She
meets Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman on the train. After arriving in Chicago, she finds a job
in a shoe factory, but the poor income and hard work oppress her imagination.
She quits the job, lonely and distressed, she becomes Drouet’s mistress. When
Drouet is away on a business trip, Carrie falls in love with George Hurstwood,
a married manager. Hurstwood and Carrie elope to New York, and live together for more than 3
years. In these 3 years, Carrie becomes more and more popular while Hurstwood
declines. Carrie walks out on him. Hurstwood becomes a beggar, sinks lower and
lower and finally committed suicide. Carrie becomes a popular star of musical
comedies. However, in her massive success, she still feels lonely and empty. Sister Carrie represents Dreiser’s
belief in representing life honestly in fiction. Dreiser accomplished this through
accurate details, especially in his descriptions of the urban settings in which
many of his stories take places. In his naturalistic portrayals, Dreiser sees
his characters as victims of social and economic forces and of date.