Theodore Dreiser Influenced His Life

Theodore Dreiser was a writer whose dramatic life shown through into his works indirectly. He led a life that could be considered a “typical American” one by the standards of persons reflecting back upon his upbringing and his climb to literary greatness. Dreiser was influenced by the social and political changes during his lifetime, as well as his family and upbringing and the impression those around him had on his life. Born in 1871 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the ninth of ten siblings born to a German father and Mennonite mother. Unfortunately, Dreiser’s family had suffered great losses before he was even born. His father, who had started his own business in wool, suffered a great loss when his mill caught fire and was severely injured and left disabled for life (Smith). This is not something that the family could ever recover from, and so Theodore Dreiser grew up impoverished and with a Father, whose own mental stability undoubtedly not only influenced his writing, but his own mental well-being. Dreiser never finished high school, and did one year at University before leaving his formal education behind him completely. He began his writing in the 1890’s as a journalist for the Chicago Globe. Although his writing did not elicit a “by line” that created a following for him through the newspaper, his experiences there are another aspect of his life which shaped some of his writing (Rizzio). He was a naturalist writer who was influenced by the popularity of social Darwinism at the turn of the century. Dreiser’s first novel, “Sister Carrie” is one that was controversial for its time, but would not be considered as such now. Publishers were hesitant to promote this novel, but were not successful in squandering its p...

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...n reality. The influences of such writers as Charles Darwin made an impact on his life and his writing style, as he embraced Darwinism and the idea of evolution and especially social evolution. Although he doesn’t have a piece that can be defined as the “great American novel” his novel “Sister Carrie” is fundamental in understanding the changing times for women in the early 1900’s as well as the overall change that our society went through in moving from rural areas into more domestic city living, much like he himself did when moving to New York. Theodore Dreiser was an amazing eccentric mind who produced modernist pieces as well as informational works and brought his own mentality into these in the form of character drama and intrigue. He helped to shape the turn of the century modernist writing style into one that embraced coming social and political changes.