . The
roar o f the n ig h t p re sse s in the basements o f the g re a t d a i l
ie s and the "men in the dark" who are w aiting p a t ie n t ly fo r
the f i r s t glimpses of the want-ads a re p ic tu re s o f Hex? York
l i f e th a t no o th e r w r ite r has caught In such a g ripp ing man
n er . He records h is im pressions in su re , c le a r s tro k e s , bu t
cannot break away from h is p h ilo so p h is in g when ho w rite s :
"------the c a ta ra c t o f news which the x7orld w aits f o r , i t s d a ily
mental s tim u lu s, no t u n lik e the bread th a t i s l e f t a t your
door fo r your body."%*
1. On. G it. , p .200.2. Op. C it . . p.224*
-4 3 -
D reiser s :exoursicms In to the realm o f poetry r e f l e c t
to a c e r ta in degree the samo a t t i tu d e s and im pressions he has
c a rr ie d to h is p rose . &is p r in c ip a l e f fo r ts In Terse are con
ta ined in tiie volume Mood a .- Oadenood and Declaimed, and h is
poetry here i s f u l l o f h i s dreams, re l ig io u s doubts, and per
p le x ity , Bieh o f i t i s d i r e c t from the c i ty s t r e e t s and th is
im pression o f the ‘'bad1’ house has i t s d u p lica te many tim es in
h is p rose .
. " F la r in g , noisy tavernsBabbling houses of bauds And r o i s t e r e r s ,Who,In the red hours of the n ig h t.T h r i l l the d u ll f le s h With th e i r screaming o rg ie s .And p u ls in g , sw eating hungers;While c h i l l e r passioned sou ls Elsewhere dream pale dreams.Of b e t te r worlds and ways."*"
What he c a l l s the s trange chem istry o f love-making—-
the c a l l o f mood to mood and blood to blood th a t fa sc in a ted
him so when he was young— dominates much o f h is p o e try . The
fa c to ry g i r l s o f Chicago, the fo r lo rn o f hew York, the rom
a n tic youth o f the m iddle-w est; a l l o f these have a d e f in ite
place in h is poetry . 2n c lo s in g h is book o f verse he seems to
borrow an idea from the Bubiavat when he w rite s :
“As w ith a f in g e r in w ate r.As witli chalk upon a board OrWith a p e n c il upon a s l a t e .Or
1 . Theodore D re is e r , Hoods. Oadencod and D eclaim ed, p .2 1 5 .
-4 4 -
With b rea th upon a pane % m istOr vzith a s t ic k in tiie san jl,- Or d u stT h e .a sp ira tio n s , .The dreams.And the achievements Of men. "3-'
The German-Amerioan philosophy o f l i f e i s woven in to }' . " ' - . ' . / .
much o f D re ise r’s works and i s a major co n s id e ra tio n in an /. ' ' : ' ' ' : ' \
in te l l ig e n t ev a lu a tio n o f h is w r itin g s . Although o fte n a s s -
oo la ted witii more cosm opolitan in f lu e n e e s , the German—Am-1 ' : i
erioan a t t i tu d e i s s t i l l - c l e a r and d i s t in c t enough to make /• % * " . ;
- i t a dominating fo rce .
The GermanrAmericans are s o l id stock and are charac
te r iz e d by th e i r extreme moodiness* #h@y are g iven over to
much brooding and th e i r emotions g a ther s tren g th -s lo w ly and
in a heavy manner. D re iser has h is oharao terc mope and brood
in a manner th a t i s s tro n g ly ak in to th i s .
Gqrman-Ame ric a n households have a code o f manners th a t
i s d is t in c t iv e . There i s l i t t l e open re b e l l io n w ith the head
o f the fam ily and a l l members o f the group recognise c e n tra l
a u th o r ity . The fam ily as a .u n i t i s f a s t becoming obso le te in
many American homes, bu t the German-Amerioan fam ily s t i l l r e
ta in s s tro n g t i e s . I f there i s any re b e l l io n a g a in s t those in
power i t i s a slow, stubborn, moody re s is ta n c e . 1
1. On. G it. , p.385.
-4 5 -
Although they would, be the l a s t to admit i t , the Ger-
man-Amerloans are s tro n g ly sen tim en ta l. % is se n tim e n ta lity
i s aroused only when they are deeply moved; i t i s not a su r
face emotion and consequently has much more streng th* D re ise r,
l ik e many American newspaper men who l ik e to th in k o f them
se lves as " h a rd -b o ile d , ' i s o ften g u i l ty o f rank sentim ent
alism . Despite the f a c t th a t jo u rn a lis ts w itness more o f the
raw c o n tr a s ts 'o f l i f e than o th e rs and should be hardened to
the in e q u a li t ie s o f e x is te n c e , i t i s easy fo r them to become
maudlin sen tim en ta lists* . .
C areful p ic tu re s o f the German*Amrloan fam ily group
are revealed by D re ise r and he emphasizes the idea of d iv ine
r ig h t o f paren ts th a t i s such a d e f in i te p a r t o f the G@raan
a t t i tu d e ,
1‘he Germ&n-rAmerlcaito do no t be lieve in becoming indeb t
ed to any of th e i r neighbors and t r y to b u ild a complete w all
is o la t in g , them from these who are w ithout th e i r group. They
are slow, steady b u ild e rs b e lie v in g in the philosophy o f no t
spending the penny before they g e t i t . .
I t has been d i f f i c u l t fo r them to ju s t ify , any breaking
of the moral oode and old Gerhardt i s never qu ite reco n c iled• :
to h is daughter because he s l ig h t ly su spec ts th a t she has had
a baby out o f wedlock.
Deeply re lig io u s when they be lieve a t a l l and b i t t e r l y
a th e is t ic when they do no t be lieve i s a o h a ra o te r is t ie o f many
Gentan-Amerieams. They have a s to l id acceptance o f the in e v i t
a b i l i t i e s of f a ta an& worship the scheme o f xmBs&slae hard
work. I t i s th e i r p e rs is ten ce and im m v a h ility th a t g ives them
strength, and th i s p e rs is ten c e i s the quality* th a t kep t Theodore
D reiser from g iv ing up when ho was so co ld ly rece ived by the
American c r i t i c s .
The background f o r "Old Rogaum and His T heresa ,n a slio rt
s to ry , has i t s ro o ts deep in D re ise r’ s youth . The German-Amorl-
oan a t t i tu d e s toward proper conduct come d ir e c t ly from the D rei
s e r fam ily l i f e ; and the s t r e e t s o f the c i ty , w ith th e i r ever
moving drama of youth and sex a t t r a c t io n s , are background e le -
a e n ts which were gathered % D re ise r idien ho s t r u gg led to make
a l iv in g by s h i f t in g from one haphazard employment to ano ther.
This German g i r l , who was no t allowed o u t a f t e r tw i l ig h t , r e
v o lted one n ig h t and ran o f f w ith the young man o f her youthfu l
cho ice , only to be brought batik by the ever v ig i la n t o f f ic e r s
of the law. Through the medium of the sh o rt s to ry D re ise r d e l i
vers a s te rn indictment, a g a in s t German-Aoerioan p a ren ts who
have no sympathy w ith th e i r o f fsp r in g , an age-o ld charge. There: .
i s rea lism in the d ia lo g of the 'Street corner toughs and dan
d le s , and the p ic tu re o f o ld Ho gaum i s au then tic*
"Typhoon” and the d e lin e a tio n o f the c h a ra c te r o f Ida
Zobel i s an e x c e lle n t example o f the in fluence of. the German-
American a t t i tu d e upon Dieodore D re ise r. The s tru g g le s o f the
German youth to see the world in sp ite o f p a re n ta l mandate i s
a common occurrence in mlddlewest America. D re ise r has develop
ed a f a i th f u l p ic tu re o f those s to l id German types who are gen-
-47**
• r a l l y a t odds w ith tho hrash g a ie ty and looseness of the
American world. I n te r e s t In the opposite sox i s an a l l - a b
sorbing fe e lin g in young A oerioa, and d esp ite conventions
yoath w ill f in d a way to be together* D re iser in d ic a te s th i s
when he w rite s :
"And y e t , in sp ite o f a l l tiieee p reo an tio n s , th@ sw ift te legraphy o f eyes and blood. $he haun ting , seeking moods of youth , whleh speaks a language of i t s own.”1.
The s to ry o f Ida Zobel I s the s to ry impressed upon D rei
se r day a f te r day when he f i r s t walked the s t r e e t s of Chicago,
bent upon some c o lle c tio n duty o r engaged in r e a l e s ta te a f
f a i r s . Youthful lo v e , the confidence o f the g i r l , the gay in
d iffe ren ce of the boy a f te r he ha® succeeded in g e tt in g her
in to tro u b le | a l l those are a p a r t o f the. American saga. The
w orld ,” D re ise r in d ic a te s , "does no t understand such th in g s .
I t i s so busy Y/ith so many many tilin g s . So much th a t i s b ea u ti
f u l—t e r r ib l e —sweeps by-by-by w ithout thought—w ithout no tice ’ - ' • 2*. - ■ ; in the g re a t volum e.”
I f A t r a v e le r a t F o rty i l l u s t r a t e s any one p o in t i t I s
probably the f a c t th a t D re is e r 's m iddlewestern h e ritag e i s so
strong th a t i t n e a rly n u l l i f i e s any in g ress ions o f Europe ha
might have rece iv ed . How d e f in i te ly th is American w r ite r has
been dominated by American s tandards, ideas and outlooks up to
th i s p o in t in h is c a re e r i s c le a r ly revealed by an exam ination
o f th i s book. 1
1. Theodore D re ise r, "Typhoon," Chains.n . 185.2. Ib id , p . 218.
-4 8 -
D reiser i s looking a t Europe w ith the perplexed, eyes
o f a QeiMQ-A»esloan* I t i s no t su rp ris in g th a t one of h is
major excursions abroad was a t r ip to the o ld German v il la g e
whioh was the birth place o f the f i r s t ^ re ise rs* I t was a l
most the only t h r i l l he received from Europe.' / i
I t i s ev iden t too th a t the women of the s t r e e t s have
a peculiar facein a tlo n for Theodore D re ise r whether i t i s
London, P a r is , Hew York, or In d ian a p o lis . He oannot cease
looking fo r the c h a ra c te r is t ic s o f the c i ty th a t impressed
him as a boy when he exclaims:“I know o f no th ing so g h as tly —so suggestive o f
a to t a l ly dead s p i r i t , so b i t t e r a comment on l i f e and love and youth and hope a s a s t r e e t g i r l ' s weary, specu la t iv e , commercial cry o f— 'H ello sw e e th e a r t '.T'A*
The influence of D re is e r 's youth upon A H oosier Holiday
i s very apparent for the co n stan t sp ecu la tiv e thought on what
th a t youth was, on ttie; environment of h ie e a r ly l i f e , and of the re c o lle c tio n o f a l l childhood im pressions caused him to
w rite th is work. The e n tire book i s concerned w ith h is awak
ening to experience in middlewest Ind iana and h is im pressions
o f the American scene as i t p resen ted i t s e l f to him a t th a t
tim e. D re ise r rep ea ted ly confesses th a t ^ i s outlook has been' ' = ■ . '
d ic ta te d by h is background, but p o in ts proudly to the b e l ie f
th a t h is background i s b e t te r than the average American youth
en joys, p r in c ip a l ly , i f we can believe H oosier H oliday , be
cause i t i s in the f a i r s ta te o f Ind iana .
1 . Theodore D re is e r , a T ra v e le r &t F o r ty , p .1 2 6 .
-4 9 -
to D re ise r 's observations in the H oosier Hol
id ay . theA m erioan summer resort i s probably one o f the few
p laces where romantic youth can indulge i t s fancy to the u t
most and the tru e background in which kn igh t e r ra n try oaa
perform again . In motoring through e a s te rn r e s o r t towns D rei
se r r e o a l ls the rom antic i l lu s io n s of h is youth and a touch
o f th a t w is tfu l fe e lin g comes back when he observes th a t many
Americans l iv e in a world of sentiment in sp ite o f th e i r bus
in e ss acumen and th a t some sentim ent i s perhaps good for them#
This d o e sn 't sound much l ik e the hard-boiled r e a lis t , and his
perplexed a t t i tu d e i s fu r th e r rev ea led ’ when he exclaim si• t
"Dear, crude, a s in in e , i l lu s io n e d Americans! How I love them I n^*
As D re ise r and F rank lin Booth speed westward to Indiana
the author o f Hoo_si<cir, Hoiiday i s in deep re v e rie over the
p a s t and h is Germ&n-Ameri©an home and r e c a l l s h is e a rly work
ing days in B uffa lo , P i t ts b u rg , and Cleveland and the impres
sions of American l i f e he rece ived in these c i t i e s . Every
middlewest town has some c h a ra c te r is t ic th a t reminds him o f
h is e a r ly days in Ind iana and i t i s th i s id e n t i ty o f background
th a t seems to give D re ise r the a b i l i ty to ca tch the sweep of
the American scene. Returned to Warsaw, S u lliv an , Terre 4au te ,
and 'V im em es he r e c a l ls the p leasu res and tra g e d ie s o f h is
fam ily l i f e and l iv e s the old days over again in memory. To
/ a s trong degree he i s ju s t the o ld e r b ro th e r re tu rn ed home
1# Theodore Dreiser^ A Hoosier Holiday, p.78.
- 50.
from the b ig c i ty to compare the advantages o f c i ty and sm all
town, existence#
S a tio n s , in D re is e r 's op in ion , are much l ik e in d iv id u a ls -
e i th e r they are born w ith genius or they are n o t. In s p ite
of h is heavy charges a g a in s t America the enthusiasm of h is
youth s t i l l creeps through $ he b e liev es th a t there i s s t i l l
hope fo r th is country . Although the d u ll m erchants and t r ic k
s te r s of America are sa id to be much l ik e the Carthiginiane and Phoenicians o f tlie o ld tra d in g days, there i s s t i l l hope for the triumph of the Greeks.
A h ea lth y awakening to experience for the youth o f the
country i s a problem th a t con fron ts America today and i t i s
a solemn p a re n ta l ta sk to give them the r ig h t balance before
they assume ad u lt d u tie s . C orrect t ra in in g fo r the youth of
the country , th inks D re ise r, w ill do much toward b u ild ing up
a s incere and la s t in g c iv i l is a t io n * The fo rc e s of idealism are
l o s t when raw r e a l i t i e s -are no t considered as a d e f in ite p a r t. ■ _ . xof l i f e . He c i t e s h is own experience when he say s 2
"P o s itiv e ly , and * stake my solemn word on th i s , u n t i l I was between seventeen and e igh teen 1 had sca rc e ly begun to suspect any other human being of harboring
■ the e r r a t ic and s in fu l thoughts which o ccasio n a lly flash ed through my mind,
"At th a t time I was ju s t beginning to suspect th a t some of the th ings which had been la id uown to me. by one a u th o rity and another wore not tru e . A ll so -c a lle d good men wore not n e c e s sa r ily good, I was beginning to su spec t, and a l l bad men were no t h o p e less ly bad. There were th in g s in c i ty and town which, as I was coming to . s e e , d id not accord with the th e o rie s o f the particular realm from which I had sprung and seemed to in d ica te another type o f human being d if fe re n t from the type s - mong Which I had been raised. My mother, as I even then
-5 1 -
saw, admire h e r as I m ight, was a mere woman, no t an angel; my fa th e r a mere, mere c ro tc h e ty man. My s i s t e r s and b ro tiie rs wore in d iv id u a ls such as I soon began to f in d were b re a s tin g the stormy w aters o f l i f e o u ts id e , and not very d i f f e r e n t from o th e r b ro th e rs and s i s t e r s , not p e rfe c t sou ls s e t a p a rt from l i f e and happy in the contem plation o f each o th e r 's perfections****
%e development o f Theodore ^ r e i s e r 's a t t i tu d e toward
American business i s revealed in h is f i c t io n as w ell as the
o th e r dominant ideas which are a p a r t o f the D re lse rian stock: . ^in trade * In a sense h is p re se n ta tio n of the American busin
ess scene i s p e c u lia r ly h is own fo r he was the f i r s t to see
the ep ica l p o s s ib i l i t i e s o f the American man o f finance . He
t e l l s the read er th a t the philosophy o f the American business
man i s simple in s tru c tu re and c o n s is ts o f two aims—money
and women.
With the pub lish ing o f The F inancier nnfl l a t e r o f The
Tit&a, Theodore D re ise r became the recognized h is to r ia n o f
the American business scene. These two novels, based on the
c a re e r of a f in a n c ia l g ian t in America, C harles T. Yerkes,
have aroused the c r i t i c s as few works in America have done.' - ' .* ■ -
Barton Rascoe sees them as " f a i th f u l m irro rs o f the n a tio n a l" ' ' : ' ' g
soul during the f i r s t phase o f American in d u s tr ia l is m ," *■■ . ' " '
while S tu a rt B. Sherman in h is essay "On Contemporary L ite r a * 2 3
le Theodore D re ise r, Hey Rub-A-Dub-Dub. p*£84*2. Carl Tan Boren, "Contemporary American n o v e l i s t s ,n
The H ation. 112:400-01.3. Burton ^ascoa. Theodore ^ r e i s e r , p .7 .
- S i -
tu ra ” R elieves ^ r e is e r ha® p a in ted an u n fa ir p io tu re ' of the
American business man in th a t he t e l l s us th a t the.tw o ch ie f •
c h a ra c te r is t ic s o f the American man o f finance are a ra p ac i
ous a p p e tite fo r money and a rapacious ap p e tite fo r women*
"In the F inancier he *do@ument®f these truth®. about Cowperwood in seventy-two ch a p te rs , in each o f
which he shows u s how h is here made money o r how he ca p tiv a ted women in P h ilad e lp h ia . Hot s a t i s f ie d with the demonstration# ho re tu rn s to ' the same th e s is in the T itan and shows us in six ty-tw o ch ap te rs how the same hero mado.money and cap tiv a ted women in Chicago and *ew York* •
Rasooe, however, sees the work in a d i f f e r e n t l i g h t and
d e c la re s : ' • ' .
"U ntil Mr* D re ise r oame along no one had had the w it to see the e p ic a l q u a li ty o f th is drama o f American l i f e o r the genius to t r a n s la te i t in to terms of the novel* I t i s true th a t Stephen Crane, David Graham P h i l l ip s , H. B* F u lle r , and frrank H orris made em perl-
. ments in these dram atic m a te r ia ls , but none of them had the fo rc e , power, and v is io n o f Mr. D rainer; none had h is v a s t prodding energy; none had M s troubled sense o f the human tragedy underly ing th i s g re a t d isp lay o f fo rc e s , tiie very sense which g ives h is novels th e ir depth and dignity*
- fAnother c r i t i c b e liev es i t i s r id ic u lo u s to c la s s Mr.
D re ise r’ s works among the novels and in s is t® th a t they read
more l ik e the O rig in o f the Soeoies o r the Desoent o f Man.
But he does adm it th a t the d eep .ro o ts D re iser s tru c k as a
youth in Chicago make the whole c i t y b reathe aga in in Thev • ' « ' ' - i ' 1 * : * • ' 1 - ,
Sliss- ' ; . * 3
Leer,"l i S tu a rt P. Sherman, "The % tu ra llsm o f Drei:quoted from Rasooe’s book on Dreiser#
B* Burton Rasooe. Theodora D re ise r , p.10.-3. G. R. Taylor, "The u n ited s ta te s as Seen by an American •
W rite r." n in e teen th ^ e n tu rv . 100:803, Deo.1926
The essen liB la o f ttie huainesQ man’s philosophy are to
ho found in the opeaiz^ pages o f The F inano io r. h e liev o s
uiohaud. As D re iser i s impressed in h is youth hy ties f a c t
th a t animals r a r e ly dio a, n a tu ra l (loath no must Couporwood
he impressed by the su rv iv a l o f the f i t t e s t . 8The b a t t le o f
the lo b s te r and the squid was indeed a n a tu ra l prelude to
introduoe the read ers to the e x p lo its o f what i s oommonly
s a ile d among m ortals a ‘ shark * and Cowperwood i s one o f the
f i r s t b r a n d * . v"- . ■ ; :'■■■. ■ ■ , . -
Worried by -tito caros o f tho business world, i t i s n a tu ra l
fo r Cowperwood to look to women fo r h is id e a l o f beauty. I t
i s a n a tu ra l D re ise rian id e a l , th inks Bourne, the only one
he knew in h is youth and the one th a t has kep t w ith him through
the y e a r s * T h i s assumption o f p a r a l le l experience i s the
o h a ra o te r ia tio th a t g ives D re iser the a b i l i ty to sound eon-8.
vlnoing and to authenticate environment and background*. / . ■
There ia no halfway method of accepting D reiser as the
h is to r ia n o f the American soene^for you e i th e r , w ith Chest
e r to n , be lieve th a t D re ise r’s chem istry i s quackery and
schoolboy i l lu s io n ; ”™e o r, v/ith B eroovici, read D re ise r ”to
acquain t y o u rse lf w ith the people o f #@ H nited States*"®*
E.3.
4*5.
Begis Miohaud, "D reiser as a B io-C hem ist," American Movel
Randolph Bourne, "The A rt of Theodore ^ r e i s e r ," D ia l. 62 :SO7-9. M ilton Waldmah, "A Gorman-Aewriean In su rg e n t," Diving Age,
' '■ 331s43ffw OettltM, “ *C. K. C hesterton , "The Skeptic an a C r i t ic " Forum.Fab.1925.p.ffi Konrad B eroovioi, "The Bomantio R e a lis t" M entor. May 1930,
. p p .38-41*
-64
In giving no our f i r s t r o a l i s t io p ic tu re o f an American flm m -
o ia l g ia n t, some be lieve th a t D re iser i s doing a v/ork as mas
sive and as hard-wrought ae the s ta tu e s of Rodin. C arl Van
Boren o b jec ts th a t ho makes the ro le of women in love too sim
ple a th ing and suggests th a t "to something l ik e th i s sim p li
c i ty the ro le o f women in love i s reduced by those Boeoaeeian
f a b u lis ts who adorn the v il la g e taproom and the corner gro-n leee ry ." .
D reiser makes the path o f the f in a n c ia l genius in Amer-
ioa a ra th e r easy one because o f the ex trao rd in a ry w ealth o f
the country and the ra p id westward movement and in tim ates th a t
wo have f a i le d to receive in the same measure the a b i l i ty fo r
upholding t r a d i t io n , p a t ie n t endeavor, and moral v a lu es . He
reminds us th a t no t w ithout sweat and dust i s so c ie ty organi
sed and cu ltu re won*
He caught the s p i r i t o f in d u s t r ia l America soon a f te r he
came to the c i ty and has tra n s fe rre d th a t tempo to these no
v e ls . His knowledge of Chicago i s tremendous and h is a b i l i ty
to p o rtray a p ic tu re of these e a r ly days is seen when he w rite s :
”^o grasp the reason fo r her being, one would have had to see the s p i r i t l e s s South H alstead s t r e e t world from which she had sprung— one o f those neighborhoods of old* cracked, and b a tte re d houses where s la t te r n s trudge, to and fro w ith beer-cans and shutte r s swing on broken h inges. In her youth Claudia had been made to ‘rush the g ro w le r,1 to s e l l newspapers a t 1
1. Carl Van Boren, "Contemporary A m erloan^H ovelists," H atton .
the oornor o f H alstead and H a rr iso n .s tre o to , and to buy oocaine at the n ea res t drug s to r t» w *
His knowledge o f ward bosses, ©rooked c i ty p o l i t i c s , and- ' / * ' • '
p ecu la tio n have been used to r e a l advantage in both The I i £ r/v-1 ' ■ - * - ,
and The T itan * Whan Frank Cowperwood and George Sterner
embezzle the funds o f tlie c i ty of P h ilad e lp h ia , D re ise r b rings . . ■ . . . . ■ ■ . - to the ta le . a l l of the au th en tic d e ta i l he could o u s te r ou t
• ' ■ ’ • . of h is personal knowledge of m unicipal finance and h is stud ied
research#. . , ' . ' '
Having Aileen Butler renounce the Catholic f a i th before
h er f a th e r , the c o rre c t Irish church-goer and p o l i t i c ia n , i s
a b i t th a t Dreiser in tro d u ces w ith a z e s t and we can alm ost
p ic tu re the fam ily t i l t s of the D reiaers in th i s drawing room
scene between fiotionized fa th e r and d@n#iter#
The germ Idea fo r these business novels w ithout doubt
came when D reise r was In Pittsburg , an observer o f the f a r
flung American a c t iv i t i e s In s t e e l . Although the f in a l form
u la t io n o f the c h a rac te rs in The. F inancier and The. T itan
came years l a t e r , he was unconsciously b u ild in g up h is back
ground when he walked the s t r e e t s of Chicago in reporting
•'days. . . " .. • ■ ■
The co lo r and movement o f Theodore D re ise r’s g re a te s t
works are a r e a l achievement in sym pathetic rea lism and in■ ■ ~ . ' .
rugged in te rp re ta t io n o f the American scene. S is te r C arrie , 1
1. Theodore D^giger, The T ita n , p*33E#
-5 6 -
Jflimie G grhardt. and An American '^raaedy are th ree o f h ie %\
g re a t novels, and ranch o f th e i r a u th e n tic ity , and g rea tness
l i e in the f a c t th a t D reiser vms ab le to t r a n s f e r h is exper- ji
lenoe to h ie Woke*: % # .in f ln e m e o f h ie youth, too , i s a/
decided fa c to r i n b u ild in g up such dramati© characters#
D re ise r ev iden tly b e liev es th a t m orals are o fte n nothing
more than a m atter o f exigency and th a t there i s noth ing very
wrong in the conduct o f e i th e r C arrie Keeber o r Jennie G#r-
h a rd t. In f a c t i t i s ju s t p o ss ib le th a t he wants us to believe
th a t they have made the b e s t choice in s e le c tin g th e i r way o f" ■
liv ing# M®n@k@n seems' to th in k so fo r he d e c la re s ;
"The tragedy @f C arrie and Jenn ie , in b r ie f , i s no t th a t they ore degraded, but th a t they are l i f t e d up, not th a t they go to the g u t te r , but th a t they escape the g u tte r and glimpse the s t a r s . nl#
Be true to a mood and to _ l! fe and above a l l c rea te an
in d iv id u a l who b rea thes r e a l i t y . Without doub t. th a t i s one
o f the D re ise r oredos th a t has been follow ed p ls c e re ly in r e -
vea ling these character®* I t i s probably th is f a i th fu ln e s s
to l i f e th a t c rea ted the c h a ra c te r o f Hurstwood in S is te r Car
r i e . a personage th a t Clmrles 6. M orris regard s as hi® fav o r- / - ■■ - : . ■ * i - > : ■- ■ ■- . ■ ■ .. ,
i t# o h a iao te r in f i c t i c n . * •
With the coming o f S is te r C a rr ie . a new fo rce in 'Amer
ican l i t e r a tu r e appeared. Out o f the years of hack v /ritin g * i,
1#2#
3.
H. L, Mencken, "D reiser,* #. w.*. * . y.u<x.-heodors ^ r e is e r , "She Scope o f F ic t io n ." Mew Renubl.
M A p ril 12, 1922,i, "My I'avorito C haracter in F ic t io n ,"
. 62:410-11, Deo. 1926C harles G. Morris.
and pro carious newspaper work came th is ta le o f C aroline
Meeker th a t the s ta id F o rtn ig h tly Review pronounced as a work
predicting the a r r iv a l "of one o f the most prom ising novel
i s t s now w ritin g E n g lish ." I t s recep tio n in America was cool,
fo r the publishers, Doubleday, Page and C o., fea red to l e t i t
put and kep t the m a jo rity o f th a t f i r s t p r in tin g looked in
th e i r basement fo r years* A few cop ies, sen t to review ers by
the e n th u s ia s tic F%ank N o rris , d id not meet w ith hearty accord
and i t remained fo r England to pronounce him acceptable*
In to the ta le o f S is te r O&rrig D re ise r ftas injected the/
background of the Chicago he knew so w ell as a youth. His ex
perience as a dram atic c r i t i c gave him an in s ig h t in to the
th e a tre and of the p o s s ib i l i t i e s of success in th a t f i e ld
which have been d i r e c t ly tran o fe red to the novel. In the book, • v - - •
we are given a convincing s to ry o f C a rr ie ’s e f f o r t s to f in d■ ‘ '
employment in Chicago and of the so rd id tenement ex istence
she c a rr ie d on with h er s i s t e r and b ro th e r- in - la w .1* This
experience i s a c lo se p a r a l le l to D reiser*s own youth.
the w ell kep t m is tre ss was no new id ea to D re ise r be
cause her p lace in America had been impressed upon him dozens
o f times by h is b ro th er Paul anp k score o f in tim ates# Thus
i t i s no t su rp ris in g th a t C arrie should seek r e l i e f from so r-
didnoss in what she saw as a b e t te r ex is ten ce . Drouet, H u rst-
wood, and C arrie are only in te rp re ta tio n s and c rea tio n # o f the
1 . Theodore ^ r e i s e r , S i s t e r C a r r ie . p . I S f f .
Aserloan tr ia n g le o f the la te n in e teen th cen tury .
The ch a rac te r o f Hurstwood i s one o f the most tra g ic in
American l i t e r a tu r e and C a rr ie ’s a c c id en ta l dominance over
him b rings out the r e a l pathos o f h is s to ry . Drouet i s the
b r isk American drummer and business man, a fo rerunner of Sinc la ir Lewis’ l i t e r a r y type. The in c id e n ta l c h a ra c te rs o f the
book are as r e a l as the c h ie f ch a rac te rs and give an u n f a l te r
ing tone to th i s f i r s t novel* .: : ' ' ' - .
l a th is f i r s t c re a tio n we have a clue to one id ea th a t
w ill p e r s i s t th rou^ iou t a l l o f h is works, fo r Baratwood i s j h is f i r s t example o f complete moral d is in te g ra tio n . % is theme
i s C arried out to some ex ten t in An American Tragedy, The
• "Genius", and Jennie ^o rh a rd t. In a measure i t p re se n ts $ re i-
se r* s idea conceived e a rly in l i f e , th a t impulses to a c tio n
may prove in d iv id u a lly good bu t harm ful to so c ie ty as a whole-
the o ld s to ry o f the c o n f l ic t o f so c ie ty and the in d iv id u a l
which i s re f le c te d in D re ise r’s own l i f e . C a rr ie ’s choice has
been one o f g lo r i f ie d in d iv id u a li ty and i n conclusion D re iser
cannot help but p re d ic t;
"Oh, C arrie , Ca r r i Q| Oh. b lin d s tr iv in g s o f the humM heart! Onward, onward i t s a i th , and where beauty le ad s , there i t fo llow s. Whether it be the t in k le o f a lone sheep b ell o’er some q u ie t landscape, o r the glimmer of beauty in mme sylvan p ie c e , o r the show of soul in some passing eye, the h e a r t knows and makes answer, fo llow ing. I t i s when the f e e t weary and hope seems vain th a t the heartaches and longing a r is e . Know, then , th a t fo r you i s neither s u r f e i t nor content* In your rooking c h a ir , by your window dreaming, you s h a l l long , alone.
In your rooking c h a ir , by your v/indou, s h a l l you dream such happiness as you may never f e e l ." !*
In the novel Jennie Gerhardt D re ise r has drawn from h is
home l i f e and background to b u ild the fam ily o f Jen n ie . OM
Gerhardt has much in common w ith Theodore D re is e r 's f a th e r ;
Jennie has muoh in common w ith one o f h is s i s t e r s ; and the
d is in te g ra tio n of the Ggrhardt home w ith the death o f Mrs.
Gerhardt i s an exact d u p lic a tio n o f the d is in te g ra t io n of the
D re iser home during Theodore's youth.
There i s something in h o te l lo b b ies and in m ingling
w ith g rea t personages th a t Is i r r e s i s t i b l e to D re ise r. So
eager i s he to b ring Jennie up the ladder o f w ealth and ease
th a t he m anufactures a no t too s a t is f a c to ry method of p lac ing
her in con tac t w ith Senator B lander. Jennie i s a scrub g i r l
and secures the S en a to r 's laundry fo r e x tra work. A fter a few\ ■ . ■ ' ‘ ■■ ■ - ■ ; ’ , ' ■ ■ -
v i s i t s to h is room a t the h o te l she suoeumbs and thus another
D reiser novel i s underway*
A fte r the unexpected death of Brander and the expected
b i r th o f h er ch ild she becomes a chambermaid fo r a w ealthy
fam ily and surrenders to a young f r ie n d and v i s i to r in the
household. Her l i f e as L es te r K ane's m is tre ss in Chicago, K ane's
impending d is in h e r ita n c e , and the p a th e tic p lace o f the i l l e g
itim a te c h ild in so c ie ty are tre a te d w ith r e a l a b i l i t y . I t i s
strange th a t the c r i t i c s have not seen the close p a ra lle lism
between D re is e r 's e a r ly home l i f e and the l i f e of the Gephardts.
1* 2tt*J5iWP. MV*
-40 -
I t i s on® of the b e s t examples o f tran sfe ren ce of experiinee
that we have had in h is works. I t i s probably th is a t te n t io n
to d e ta i l and th is r in g o f t ru th which make th i s novel so o u t-r
standing. There are some who be lieve th a t i t i s the b e s t th in g- • '
he has produced.
Old Asa G r i f f i th s , fa th e r o f Clyde G r if f i th s in An Amor-
lean Tragedy, i s ano ther oharao ter out o f D re is e r 's e a r ly days
in C^ioago. He one# worked fo r a gentleman in the r e a l e s ta te ^
business # 1 0 Impressed him deeply and th i s c h a ra c te r iz a tio n
of h is employer comes to l i f e as Asa G r i f f i th s . The gospel
m issions and th e ir sou l saving a c t i v i t i e s wore known to D rei-
se r in h is youth and he has incorporated th i s knowledge in to' ‘ ' T - '
the beginning ohap ters o f Aq American Tragedy. Es ta , a Kansas
C ity aotuain tanoe of Clyde Orifflths, undoubtably had mieh in' ■ . * -common with one o f D re is e r 's oversexed s i s t e r s . When Clyde
d riv es a d e liv e ry wagon, in Chicago a f te r running away from
Kansas C ity i t i s in r e a l i t y Theodore D re iser d riv in g a d e l-' ' - - -
iv ery wagon in the Chicago of h is youth. The experiences which occur here to Clyde are the same as those which occurred to
Theodore. Although the murder t r i a l in An Amarioarx Tragedy
has i t s partial d u p lica te in an a c tu a l t r i a l th a t took p lace
in America, much o f th i s dramatlo novel i s based on the back
ground o f the middlewost which D re iser knew as a young man.• ' ' •*- . , ■ ' • -
Without doubt Ah American Tragedy a ttem pts to re v ea l
and develop the i n s t i l l a t i o n o f crim inal thought in a young /■ '
man's b ra in . Clyde f a l l s in love w ith Roberta Alden and has /
-61
what has been re fe r re d to as a bio-ehemleal Id y l l w ith h e r .
When she becomes pregnant he fin d s a new in te r e s t in Sandra
F inehley, a r ic h and becoming h e ire s s . This arouses the pro
blem o f what to do w ith Roberta and he f in a l ly , w ill in g ly or
u n w illin g ly , drowns her* He i s t r i e d , o o n tle ted , and sen t to
the e le o tr io chair*The scene between Griffiths and Reverend McMillan, h is ^
con fesso r, i s held to be one o f the most dramatio examples of
rea lism in -American l i t e r a t u r e . Michaud b e liev es i t i s worthy
o f lo s to e iv sk i and th inks there i s enough o f su ffused emotion
in i t to make i t human and a r t i s t i c a l l y im pressive .1,
D re ise r i s deeply concerned about environm ental influenceand the lu re o f am bition in An American Tragedy, I t Is a l l Im-
' ^p o rtan t in shaping the c h a ra c te r o f Clyde G r if f i th s and h e lp s
to f e r t i l i s e the germ id ea o f crime once i t had in s in u a ted i t s
way in to C lyde 's every thought. D reiser goes on to describe
the exact method by which the idea o f crime can invade the mo
r a l system of an in d iv id u a l and break i t down.
The conception o f Au American Tragedy has se ized the im
ag in a tio n o f the e n tire U nited S tates* The f a l l o f Clyde G rif
f i th s was most lo g ic a l , fo r step by step he was c a rr ie d to a
conclusion th a t was the reward o f h is id eas and a c t i v i t i e s .
Every time he t r ie d to tu rn back and seek another way out
there was no o ther way th a t occurred to him and he was forced‘ ; r 'I
to go om—some times consciously and o ften unconsciously . Clyde! ' ' '
G rif f i th s coveted—but so c ie ty ,h ad decreed "thou s h a l t not"
1. Regis Michaud, "D reiser and the American Tragedy,"The American Hovel To-day, p.120
because o f h ia h e ritag e and h is ambltioas* tJadouhtedly An
American tragedy is one of D relser*s g re a te s t novels, oharget
with d e ta i l as i t i s , and he has no t been able to keep from
sympathizing w ith h is c h ie f ch a rac te r because he knew too w ell
the l im ita t io n s of Griffiths' background and the f a ls e gods
America has s e t up fo r men to worship#
The l a s t few years have w itnessed a decided change in
the outlook o f Theodo## D re ise r, a change th a t none o f h is
c r i t i c s have sensed. He has been slowly weaned away from the id e a l of the Republic and i s lean ing tem ptingly c lose to boo*
ia l is a * Perhaps th is now a t t i tu d e w ill p e r s i s t in anything■ ' v -
more he may produce. I t has some through decidedly in Trog-fo
America. % en D re ise r went to R ussia and produced h is book
D re iser looks a t R ussia in 1928 the c r i t i c s expected th a t
th is aoo ia l experim ent would change h is views. I t i s tru e
th a t he was favorably im pressed, bu t i t d id no t change h is
b e l ie f in rugged ind iv idua lism and the opportun ity to r i s e .
D re iser has been alm ost a fa n a tic in h is b e l ie f in in d iv id u a l*
ism and th is change to a p lan th a t seeks to merge the in d iv id
u a l and uplift the masses is a striking one. I t i s as i f fo r
a time he was deluded by the idea th a t anyone could r i s e in
American c iv i l iz a t io n if he possessed enough ability (for example he had r i s e n and a g a in s t a l l odds) and then suddenly
changed tb the r e a l iz a t io n th a t those who a t ta in e d prominence did so through fo rtu n a te oiroumatanees o r in h e rita n c e . There
i s l i t t l e chance a t host fo r the average c i t iz e n , D re ise r
now th in k s , and America must r e a l iz e th a t her house i s on
fire.In 1928 D re ise r could admit th a t he was an in o o rr ig -
n :ib le Ind iv idualist, * w holeheartedly opposed even to the idea
of the Russian experiment being in troduced in to the United
S ta te s , but in 1931 he suggests th a t c a p ita lism may ev en tu a lly
be forced to admit f a i lu r e ,
Theodore D re iser be lieved thoroughly in America and in
i t s d e s tin y when he began h is c a re e r as a n o v e lis t . His con
tr ib u t io n s to the magazines re v ea l toe f a c t th a t in 1900 he
was e n th u s ia s tic over the c a p i t a l i s t i c scheme of things and
saw in it the r e a l opportun ity fo r American development, Am
e ric a n a g r ic u ltu re and c i t r u s growing engaged h is a t te n t io n
a t th a t time and he praised American in d u stry w ith toe loud-
e s t o f .the b o o ste rs , * The r a i l r o a d s , In d ic a te s D re ise r a t
th i s tim e, are no t so u lle ss co rp o ra tio n s in te n t on "m ilking”
toe p u b lic , but they are more anxious to p lease and to be o f' 3. '
serv ice than we su sp ec t. Today he is oaU lng loud ly fo r
public ownership and f a i r wage s c a le s , and cannot condemn toe ra ilro a d s too roundly. During toe World War era D re ise r could
s t i l l w rite e u lo g is tic b i t s about the public morale in the4 ■/’. • »
ru ra l d i s t r i c t s * and now he b e ra te s these same people fo r
1 : t e0. Theodore D re ise r, “The R ailroads and the People"
^%ruers 100:479-844, Theodore D re ise r, "Rural America in Wartime” S cribners
B4:734-46.
bowing to the yoke of the g rea t A tlan tic eeaboard banker##, .
l a h is novels D reiser was concerned w ith being a h i s t -
e r ia n o f the iw r i e a a scene and dep icted what he saw as
c le a r ly as he Could; He sensed the co n tra sts#
"In 0 1 0 F in an c ie r and The T ita n . Hr. D re ise r was concerned no t w ith the dep le tio n o f a co llege professor, but a co rpo ra tion -b reak ing , v o te -co rru p tin g , ju ry -b r ib ing , n o h -e th id a l. non-m oral, buccaneer o f American finance . ,,x*
. ./ . x,- . '■ . - ; : :I t i s even ev iden t th a t B ra ise r could suMon some sym
pathy in the p a s t fo r the f in a n c ia l buccaneer. How does he
v reg ard the man of finance today? He is nothing sh o rt o f a
demon, a blood soaker, and a h e a r t le s s m anipulator who l iv e s
by sheer e x p lo ita tio n of the people. D re ise r revealed him as a p a r t of the American scene in h is novels and accepted him
ra th e r g ra c e fu lly . Today he would run him out of the country .
America in D re ise r1s opinion could be a s e l f sufficient country i f I t would organize along broad so c ia l l in e s , denounce
one hundred perceatism , and stop swallowing a l l o f the prop
aganda th a t i s p ro fe rre d . HQ doesnH’moan to pigeonhole peo
p le e n t i r e ly fo r he s t i l l b e liev es th a t " l i f e w il l no t be
boxed in boxes aAd t ie d w ith a s t r in g ." The g re a t problem,
th inks D re ise r, w ill be to oomvlnoe the people o f the sm all
e r towns th a t th e i r so c ia l o rg an iza tio n i s wrong. % ny l i b e r
a ls of the larger c l t ie d have sensed the need fo r a new eoon-
1. Burton tia®eoe, Theodore D re ise r, p .14 .
omit p lan , bu t D reiser doe® not th in k th is l i b e r a l i t y has
p eae tra ted the eoiaeiousiies® @f the in land tewam* Bat th ings
hare been progressing in # e Inland towns, p o in ts out I.L H*
J Hedges, and h is r a i l in g s about American understanding are
shortsigh ted* * .
" I t was fo r a l l the world l ik e the e ffe re so e n t t a lk o f an e ld e r b ro th er,, now re tu rn ed to Warsaw, h is n a t iv e .v i l la g e , a f te r a genera tion o f e x ile in the o i ty ." 1*
I t i s s u rp r is in g .th a t D re ise r was no t more enthusimsti®
over the Russian experiment when he wrote h is book D reiser
Books a t R ussia. I t i s a f i f t y - f i f t y a n a ly s is ; he fin d s
iaioh to admire and much to condemn and does not h in t th a t the
Mmri&m people should - inco rp o ra te any o f the b a s is Russian
id eas in to th e i r program* I t must be remembered th a t th is was
1928 and America was swinging along w ith one of the g re a te s t
p ro sp e r ity booms i t had e v e r• known, The p ic tu re has changed• ■ ~ ‘ “ *
sad ly today and D re ise r along w ith i t .
Witness the chap te r headings in h is now book Tragic
America i f you would sense the d iffe ren ce in the D re ise r o f
today. He Is ev id en tly no longer oonoemed w ith being a r e -
p o r te r or h is to r ia n o f the Amerioan scene; he i s a m i l i ta n t
■ reform er. I f he should produce another novel i t would undoubt-
edly r e f l e c t the new a ttitu d e * In Tragic. America he i s oonoera*
ed w ith "Kxploitatlon-Th® American Rule by Force $" "Our Amor- - .
lean R allw sys»fheir P r o f i t s and Greed;" "The Supreme Court as
1. M. H, Hedges, "His R a ilin g s about America," D ial 621343.
a 0oarperation-Mindaa I n s t i t u t i o n ; ” "The Abuse o f the In d iv id
u a l ;" "Why Government Ownership?," and"Suggestions Toward a
lew S ta te c ra f t* " ■ : ■ ■ ■■ ■ ' .. ’ ,
"%e average in d iv id u a l today ," d ec la re s " r e i s e r , " is r e a l ly to r tu re d ; he i s so numerous, so m eaningless, so wholly eeafused and defeated#"1*
Be has lo s t a l l souse of d ire c tio n , D re iser b e liev es , .
and has te en swallowed up by the tempo o f a land which wor-*
sh ips speed and con ten tion . "On the American scene to d a y ,” he
s t a te s , "no one can f a i l to observe the approaching c lash es
as w ell as c u rre n t d is c o n te n t ," 1 2 3* The f ig h t between c a p ita l
and lab o r has s e t t le d down to a se rio u s c o n f l ic t , he b e lie v e s ,
and the war th a t i s coming i s going to be the few who are now- . . 7 . .
in control ag a in s t the many who have been starved out of th e i r
f a i r p roportions o f re tu rn s ,
D re iser sees our economic system as an insane muddle. He
b e liev es th a t the American government has not met the supreme
t e s t o f government— the most good fo r the g re a te s t number—
and accuses the church of h e lp in g to keep tiie people in ignor-' >anoe d ec la rin g th a t i t s su b tle hand i s everywhere. In indicting the system he d ec la re s :
"Because there ria too much food, people must s ta rv e 2 Because there is voo much cotton, people must oontinueto wear rags*"®*
%e c o n tro lle d p re ss of too country i s taken to ta sk by
1 . Theodore Dj^iagy Traelo Amarioa. p . l ,2. Ib id . . p .2 .3. TSffl, t p .225.
•Dreiser fo r spreading the propaganda o f the corporations* B#
examine 8 the ooapany eon t ro l le d to m s of the mining in d u s tr ie s 7 v\ -
and fin d s them had $ be examines the supreme co u rt and sees i t
as a co rpo ra tion co n tro lled body.! and he in v e s tig a te s the
H isto ry of the Great Amorloan Fortunes as so t fo r th by Gusta-
vus Myers and d iscovers the p ra c tic e o f in h e ritan ce and un -
scrupulous m anipulation to be one o f the g re a t co rnerstones
o f the American mistake.^ In h is youth D re ise r was concerned
only w ith th e o re tic a l ju s t ic e and thou# it th a t l i f e was a sy s
tem o f compensating checks and balances. In h is la te years he
b e liev es there i s a way of l iv in g to g e th e r on a b e t te r b as is
and th a t way l i e s through broad s o c ia l eonterol and l im ita t io n
o f wealth*
-6 8 -
IV.
Theodore ^ r e i s e r ’s appren tioeah lp in w ritin g was served
in the c i ty rooms of the d a i ly papers. I t has been in d ica ted
before th a t th is newspaper tra in in g was to f in d an adequate
tran sference to h ie l i t e r a r y work. I t i s perhaps the one
g re a t s ing le in fluence in d ic ta t in g h is s ty le , a t t i t u d e , and
l i t e r a r y manner#
Although the ad ven tu res in vMoh D re ise r appeared as a
c e n tra l c h a ra c te r were few, during M s newspaper days he was
allowed to w itness the tra g e d ie s , hopes,and am bitions o f o th e rs
from a d i s t in c t p o in t o f vantage# While he stumbled dream ily. . . . . ; ... • • ■ ' . ;th ro u ^ i the s t r e e ts o f m etropo litan America he found l i t t l e
adventure fo r h im se lf, bu t p len ty o f excitem ent fo r others#
"He had alm ost no fun a t a ll* He he ld hands here and th e re ; he m issed, he t e l l s u s , one or two opportuni t i e s ; having h i s b re a k fa s t in a d iner once he had the momentary s a t i s f a c t io n o f 'th ink ing h im self ah a r i s to c r a t when a yokel on the p la tfo rm o f a b leak s ta t io n gazed upon him in saucer-eyed envy and adm ira tion ; he bought a S te tson h a t broad-brimmed enough fo r B uffalo B i l l and a m ili ta ry c o a t long enough to f i t the la te Grand Duke M ichael M ichaelovltoh, to go co u rtin g in ; he played up to M s r e la t iv e s once f a r too e f fe c t iv e ly as a man of mark, p o s it io n , and s a la ry and had to spend more than he could a ffo rd , A rthur Brisbane was once kind to him; and he chaperoned a d e leg a tio n o f school teach ers on a v i s i t to the W orld 's F a ir . Bat the unexpected, s e r io - ooa io , lu A ie rc u s -p a th e tic , R abela is ian escapades and adven tures the oav& lier re p o r te r i s u su a lly h e i r to , Mr. D re ise r never had#" **
1* Barton Rascoe, D re ise r , p . 70#
- * 9-
In h is e a r ly newspaper c a re e r D re ise r app lied h im self
to h is ta sk w ith tru e cunning and developed a good sense fo r
news although h is r e a l a b i l i ty was revealed in :the fe a tu re
".story* . ’ ' ' ' ' ' ' :rtHe shows a r e a l enthusiasm fo r f a c t s . He can
d i s t i l beauty from the most t r i v i a l heap o f junk. He him self has to ld u s many times th a t he owes h is .pass io n f o r the t r i v i a l to h is experience as a jo u rn a l is t .As a tru e jo u rn a l is t , and as a ty p ic a l American, ho i s much more in te re s te d in the news than in the e d ito r i a l s . " 1* ■ / :
I t has bean sa id th a t D re ise r does n o t wear gloves to
w rite fo r tho re p o r te r i s concerned w ith a c tu a l r e a l i t y and
with people as they e x is t in every day l i f e . Few e th ic a l ^• . . . -■ - .
standards are recognised by the newspaperman, t r u th alone
m atte rs .
I t i s in She "Genius", in ny op in ion , th a t the w ealth■ -
of newspaper experience has been used to a r e a l purpose. Eug
ene W itla’s l i f e i s c lo se ly a sso c ia ted w ith the d a ily news
papers and l a t e r w ith popular American p e r io d ic a ls . A ll ©f the
in d iv id u a lis t ic fo rce th a t i s a p a r t of the make-up o f every
su ccessfu l re p o r te r and newspaper a r t i s t i s developed in th i s./ - ’ . *'
o h a ra o # r .
flie "Genius" was f i r s t brought ou t in 1915. One year l a -
to r the "Hew York S ociety fo r the Suppression o f Vice" th re a
tened to prose onto the p u b lish e rs u n le ss the p u b lic a tio n and
sa le were stopped, fhe John lane Company withdrew the book and
1 . Regie MjLohauA, "D reiser as a Bio-Chem ist," ___Maz, p.
i t was no t published a g a ia .u n ti l 1925 whoa Horace Live r ig h t ,
I n c , , took i t over. She o ra l argument of Joseph S , iuerbaoh: .
on "Authorship and L iberty" before the Supreme Court i s a
m ilestone in American p ro g ress . His argument e s ta b lish e d The
"Genius" as a work of a r t and not an a tte m p t a t im m orality .
The d is in te g ra tio n o f c h a ra c te r , he m aintained,; had rack in
common w ith the d e lin e a tio n o f Gustave F laubert^s Hadame
Bovarv. Tho "Genius"'im s held to be a r e a l i s t i c in te rp re ta
t io n o f an a r t i s t i n temperament in the American newspaper and
magazine world.
S tu a r t Sherman adm its th a t D re iser has courage in fac in g
and v e ra c ity in re p o rtin g many f a c t s o f l i f e . This a b i l i ty , he
in d ic a te s , da tes to newspaper days. But ho i n s i s t s th a t D re ise r
i s concerned only w ith a k ind o f jungle ex is ten ce o r su rv iv a l
o f the f i t t e s t . He re g re ts th a t according to Theodore D re ise r:
"R aising human s to c k in America ev id en tly includes feed ing and c lo th in g i t , bu t does n o t include the in c u lc a tio n o f even the most elem entary moral id e a s ." 2»
fhe beginning of th i s s to ry of The "Genius" i s in the
town o f A lexandria, I l l i n o i s , a p lace w ith a p opu la tion of
some 10,000. D re iser s t a r t s Eugene V /itla ou t in the world by
in troducing him to the work o f the sm all town d a i ly . I t i s
apparent th a t D re ise r i s no t w ell acquain ted w ith country
journalism fo r he has th is sm all m iddlewestern p lace boasting
1: Reiser... The Hatlon.
four d a i ly newspapers, an alm ost unheard o f s i tu a t io n . W ithin
a sho rt tim e, however, P re is e r sends him o f f to Chicago and
from there on he i s dea lin g w ith a f a m il ia r medium.
% e very rooms th a t D re ise r l iv e d i n when he was "on h is
own" in Chicago are the rooms which Eugene W itla comes to as
a youth. $he d e sc rip tio n s are exact alm ost to the l a s t d e ta i l .
1 W itla succeeds in r ec e iv in g employment as a stove mover and
works in a l o f t w ith two roughnecks as companions. He does n o t
g e t on very w ell and f i n a l ly q u its w ith d isg u s t a f te r a " B ill
Sykes" type o f in d iv id u a l h o l l ie s him in to ' subm ission. $h is
experience in the stove l o f t i s aga in a rep roduction o f one
o f D relser*8 e a r l i e s t jo b s. .
When-Eugene fin d s a job as a house runner fo r a r e a l
e s ta te agency he i s con tinu ing on the D re ise r employment o r -
; b i t . He senses the same th in g s D re iser saw in the w h irl of
c i ty and f a l l s in w ith the same c h a ra c te rs . To make the
y oycle complete W itla nex t d riv e s the laundry tru c k and sees
the c i ty from th a t ang le . I t i s the same tru ck th a t D re ise r
has d riv en in h is youth and Clyde G r if f i th s d riv es in An Ameri
can trag ed y . I t i s ev iden t th a t The "Genius" approaches the
idea of the au tob iog raph ica l novel q u ite c lo se ly a t tim es.
The c h ie f d iffe ren ce is th a t W itla i s a newspaper and'magazine
a r t i s t while D re ise r i s a w riter# .
KV In th e 'n e x t few months Eugene goes to^A rt I n s t i t u t e ; f a l l s 1
1. Theodore D re ise r . The "Genius" , p .47 .
72-
in love w ith Enty Kenny, an a r t i s t* a model; and ge ts h is
f i r s t assignm ent on a Chicago newspaper. He then has a more
serious a f f a i r o f the h e a r t w ith Angela Blue, the g i r l he i s; x- " -
to marry. Hew York i s 17itla*s goal and he cannot be con ten t
u n t i l be has pushed on to the g re a t c i ty . H is in tro d n o tio n to. ; " .<
Hew York i s the in tro d u c tio n D re ise r received when he went to' ' ' 4 '
crash the cool newspaper w orld o f th a t c i ty .
Except fo r the names in the l e t t e r , the note th a t Eug
ene received from Ruby i s the id e n t ic a l note th a t D re ise r r e
ceived from h is Chioago A lice . I t re v ea ls how near D re ise r
and W itla are to each o th e r in fe e lin g .
"Bear Eugene:" she w rote, " I go t your note sev e ra l weeks ago, bu t I could no t b rin g m yself to answer i t befo re t h i s . I know every th ing i s over between us and th a t i s a l l r ig h t , fo r, I suppose i t has to be. You couldnH love any woman long I th in k . I know what you say about
; . having to go to Hew York to broaden your f i e ld i s tru e .You ought to , bu t I am so rry you d id n ,t come o u t. You might have. S t i l l I don’ t blame you, Eugene. I t i s n ’ t ouch d i f f e r e n t from what has been going on fo r some tim e. I have oared bu t w il l g e t over th a t , I know, and 1 won’ t ever th in k hard o f you. Won’ t you re tu rn me 'the no tes I have sen t you from time to time and my p ic tu re s? You
; won’ t want them new.
Ruby.”- ■ • ' ; ' / . 1 ■' -
There was a l i t t l e b lank space on the paper and th e n :-
"I stood by the window l a s t n ig h t and looked ou t on the s t r e e t . The moon was sh in ing and those dead t r e e s wore waving in the wind. I saw the moon on th a t pond o f w ater over In the f i e ld . I t looked l ik e s i l v e r . Oh, Eng- . one, I wish I wore dead.
' - . ■ ' ■ ■ * . - ' '
The pathos o f the note ou t Eugene to the quick much in
the same manner th a t i t moved D re ise r in r e a l i t y . \< _ . .
Throughout The "Genius" the sketches which Eugene does 1
1, On. Q i t , , p, 104s.
-7 3 - •
are to a high-degree the ideas th a t D re ise r inco rpo ra ted in to
h is newspaper fe a tu re a r t i c l e s . Goose Is la n d , Chicago, i s an
example o f th i s , as w ell as the s t r e e t scenes o f Hew York. '
W itia has the same eye fo r co lo r and movement th a t the youth-
fn l Germam-Aaerlcan newspaper man had.
Angela Blue’s country home i s ty p ic a l o f the h igher • ■ . . .
c la s s middle w estern farm . I t i s h ig h ly p o ss ib le th a t the char*-
a a te rs o f the Blue fam ily and the atmosphere o f th i s country' V ' ' ' ; * . -
residence date back to D re is e r 's r e p o r to r ia l days in 3 t . Ikmia
% a charm of the country home o f a young lad y whom D re ise r was
co u rting i s preserved fo r us in newspaper Days. The sim ple,
lugged ex istence th a t these a c tu a l acquain tances o f h is le d i s each the same as l i f e on She Blue homestead.
In Eugene’s m arriage to Angela, D re ise r gains the oppor
tu n i ty o f v o le la ^ M s opinions and doubts on m arriage. W itia
has the fe e lin g during the ceremony th a t perhaps he i s making
a m istake, th a t Angela i s sw eet, bu t th a t the d iv ine f i r e and
in ten se fe e lin g he should experience a t th is time are ab sen t.
"Was i t th a t he had. cheapened h is id e a l by too c lose co n tao t w ith i t ? Had he taken a b e a u tifu l flow er and t r a i l e d i t in the dust? Was passio n a l l th e re was to marriage?"** .....: : 2:. v.;- : ,
Eugene W itia i s seldom, f a i th f u l to Angela fo r more than
temporary periods throughout th e i r un ion . He i s en tranced by
- each new m an ife s ta tio n of beauty and i s c a r r ie d com pletely
away by the Id e a l is a t io n o f the p e r fe c tio n o f e ig h teen . This
worship o f you th fu l feminine beauty i s a dominant no te o f .
:1 . OU. C l t . . p .198.
D re is e r 's e a r ly days as ho t e l l s u s again and again in News
paper Days and a oharaoteri a t i e th a t creeps through in a l l o f
h is e a r ly works# % ch new face has a strange attraction fo r
Eugene and h is passion hocomes a d isease th a t . th re a te n s to
w ee k h is e n t ire a r t i s t i c c a re e r . ;
-Vh'en H, C harles cones to v i s i t Eugene in h is s tu d io we
see th a t he has caught an_expression which w il l e s ta b l is h him
in the world o f a r t . He never qu ite recovers th i s f i r s t b r i l -
lanee u n t i l the end o f h is c a re e r , having been swept away by
the p o s s ib i l i t i e s o f commercial a r t in the magazines, fhe
canvass M. Charles saw f a i r l y shouted out the a s s e r t io n th a t
i t in troduced a new form: :
" I t seemed to say : *I*m d i r ty , I am commonplace,I am grim , I am shabby? but I am l i f e .* And th e re was no apo log izing fo r anything in i t , no g lo ssin g anyth ing over. Bang! Smash! Crack! came the f a c t s one a f te r ano ther, w ith a b i t t e r , b ru ta l in s is te n c e on th e i r -some s s . Why, on moody days when ho had f e l t sour and de-
. p ressed he had seen somewhere a s t r e e t . t h a t looked l ik eth i s , and th ere i t w as,—d ir ty , sad, s lo v en ly , immoral, drunken—anything, every th ing , bu t here i t was. 1 Thank God for a r e a l i s t , 1 he sa id to h im se lf as he looked, fo r he knew l i f e , t h i s co ld connoisseur; b u t ,he made no s ig n ." 1*
D re is e r 's I r i s l i r a i l ro a d foreman, the c h a ra c te r he has
dmwn so e f fe c t iv e ly in Twelve Hen, i s aga in brought to l i f e
in The "Genius".Euggno. su ffe rin g w ith n eu ras th en ia , tu rn s to
. the l i f e o f the day la b o re r on the r a i l ro a d to re g a in h is
h e a lth . A fte r th is employment h is fortunes m o - bettered when
he secures a p o s it io n in the a r t departm ent o f a Hew York
1 . Op. G it*, p . 231.
newspaper. Dreiser's re p o r to r lo l days a re used e f f e c t iv e ly
here In fu rn ish in g the background fo r W itla 's suooese on the
"World.
From the "World" W itla I s advanced W h is f i r s t position as a r t director o f an a d v e r tis in g agency. From them on he ad-
vanoes s te a d i ly as a r t d i r e c to r o f one su ccessfu l magazine
a f te r ano ther. In sh o rt he clim bs the same e d i to r ia l lad d er
th a t C arried D reigsr t® h is e d ito rsh ip s . She d iffe re n c e i s
in the f a c t th a t h is a b i l i t y consisted of a fe e l in g fo r p lo t -• ■ ' ' • .
u re s while D re is e r 's was in .a fe e lin g fo r words. W itla roach
es the p innacle o f |e d l to r ia l success Wien ho i s named man-
aging d ir e c to r o f the U nited Magazine C orporation. But even
from th is higli and powerful p lace he cannot r e s i s t the a t t r a c t. ' ' . ' - *
t lo n o f you th fu l fem inine beauty as exem plified by Suzanne
Dale. This l a s t a f f a i r i s the breaking p o in t for Angela and
Eugene and i s p a r t i a l l y re sp o n sib le fo r h e r em otional and
physica l co llap se and her death in c h i ld b ir th . His daughter,
Angela, i s a l l he possesses when he i s ready to begin h is
• r t i s t i o c a ree r where he l e f t o f f many years befo re .
And Eugene W itla experiences a r e b i r th o f the a r t i s t ' s
soul as he d s te ra itte s to resume h is work.
"Overhead were the s ta r s ----O rio n 's m a jes tic b e l tand those mystio c o n s te l la t io n s th a t make D ippers, Bears, and th a t remote cloudy form ation known as the Milky Way.
" 'Where in a l l t h i s —in su b s ta n c e ,' he thought, rubbing h is hand through h is h a i r , ' i s Angela? Where i n substance w il l be th a t which i s me? What a sweet w e lte r
1* Git .« p» 396.
l i f e i s —hovr r io h , how fender, how grim , how l ik e a c o lo rfu l symphony.f - .
”Groat a r t dreams welled up in to h is soul as he viewed the sp a rk lin g deeps o f space*"1"
I t was an easy step from journalism to the ro le o f the
n o v e lis t and D re iser made the t r a n s i t io n through the medium
o f the fe a tu re a r t ic le * The journalese type o f w ritin g p e r-
s ls te d s tro n g ly when he began h is f i c t io n , a d i r e c t c a rry
over being e ffe c te d in grammar, s ty le , and fe e l in g . Ju s t
p r io r to the p u b lic a tio n o f S is te r C arrie he' had a t ta in e d a
decent p e rfe c tio n in the f i e ld o f the fe a tu re a r t i c l e , o u t-
standing c o n tr ib u tio n s being "Hew York* s A rt Colony" in tlia■ * t
M etronolltan . ra ilro a d in g a r t i c l e s and s t r e e t scene sketches
In g a rn e rs , and a t l e a s t fo r ty o ther fe a tu re s to A in s le e 's .
5£SESJEOlitsn, Munseys, and Dear so ns. 2.
I t i s an adm itted f a c t th a t D re ise r i s no t a grammarian.
Hi@ prose w ritin g i s sp lo tched with bad co n s tru c tio n s and he
has always experienced d i f f i c u l ty in punctua tion , paragraph-
ing , and u n ity . This i s la rg e ly the f a u l t o f h is tra in in g in*
the c i ty rooms o f the d a lly newspapers# "What an a r ra y o f" v ..
v e rb le ss , b a tte re d , broken-backed sen ten ces ," eaolaim s ^enry ' -2 * '■ - . - H a e l i t t in review ing Dawn. * This i s c h a ra c te r is t ic o f n e a rly * 5
1 . ° t>. C i t ^ -p.756# • ‘Zm Edward.McDonald,^"Dreiser 3eforQ S is te r C a rr ie ," Bookman
6 7 :% S -f4 r June 1928.5. Hfnry B a z l i t t , "Dawn", The H atton , June 3, 1931.
a l l o f M s w ritings*
D re ise r admits in a Ho o s ie r Holiday that he never q u ite■ — •*
mastered the m ysteries o f oorreot grammatieal constructionand th a t th is in a b i l i ty to co n s tru c t gopd sentences was a
: handicap in school* However, he suggests , th i s hampered him
very l i t t l e in newspaper work* %mt much o f h is lo o se , bad
w ritin g in the f i e ld of f i c t io n i s d i r e c t ly tra c eab le to him
newspaper tra in in g i s indicated by E* H* Smith in reviewingD reise r. ■: "
■ ' ■ ' .
"She s tock phrases o f the head line b u ild e r and the • le a d 1 w r i te r r in g through h is golden thought w ith b rassy d issonances. A ll th i s lias been sa id o f te n , t u t always w ithout understanding o f the cause.
"His whole te c h n ic a l tra in in g as a w r ite r has been acqu ired In the news fo u n d r ie s .. . . . . .Any w r i te rwho has once f a l le n in to the mire o f the journalese i s doomed to spend the r e s t o f h is l i f e c lean sin g hims e l f o r to go unclean*,<1*
Kencken e s ta b lis h e s the f a c t th a t S is te r C arrie and
Jennie Gcrhardi are f u l l o f the standby phrases o f the second: • . ' 2 . . y ' " . :r a te newspaper r e p o r te r , and in d ic a te s th a t D re ise r has had
d i f f i c u l ty in breaking h im self o f these h a b its . D espite hand
icaps' o f th is n a tu re , however, i t i s declared th a t he has
r is e n to the h ig h est p o in t in l i t e r a r y expression* D re ise r is not w ithout h is purple patches* At tim es he seems to la c k a
sense fo r words and a t tim es he i s alm ost un readab le , but he
has the ra re fa c u lty of regain ing the r e a d e r 's f a i t h in count-. . ■ ' . > " - 1 2
1, E. H, Smith, "Dreiser A fter twenty Y ears," Bookman.53127-39, March 1921.
2. H. 1* Mencken, " D re is e r ," A Book o£ P re faces , p .6 7 f f .
qrtialanolog the ugly e f fe c ts o f newspaper l i f e w ith the deep
in s ig h t in to ' human d e s tin ie s th a t the re p o r te r re ce iv es on
h is beat* . -
- fhus h is c r i t i c s both p ra ise and condemn him;
. . "For the grammar i s bad. I t i s a g re a t grey seaof f l a t phrases, c l ic h e s , grammatical e r ro r s , and broken-backed s e n t e n c e s * " * , " O f oonrs# the years o f newspaper work are a key to the D re ise r s ty le . He. saw but,one kind of s trugg le in l i f e and th i s he wrote abou t." i*
D re ise r’ s photographic a b i l i ty comes from h is newspaper
tra in in g ! the sense fo r the dominant note in a given s i tu a t io n
and the a b i l i ty to bu ild i t up fo r p u b lic consumption. His
deep concern fo r d e ta i l i s a lso a product o f o a re fu l re p o r t
ing . So apparent i s the in fluence o f newspaper tra in in g in
Dreiser's career as a n o v e lis t th a t i t i s alm ost p o ss ib le to
suggest th a t he might never have become a w r i te r had he not
entered Journalism .' ' ' ' . v V.
J u s t as fe rv e n tly as the crusad ing jo u rn a l is t of the
ea rly tw en tie th cen tury i s anxious to open the eyes of the
people to American g r a f t and ch icanery in' public o f f ic e , so
D re ise r i s anxious to begin the campaign of debunking the
e d i to r ia l preachments of the d a ily newspapers. He i s desper
a te ly a f ra id th a t the American people w il l never cease to
be lieve everyth ing they see in p r in t and he wants to s i f t the
good from the bad fo r them. From h is newspaper experience he
re a l iz e s th a t the papers dominate the th in k in g p rocesses of 1
1. C harles R. Walker, "How Big Is D reiser?" Bookman 63:146-9.
th# m ajo rity . He a lso r e a l is e s how dangerous th is domination
may become.
He wants the reader to understand th a t the newspapers
o ften try the case before i t ever reaches Judge or ju ry and
p o rtrays th is suooeasfu lly in An American Tragedy, The Finan-
o le r . and The T itan . The newspaper sob s i s t e r s are p a r t ic u la r
ly obnoxious to D reiser and he b i t t e r l y condemns th e i r p rac
tic e of psychologizing every th ing and everyone before a ease
a c tu a lly comes to t r i a l . He in d ic a te s th a t i t i s exceedingly
easy to convince the pub lic on questions o f g u i l t o r izmo-. '
oence. ' ' . ' -
C ircu la tio n b u ild e rs suoh as the c re a tio n o f the myth
o f the "Winsted Wildman1* and su p ern a tu ra l happenings in sm all
ru ra l v i l la g e s wero a p a r t o f D re is e r 's background. He has
^pictured these a c t i v i t i e s of the newspapers in h is general
a r t i c l e s and has groaned over the g u l l i b i l i t y o f the masses.
Douis Timothy Stone, former managing e d i to r of the "Evening
C itizen" a t Winstad, C onnecticut, was the c re a to r o f the
"Wiidman” t a l e , an episode which D re iser has s e t fo r th w ith
much d e ta i l .
, Consequently D re iser i s very much ooncerned with what
the average American th inks o f U s d a ily paper. Ee wants to
c le a r the issue and rev ea l i t s f i c t io n and fa ls e emphasis
o f news values before the reader i s c a r r ie d away by b e l ie f .
Don, t take the e d i to r ia l s too se rio u s ly , he c a u tio n s ; but
he knows th a t i t w i l l take years o f in t e l l ig e n t in s t ru c t io n
• 8 0 -
to creat® an.educated JUaerica.
' , "And y e t, in America a t l e a s t , where w il l you f in d a c i t i z e n who does no t to a marked ex ten t re v e r - eno® Iflie opinions of h i s paper?nJ-
IW lm er would l ik e to know where tlic e d i to r s ge t th e i r
sugary ideas about l i f e fo r he says: • •'
" l i f e pours through the e d i to r i a l , ro p o r to r ia l and counting-rooms o f the average newspaper p e l l m ell qu ite as i t does elsew here , only a l i t t l e more so."**
H® m ain tains th a t i t i s r id ic u lo u s fo r the newspaper
to s e t i t s e l f up as a moral guide fo r the community and c a l l s
the a t te n t io n o f the public to the f a c t th a t one column o f a- - ' - . ‘newspaper o o n trad ic ts the o th e r and one department o f a paper
teaches ideas which are opposed to another deportm ent. And
throughout i t a l l i s the r e fu s a l to admit the r e a l t ru th s o f
l i f e e d i to r ia l ly .
“E d i to r ia l ly the B eatitudes prove p ro f i ta b le as te x ts fo r moral preachm ents and mass consumption, but in the eountingw office or in the gathering o f news how d i f f e r e n t i ',0v
This w ish 'to s e t the pub lic s t r a ig h t on the p o s itio n
o f the newspaper, however, does no t m itig a te th e powerful
enthusiasm fo r l i f e th a t re p o r tin g gave to him. Bringing
h re ls e r down to e a r th was a h ea lth y experience and he r e a l i z
es th a t lu s ty liv in g i s o f te n as commendable as p ious re tre n c h
ment.
newspaper work of the young D re ise r shows 1 * 3
1 . Theodore D re iserii. p *153*3 . p.155*
p*153.
-81
I t s e l f as a much more v i t a l f a c to r than any o f h isc r i t i c s have noted o r h is ap o lo g is ts adm itted---- —nothing i s so c e r ta in a s th a t re p o rtin g opened h is eyes and s trip p ed him o f a thousand i l lu s io n s ." 1.
D re ise r never l o s t t h i s enthusiasm fo r the common
place and th is love fo r growing America. I t i s th is element/
th a t makes him so readable and g ives him the a l l im portant
sym pathetic understand ing . R eporting taugh t him th a t he was
a p riv ile g e d in te r p r e ta to r o f the American scene fo r i t in
troduced him to the w orst and the b e s t th a t was in America
and l e t him choose h is medium fo r h im se lf. In ad d itio n i t
developed h is in tro sp e c tiv e a b i l i ty to the p o in t o f r e a l e f
fe c tiv e n e s s . D reiser does not hold back in h is exp ressions.
Frankness i s a g i f t th a t the newspaper world confers upon
a l l young men.
- In The Hand of the P o t te r .D re ise r e f f e c t iv e ly p resen ts
a ch a rac te r th a t may e a s ily date to h is e a r l i e s t awakening to
rea lism . The Hew York p re ss oharao ters who are minor w itnesses
o f th i s tragedy o f l i f e are out o f D roiser*s p a s t . He i s con
cerned here w ith the p re se n ta tio n o f f a c t s , - the rep roduction
o f a phase o f passing l i f e - and h is r e p o r to r ia l h a b its have
enabled him to produce one o f the most au th en tic p ic tu re s o f
a depraved ch a rac te r th a t we have.
This enthusiasm fo r exact re p o rtin g c a r r ie s him from the
extreme gayety o f youth to the a b je c t acceptances o f o ld age. 1
1 . E. H. Smith, "D reiser A fte r Twenty^Years," Bookman.
I
"Convention S tory” i s a ta le out of re p o rtin g days th a t p a in ts
a l l of the romance of the love boats which p lie d the r iv e r s
and lak es near Chicago# SEhese lo v e rs on the r iv e r boa ts come
f i r s t to love and secondly to enjoy the r iv e r and the n ig h t air*
I f a man i s a t t ra c te d to another g i r l and leaves h is lo n e ly
wife a t home, he i s c re a tin g the h ig h ly dram atic American t r i
ang le . And, in d io a tes D re ise r , there i s no th ing the newspapers
and the American pub lic l ik e b a t te r than a blood s a c r i f ic e on<. . I* ". . -the a l t a r of love .
"S t. Columba and the R iv e r ,” a s to ry of the Hudson r iv e r
tunnel a s seen by an I r i s h la b o re r , depends on D re is e r 's news
paper t ra in in g fo r o o rreo t trea tm en t. "A S tory o f S to r ie s ,* the
dram atic ta le o f a r e p o r te r 's s tru g g le fo r an exclusive in te r
view w ith a captured t r a in ro b b er, i s D re ise r’ s own stru g g le
w ith the unscrupulous St* Louis r e p o r te r . Red C o llin s . This i s
an example o f exact tran sfe ren c e of a c tu a l newspaper experience
to f i c t io n .
She au thors D re ise r read as a newspaperman were exceed
in g ly im portant in shaping h is p o in t o f view and the many
hours he spent in P it ts b u rg poring over the works o f the French
r e a l i s t s take on r e a l s ig n if ic a n c e . Before he came in to l iv e ly
co n tac t w ith Balsa©, Hugo, Zola, F laubert and De Maupassant- ' -k
h is ideas were s h i f ty and lo o se . A fte r a c a re fu l study o f the
—83*
Fpemih, ha beocmo an. unchangeable r e a l i s t . Added to t h i s reed*
ing i s the in tro d u c tio n to Spencer, U ietzsohe, Hrucley, Darwin,
and Tyndall. A ll o f these co n tac ts e s ta b lish e d during h is news
paper days d ic ta te d h is manner when he so t h is hand to f i c t io n .
the in fluence o f Huxley and Spencer i s e sp e c ia lly strong in h is' 1 . . • - . .
novel#.
I t i s h igh ly probable th a t the r e a l i s t s and n a tu r a l i s t s
erased what l in g e r in g f a i t h in rom anticism and C atholicism
young D re ise r had during these r e p o r to r ia l days in P it ts b u rg .
They opened h is eyes to the p o s s ib i l i t i e s o f a new in te rp re ta
t io n o f the American scene, an ev a lu a tio n th a t was in harmony
w ith the b e s t ideas th a t had been advanced in Europe. *n these
w rite rs he found a p a r t i a l b a s is fo r a rugged s ty le and a
n a tu ra l philosophy.
I t i s in te re s t in g to study the c a re e r o f Theodore Dreiser as revealed by the newspapers fo r he has been one o f the o u t
standing space ga th ere rs in American journalism . The newspaper
men recognize him as good copy and he has s ta lk e d across the
f ro n t page time and aga in denouncing t h i s , upholding th a t , en
gaging in f ig h ts w ith h is b ro th e r craftsm en, and. growing more
and more adept l a h is a b i l i t y to p a in t the s in s o f Hollywood.
He fought the motion p ic tu re producers o f An American
- ' : ...................— .......... .. .................................................................................................— ...................— ..- ... ........................................................................... .................. - ....— ..................................... i i - .....- .....f—- ...... - ..iT— T ....... - n .... i .............. i....... .....
1. H. L. Mencken, "D re ise r ." A Book o f P re fa c e s , p . 67 f f .
- 84-
TragQ&y Ijacause they m in ed h is l i t e r a l e h a ra c te r Clyde
G r if f i th s . Through the p re ss ho has proclaim ed h is exact
opinions o f the inadequacy of the movie in d u s try to She. : ■■ ■ ■ ' -I ■ ' ' 3 '
world a t la rg e . The f ig h t to ob ta in an in ju n c tio n was no t
snoeessfu l desp ite the able re p re se n ta tio n s o f h is a tto rn e y s .' ■' ' . i
They m aintained th a t D re ise r’ s ind ictm ent o f American so c ie ty
was warped in to another Hollywood murder t h r i l l e r . B u t
Jennie Gerhardt i s to be produced th i s year and D re ise r has
s tran g e ly consented to l e t the s tu d io people prepare the
s to ry w ithout h is su p erv is io n .
D re is e r 's f i s t i c bout w ith S in c la ir lew is i s a h ig h lig h t
in American l i t e r a r y h is to ry . A ll Hew York was e d i to r ia l ly
eonoerned and the in c id e n t made good f i r s t page copy.1 2* D rei
se r was aroused by le w is ' in tim a tio n th a t he (D reiser) p lag
ia r is e d Mrs. le w is ' book on R ussia to o b ta in some source mat
e r ia l fo r D re iser looks a t R ussia . This f la re -u p was the beg-
inn ing o f a sporadic l i t e r a r y feud which found space in the
newspapers fo r nearly a y ea r.
A nother sketch of D re ise r was a ffo rded in the re c e n t■ •'
H arlan ominty coal minors d isp u te . His d i s t in c t sympathy fo r
the S o c ia l is ts and h is p lea fo r reform and an in c rease in
la b o r 's share rev ea ls the changed D re ise r. This tendency to
1. "D reiser on the S ins o f Hollywood," I j t e r a r v D ie e s t. May 2 , '3 12. Row York Times. Ju ly 8, 1931, 20-55. Hew York Times. March 23, 1931, 20-5
-85w
break in to p r in t has never bo there & Theodore S re is e r and i t
Is Juat possible that, ho welcomes I t .
A study of ^ r e i s e r fs jomraalistio a c t i v i t i e s makes h is
philosophy imoh e a s ie r to understand . He derived many ideas:
o f l i f e from re p o rtin g days and these have never been wholly
supplanted .
Dreiser's novels and the d a ily newspaper subscribe to
about the same standard o f im m orality. He i s no t a musing
commentator on the g re a t pageant o f l i f e ; he i s sim ply a
good re p o r te r . I t i s apparen t th a t D re ise r has become more
and more of a m o ra lis t, but i t i s a lso true th a t h is m o ra lity
i s ou tside o f h is novols. D espite the f a c t th a t ho i s o fte n
swept away by the apparen t badness o f th e world he r e ta in s an
in tense enthusiasm fo r l i f e . Michaud b e lie v e s h is philosophy
i s f a r more o r ig in a l than th a t o f the average w r ite r of f lo tion. ^
"D re ise r 's philosophy-may n o t be very c h e e rfu l, bu t i t i s genuine and f a r more o r ig in a l than could be expected from a w r i te r o f f i c t io n . Spenoer and Huxley- no t to fo rg e t H ietzsohe-robbed D re ise r o f h is r e l ig io u s b e l ie f s and l o f t him in a quandary o f p h ilo so p h ica l n ih ilism , A summary of h is -creed may be s e t fo r th about as fo llow s; fhere are only f a c t s . She moral and r e l i g ious in te rp re ta t io n s o f l i f e are erroneous. They f a i l to cope w ith r e a l i t y . D re iser i s a se lf-c o n fe sse d agn o s tic . The key to the r id d le s o f human d es tin y w i l l > be found, not in m etaphysics, bu t in b io -ohem lstry . Idealism i s a l i e ." I * -
- \ .
Theodore D re ise r ag rees w ith the idea th a t l i f e i s no t 1
1 . Regis Michaud, "Theodore D re iser as a B io-C hem ist,"The American Hovel To-day, p .82 .
-86
a harmony hut a s tru g g le and th a t man has re ta in e d many of
h is animal q u a l i t ie s d esp ite the veneer o f c iv i l iz a t io n *
l ik e London and Whitman, D re iser i s sa id to have an o rg ia s
t i c enthusiasm fo r the human hody,
"He cannot help reducing the moral to the physi c a l , the sou l to the body,^and t r a n s la t in g psychology in terms o f b io -chem istry*" *
As an a r t i s t D re iser i s ho t g re a tly concerned w ith
where the world i s going; he i s only deeply moved by what
goes on from day to day. Motion, rhythm, s tru g g le ; these are the fo rc e s which make l i f e in te re s tin g * Out o f the
s tru g g le o f the lo b s te r and the squid he received a b e t te r
in te rp re ta t io n o f human actions than any he oould find in
the Bible o r in cla ssica l philosophy,
fhe only time -feat D relserTs philosophy becomes anx
ious and w orried i s vSien he reg ard s the fu tu re o f America.
He does not want to see h is country ground down by these
. same human ac tio n s o f greed tiia t are so predominant in ind
iv id u a l re la tio n s h ip s . And so in M s c lo s in g yea rs he is the
victim of c o n f lic t in g s e ts o f id eas th a t produoo a constant restlessness*
1* Qh. C i t . , p.83*
-8T -
V.
Thera are many c r i t i c s in America who be liev e th a t the
p re se n t e ra o f skep ticism and rea lism w il l soon pass in to l i t
e ra ry h is to ry leav in g a few ou tstand ing au tho rs as rep resen
ta t iv e types o f the f i r s t p eriod o f the tw en tie th cen tu ry .
Undoubtedly Theodore D re iser*s name w ill be among those au th
o rs fo r he has been both le a d e r and m aster o f a g re a t group
o f American r e a l i s t s . This study has in d ica ted th a t h is
youth and h is newspaper experience prepared the way fo r h is
in te rp re ta t io n o f the American scene*
I t was because D re ise r rece ived such an e n th u s ia s t ic
and unusual in tro d u c tio n to American l i f e th a t he was ab le
to p re sen t i t so c le a r ly and so convincing ly . He has been
able to capture the view point o f the c a p i t a l i s t and th a t o f
the ra il ro a d hobo. Ho has p resen ted the m otivating fo rc e s
th a t le ad people to a worship of co n v e n tio n a lity and those
th a t te a r in d iv id u a ls away from d u ll ro u tin e . The fe e l in g '' ' - ' ■' • ' ' - ■ ■
th a t the true w rite r must in te r p r e t and n o t in d ic t i s a l e s
son learned from the newspapers. Consider the p re se n ta tio n
o f the c h a rac te rs in. h ia sh o rt s to ry , "Digger J e f f , " fo r an•: -I
example o f th is method. " I t i s tru e th a t he f e e ls so rry fo r;
blundering humanity, bu t he has t r i e d to keep th i s elem ent
1 . Theodore D re is e r , "D igger J e f f , " Freo and O ther S t o r i e s .
• 80-
out o f h is flo tio n *
The Geroan-Aoerloan elomont in American so c ie ty has had
an im portant p a r t in "building the middle c la s s s tre n g th o f the
country and th is fe e lin g o f so lid n ess has continued w ith
D re iser throughout the years g iv ing him a foundation th a t
few American au thors can b o ast. This i s an elem ent o f h is
you thfu l background th a t caused him to c rea te with such d e t a i l ,
to worship m assiveness in w ritin g , and to s e t down w ith in f
in i te pa tien ce every id e a th a t occurred to him.
Theodore D re ise r 's achievement has been g re a t when i t
i s considered th a t th i s much maligned w r ite r has exerted a
powerful in fluence over a g re a t many American people. His deepV ' - . : * ■ / 'human sympathy and fe e lin g fo r mankind has c re p t through des
p i te the iro n mask o f in d iffe ren ce he has attem pted to c u l t -. r . * ... -
iv a te . He may ra n t and curse about the people o f America,
but he cannot keep from lov ing them.
In examining the numerous works o f D re ise r I have found
convincing evidence o f the p a r t M s f i r s t y ea rs have played in
determ ining h is c a re e r . I t i s my opinion th a t the in tro d u c tio n
to l i f e as he received i t was the s in g le g re a t m otivating in f
luence in the background o f th is American r e a l i s t . Without
i t , he may never have se lec ted the in te rp re ta t io n he d id .
W ritten- in f la r in g terms across the pages o f h is novels,
sh o rt s to r ie s , a r t i c l e s , and p lays i s the in fluence o f mid
dle west Ind iana , h is fam ily background, the church, Chicago
and the new business e ra , the c o n tra s ts and u n e q u a lit ie s o f
the world of h is youth, and the d a ily newspapers. This s to l
*89*
M s not considered a l l o f D re ise r’s works, t o t the s e le c tio n
has been re p re se n ta tiv e enough to rev ea l him in every mood
and habit* From the time he wrote S la te r C arrie to the p re
sen t day he has been donoerned w ith one Idea: to become the: * \ •
reeognized re p o r to r la l -h ls to r ia n o f America. He has achieved
th i s aim. .
The stu d en t o f Theodore D re iser w il l recognize the f a c t
th a t h is works have a s im p lic ity about th e i r p a t te rn which
becomes In c reas in g ly ev id en t. And throughout th a t p a t te rn
there i s evidence th a t he has never ©eased being a re p o rte rs
the app ren ticesh ip t ra in in g creeps through in the f in ish e d. * _ :
product o f the m aster. A ll t h i s i s , o f course , the in flu en ce
o f youth.
I t was in P ittsb u rg th a t D re ise r f i r s t decided to become
a n o v e lis t , l a t e r when he decided to use C harles T. Yerkes
as a model fo r h is hero o f The F inanoier and of The T itan he > 1 1 . . went to P h ila d e lp h ia and read the o ld f i l e s o f the newspapers
th ere u n t i l he had an accura te p ic tu re o f the o ld m etropolis*
The newspapers were to him the b e s t h i s to r ic a l guide he could
read . This procedure i l l u s t r a t e s h is method.
The r e a l biographer o f Theodore D re ise r has no t y e t ap
peared , t o t i t i s c e r ta in th a t the next few yea rs w i l l b rin g
about a complete ev a lu a tio n o f h is works. Whoever c re a te s
th a t biography w ill have a long and lab o rio u s ta sk and w ill
be confronted by a Blaze o f d e t a i l . I t i s my o p in ion , however-,
th a t toe p e r io d 'c a r ry in g D re iser from boyhood through h is
SOYBS ■
newspaper days w il l /bo advanced as the one having the g re a t
e s t form ative o f f s e t on h is oareor as a w r i te r . When th i s i s
done i t w il l he easy to uadarstand why /D re iser broke away
from ao asp ted forms and became the l i t e r a r y re b e l he i s oon-
s idared to hs*
F in a lly , Theodore D r e i s e r looms as* a g re a t and authen- ). ' . ' - ' yt i e genius. He i s d e f in i te ly American, bu t u n iv e rsa l in h is /
■ - . ' ■ . ' • ■ , / l x . _
appeal. I t i s th is u n iv e r s a l i ty o f h i s m asterp ieces th a t i s D' ■ - ' ■ - : . - .
a la s t in g t r ib u te to D re ise r and to the background which■ ’ • ' ' !•a rea ted him*
B ibliography
A l i s t o f Theodore D re ise r 's works according to d a te s*
• o f pub lica tion*
1912- S is te r C a rr ie . Harper and B ro thers, Hew York and London*
1913- A T raveler a t F o rty . Century Company, Hew York.< '
1916- A H oosier H oliday. John Lane and Cmpany, Hew York.
John Lane, London.
1918- Free and Other S to r ie s . Bonl and L iv e rig h t, Hew York.
Hand of the P o t te r . Bonl and L iv e rig h t, Hew York.
1919- Twelve Hen, Eoni and L iv e rig h t, Hew York.
1920- Hev Riib-A-Dub-Dub. Bonl and L iv e rig h t, How York.
1922- A Book about M yself (Hewsoaner Days) , Hew York,
Bonl and L iv e r i^ i t .
P lays o f the H atural and S u p ern a tu ra l. % dd. Mead, and
Company, Hew York.
1923- The "Genius”. Horace L iv e r i^ a t, Hew York.£
1925- The T ita n . Horace L iv e rig h t, Hew York.
1926- Color o f a Great C ity . Boni and L iv e rig h t, Hew York.
Jennie O erhardt. Horaoe L iv e r i^ i t , Hew York.* •
1927- Chains. Boni and L iv e rig h t, Hew York.
The F in an c ie r ( rev ised ) Boni and L iv e rig h t, Hew Yor)c.
1928- D re iser Looks a t R ussia . Horaoe L iv e rig h t, Hew York,
Moods. Cadenced and Declaimed. Boni and L iv e rig h t, Hew York
1929- An American ^raeedy. Horace L iv e rig h t, How York/
1929- A G allery of ~Woman, Two Yoluraos, Horace ^ iv o r ig h t,
Hew York.
1931- Damn. Horace l iv e r ig h t , In c . , Hew York.
Tragic America. Horace Live r ig h t , I n c . , Hew York.
-9 3 -
Psrl©€l©al• ' • ' ; ' . . ■ ' ■
"A Few Compelling Hovels, n Review of Reviews. February 1913.' ■ 5 ■ .
"A rriving Giant in Amorioan F io tioa*" C urrent l i t e r a t u r e ... ■ • . 1 ■ : - V
December, 1912.#
"Authorship anft l i b e r t y , " Horth American Review. June 1918.*
"Baker1s Dozen o f D re ise rian ism s." C urrent Opinion. June 1919,. r
B eroovioi, Konrad, "The Romantic R e a l is t ," M entor. May 1930
Bourne, Randolph, "Art o f Theodore D re is e r ," D ia l . June 14, 1917* '
Bourne, Randolph, "Hovels o f D re is e r ." Hew R euublic.
A pril 17, 1915.' i
Canby, Henry S , , "An American T ragedy," Saturday H@view o f
l i t e r a t u r e . February 20, 1926
C hesterton , G. K ., "Skeptic as a C r i t i c ," Forum. February 1929
"The Dark Blue D re ise r ," l i t e r a r y D ig es t. Ju ly 26, 1930.T"D reiser on the Sins o f Hollywood," l i t e r a r y D ig est. May 2, 1
, : . ; ■ ' ■ ' ' . ■ ' 1931., --
"D relser^s Hovels as a R evelation o f the American S oul,"»
C urrent Opinion. September 1917.- - "
"D re ise r’s Arraignment o f Our I n te l le c tu a l A r id ity ,"
C urrent Opinion. May 1917.
D re ise r, Theodore, "Marriage and D ivorce." Forum. June 1920. % V.' .
D re ise r, Theodore, "Our Women V io l in i s t s ." P u r ita n . November,
1897.
D re ise r, Theodore, "Crass fo r a Hew D isease ." Every Month.
March 1897.
D re ise r , Theodore, "John Burroughs," The V oice. June 1899
D re ise r, Theodore, " l i t t l e Clubman of the Tenements,"
PnrH f.cm __
«*94 »
Dreiser, Theodore, "Conventlom S to ry ." American ^e ro u ry .
December, 1925.t '
D re ise r, Theodore, "Christmas in the Tenements,", • V- . . :
E a rn e r 's Weekly. December 6, 1902.
D re ise r, Theodore, "Hew York' s Enderground R a ilro a d ," .» ' ^
-IPjyisog^s* A p ril 1900.- ; * . \ - ~ ;
D re ise r, Theodore, "Country D octor," E arn e rs . June 1918.■ v
D re ise r, Theodore,,!D o r tra i t o f a Woman," Bookman September. 1927.
D re ise r, Theodore, "Vdiat I B e liev e ," Forum Hovembor 1929.
D re ise r, Theodore, "F ru it Growing in America^" E a rn e rs ..
Hovember 1909.
D re iser,. % eodore, "H isto ry o f the H orse," E verybody 's.
June 1900.
D re ise r, Theodore, "R ailroads and the P eople ," E a rn e rs .
February 1900,* ^D re ise r, F e o d o rs , "ttienee the Some." H am e r 's Weekly,
December 8, 1900.• ; \ - r . . y - . .
D re ise r, ^heodore, "Q W stlon of L ite ra ry C ensorsh ip ,”' . " ■ ' - ’ . ■■ ■ '
Indonendant. lia r oh 17, 1925.
D re ise r, Theodore, "Hollywood How," E c C a ll 's . September 1921.' ' . ''
D re ise r, Theodore, "Scope o f F ic t io n ." Hew R enubllc.v ' ‘ • -
A pril 12, 1922.^ . ' • . ■
D re ise r, Theodore, “An Unoommeroial T raveler in London,"
Century. SeptemW r, 1915.
D re ise r, Theodore, "A True P a tr ia rc h ," H oC lure's December 1901 D re ise r , Theodore, " f tn in the Dark." American Eerourv
February, 1912.
- 9 5 -
^ r e is e r , |hQodorQ, “Rural America in W artime,” S c rib n e rs»
■ December, 1918
DttffttB, Robert 2 . , “D re ise r ." American Mercury. January 1926.' r
Fadiman* C lif to n , "D re iser and the American Dream.” R ation .
October 19, 1932.
Gillman, law rence, n2he ' Genius' Sorth American ^eriew .
February 1916.
H a z l i t t , Henry, “Another Book about H im se lf.” R ation . ;-- - * ' . - : . : . !
• : Juno 3, 1931.
Hedges, M. H .; "Mr. D re ise r ," D ia l, A p ril 19, 1911. -
Henry,•Stoart, "A t r a v e le r at Forty,” .Bookman. February 1914.• j* - * '
H erriok , R obert, "Da#m %?ie%md," Saturday Review of B i t-
o n a tu re . Juno 6, 1931.
M aurice, A rthur B .t "lookers o f Amerioan- R iot io n ," Mentor.
September 1918.
; % Donald, Edward, " l^ e is e r Before S is te r C a rr ie , ” Bookman.
June 1928.
Breaton* John, "True S ty le ," Saturday Review o f L i tg ra tu re .
May 22, 1926.
Sebestyon, Karl, "Persons and Personages$ Dreiser a t Home,"
H ation . December 1930.
"S ecret of P e rso n a lity Revealed by D re ise r ," C urrent Opinion^
March 1919.
Sherman, S tu a r t , "The N aturalism o f Mr. D re is e r ,” H ation.
December 2, 1915.
"Slap, S lap ," B ite ra ry D ig es t. A pril 11, 1931*
-9 6 -
Smlth, E. H ., “D reiser A fte r % onty Y ea rs ,“ Soolaaan, March 1921' ' ' '
T aylor, G. B. S . , “The UnitecL S ta te s as Seen by as American
U r i te r ," N ineteenth G e rta rr . December 1926 v
T i t t l e , %lk@r, "Glimpses o f In te re s t in g Americans," gentnry
August 1925
Waiaman, H ilto n , "A Geman-AserlQan In su rg e n t," D ivine Age,
October 1926
W aller, C harles R ., "How Big I s D reiser?" Bookman A p ril 1926
"When Mr. D re ise r Dropped In to Churoh," L ite ra ry D ig est.
March 27, 1926.
fa n Dozen, C arl, "Oontmmporary American N o v e lis ts ,” N ation.
March 16, 1921.
1W York Simas, 1931
J . F. Von S tarnberg c a l l s him ,,an tig>u a ted ,‘ in a r t i c l e in
C e lo ^o n , March 12, 26:1.
E arly adventures o f S is te r C a rrie . March 3, 6 :2 .
Slaps S in c la ir L e w is . . . . March 25, 20:5.
Mo truce w ith L e w is .. . . March 25, 27:8,
D isgusted w ith changes made in American fo r sc reen ,
A pril 9 , 28 :2 .
Accuses movies o f making American mind sm aller A pril H , 17:5 .
Experience tru e te a c h e r- in Dawn, l^ay 8, 28:6.
Where i s l a b o r 's share? %ay 13, 24:7.
Denounced as noar-Gonmninist, June 27, 18 :2 .
S u it a g a in s t £$blix-Pararoount C orporation , Ju ly 23, 21:5 .
Heads committee to study H arlan coal f i e ld s , Sovember 6, 9 :4 .
American a r b i t r a t io n , December 17, 26:2.
Books d iscussed by C hesterton , December 26, 14 :2 .
-9 8 -
Misoellemaous Referenees
Anderson, Sherwood, Horses and Men. B. Hue'baoh Xno*, 1923
Hew York.
Cambridge H isto ry of American L i te r a tu re . G. P. Putnam * s
Sons, 1913, Hew York.6- ' _ . -
The Cyclopedia o f American Biography. 1922, Hew York.
Encyclopedia B r i t ta n ic a . 1929 E d itio n .; ■ ■. . * -v "
E rn s t, M orris , To, the P u re . 1928, Hew York.- ■
F o e rs te r . Horman. American C ritic ism . 1928, Hew York.' ' ' ' -
Maoy, John. S p i r i t of American L i te r a tu re . 1913, Hew York.
Mencken, H, L . . A Book of P re fa c e s . A, A, Knopf, 1917, Hew York.
Michaud, R egis. She American Hovel To-Day. L i t t l e . Brown and, , . - ' f
Company, 1928, Boston.
Mo Donald, David. D re ise r . The Centaur Bookshop, 1928.
HeIson*s P erp e tu a l L oose-leaf Enoyolopedia. John H, F in ley Co.,. ' *
1928, Hew York.■ *
f e z In te rn a tio n a l Encyclopedia. 1923, Hew York.
Orton. Treat . D re ise rian a . S tra tfo rd P re ss , 1929.
Overton, Grant, A& Hour o f the American Hovel. J . B, L ippin-■ »
c o t t and Company, 1929.
Rasooe, B arton, Theodore D re ise r . R. B, MoBride, 1925, Hew York*■ ' : ■ ■' ■ .• . » t
Sherman, S tu a r t , On Contemporary L i te r a tu r e . Henry H olt and Co.,
1917 ,.Hew York.
S quire, J . C«, Gontmmporary American A uthors. Lewis Copeland
Co., 1928, Hew York.
l& lpp le , T. K ,, Spokesmen: Modern W riters in American L ife .
P r iv a te ly P r in te d , 1928, Hew Y@rk.
8 3 8 ?
