An American Tragedy (Themes)

Themes

The American Dream As Illusion

The idea of the American Dream is that all Americans have the opportunity to improve themselves economically and socially. In America, it is said, a person's circumstances at birth place no limit on his or her potential; people can make of themselves whatever they choose and rise as high as they are willing to climb.

If Dreiser's message in An American Tragedy can be summed up in a sentence, it is: the American Dream is a lie. Dreiser creates a microcosm of America by introducing characters that represent every stratum of society and every point on the spectrum of humanity. Then, he shows that their lives reflect the opposite of the American Dream. Clyde Griffiths, the Everyman at the center of the novel, cannot make of himself anything other than what he was when he was born: poor and not particularly perceptive or resourceful. When he sees the glittering material things and the pleasures that comprise success, he desires them but lacks the attributes that would allow him to attain them legitimately. In addition, the deck is stacked against him; the "haves" are devoted to keeping the "have nots" in their place. Because of this, most of his wealthy relatives do not accept him as their equal.

Clyde becomes so obsessed with having what his own shortcomings and other people's prejudices prevent him from attaining that he is willing to commit murder for the sake of obtaining his dreams. Dreiser's point is not at all that Clyde comes to a bad end because he is a bad person. To the contrary, Dreiser conveys that Clyde comes to a bad end because he is an average person who believed in the American Dream and tried to make it come true.

While An American Tragedy is Clyde's story, Dreiser drives home his point in the lives of all his other major players. Roberta, whose dreams of improving her lot are much more modest than Clyde's, hopes to marry a man who is her social superior and, as a result, ends up dead. The "haves," Gilbert and Sondra, are born not only rich but also possessing a cleverness about manipulating their environment that is lacking in Clyde and Roberta. The "haves" easily retain the wealth and privilege to which they were born.

In Dreiser's America, the American Dream is an illusion. Each person's fate is decided before he or she is born. Attempts to move beyond one's circumstances at birth lead to disaster.

Moral Ambiguity

Morality is far from black-and-white in An American Tragedy. The most glaring example of moral ambiguity is in the novel's central event — Roberta's death. Although the jury's verdict is clear, the degree of Clyde's guilt is ambiguous, both in readers' minds and in Clyde's. While he coldly planned Roberta's murder, Clyde did not carry out his plan. The chain of events that led to Roberta's death really was an accident. Clyde's only purposeful act was to swim away after she cried for help. While it is clear that he should have tried to help her, it is not at all clear that he could have. He is guilty, but just how guilty is clear to no one.

Dreiser also telegraphs moral ambiguity through his religious characters, working from the premise that religion purports to set the highest moral standards. Clyde's parents are evangelists who shun worldly goods and attitudes for "higher" values. However, their lives are pathetic and ineffectual. They are unable to protect their daughter from betrayal and abandonment or their son from the electric chair. Perhaps even more telling, their lives of sacrifice and self-denial have not inspired even their own children to follow their example. Dreiser seems to say that renouncing the material world has no better results than embracing it.

Reverend McMillan provides a particularly poignant example of moral ambiguity. He is a well-meaning man who visits Clyde in prison hoping to save his soul. Trusting McMillan's intentions, Clyde admits to him what he has told no one else: that he did plan to murder Roberta. McMillan at first feels happy that he has helped Clyde "come clean." But, later, McMillan directly contributes to Clyde's death. The governor who could commute Clyde's sentence asks McMillan if Clyde is truly guilty, and McMillan tells him of Clyde's confession. McMillan's revelation leads to the execution of a man, who, while certainly guilty, may not be guilty of first-degree murder. McMillan's adherence to a high moral standard does not necessarily bring about a just result. In addition to ending Clyde's life, it also causes Clyde to go to his death regretting that he ever trusted anyone. Even McMillan is aware of this and later questions his action.

Topics for Further Study

• At one point during the writing of An American Tragedy, Dreiser thought of entitling it Mirage. Why do you think he considered this title? Which of the two titles do you think better suits the book, and why?
• Do you agree with the jury that convicted Clyde of first-degree murder? Why or why not? If you disagree, what crime, if any, was Clyde guilty of, and what punishment did he deserve?
• Do some research to learn about the crime on which Dreiser based his book. Discuss similarities and differences between the true story and the fictional one, and speculate about why Dreiser made the changes he did.
• Do some research to learn about life in the United States in the early 1900s. Compare what you learn to Dreiser's portrayal. Does the author provide an accurate, balanced portrayal of this period of history?
• Learn about the writer Horatio Alger and read one or more of his stories. Write an essay explaining how Alger's view of American life differs from Dreiser's. Tell which author's view is more like your own, and explain why you share this view.