Author biography
A summary of “An American Tragedy” shows that this novel reflected events from the writer’s life. T. Dreiser was born in 1871 in Indiana, into a simple poor family. Due to poverty, he was forced to constantly work in order to somehow make ends meet and feed his family. Difficult life circumstances and constant need did not give him the opportunity to receive a full education. The future famous novelist (like the hero of the work in question) tried many professions, and he usually did menial work. Nevertheless, he managed to study at the university for a year, where he became seriously interested in literature. In the 1890s, he worked as a reporter for a number of newspapers, which largely determined his literary career. In 1900, he debuted with the novel “Sister Carrie,” which outlined the author’s main creative principle: harsh criticism of the modern American way of life. The famous “Trilogy of Desire” was written in the same spirit, in which he described the cultural and financial life of America.
First part
The work consists of three books, each of which is dedicated to a certain stage in the life of its main character, Clyde Griffiths, a young, ambitious, ambitious, but indecisive and timid man who dreams of making it into the people and getting rich. The summary of “An American Tragedy” should begin with a description of his life in his hometown, with which he is dissatisfied. The young man dreamed of making a career by any means necessary, and for this he was ready for temporary inconvenience and modest work. So, first he gets a job in a pharmacy, and then becomes a low-level employee in one of the hotels.
Here he plunges headlong into a new life. He makes friends with whom the hero spends his free time having fun in nightclubs and restaurants. The young man earns good money, has affairs with girls, in a word, allows himself everything that was forbidden at home and that he dreamed about so much. The book “An American Tragedy” quite accurately reproduces the Puritan life of his family, which is in many ways reminiscent of the conditions in which the writer himself grew up. However, excessive enthusiasm for the new life ended in tragedy. During one of his regular pleasure rides, the car in which he was with his friends hit a girl to death, and this forced Clyde to look for another refuge.
Summary: American tragedy
Kansas City, hot summer evening.
Two adults and four children sing psalms and hand out religious pamphlets. The eldest boy clearly does not like what he is forced to do, but his parents are passionately devoted to the task of saving lost souls, which, however, brings them only moral satisfaction. Asa Griffiths, the father of the family, is very impractical, and the family can barely make ends meet. Young Clyde Griffiths strives to escape from this dull world. He gets a job as an assistant to a soda seller at a pharmacy, and then as a delivery boy at the Green-Davidson Hotel. Working in a hotel does not require any special skills or abilities, but brings good tips, which allows Clyde not only to contribute to the family budget, but also to buy himself good clothes and save something.
His workmates quickly accept Clyde into their company, and he plunges headlong into a new, fun existence. He meets a pretty saleswoman, Hortense Briggs, who, however, is prudent beyond her years and is not going to favor anyone solely for her beautiful eyes. She really wants a fashionable jacket that costs one hundred and fifteen dollars, and Clyde finds it difficult to resist her desire.
Soon, Clyde and his company go on a joyride in a luxurious Packard. One of the young men, Sparser, took this car without permission from the garage of a rich man for whom his father works. On the way back to Kansas City, the weather begins to turn bad, snow begins to fall, and we have to drive very slowly. Clyde and his comrades are late for work at the hotel and therefore ask Sparser to speed up. He does so, but, having gaped, he knocks down a girl, and then, escaping from pursuit, he loses control. The driver and one of the girls remain unconscious in the wrecked car, everyone else runs away.
The next day the newspapers publish a report about the incident. The girl died, the arrested Sparser named the names of all the other participants in the picnic. Fearing arrest, Clyde and some of the other members of the company leave Kansas City. - For three years, Clyde lives away from home under an assumed name, does dirty, thankless work and receives pennies for it. But one day in Chicago he meets his friend Reterer, who was also in the Packard with him. Reterer gets him a job as a delivery boy at the Union Club. Twenty-year-old Clyde is quite happy with his new life, but one day Samuel Griffiths, his uncle, who lives in Lycurgus, New York, and owns a collar factory, appears at the club. The result of the meeting of relatives is Clyde's move to Lycurgus. His uncle promises him a place at the factory, although he does not promise mountains of gold. For Clyde, contacts with rich relatives seem more promising than working at the Union Club, although he earns good money.
Samuel's son Gilbert, without much joy, accepts his cousin and, making sure that he does not have any useful knowledge and skills, assigns him to a rather hard and low-paying job in a decaling workshop located in the basement. Clyde rents a room in a cheap boarding house and starts, as they say, from scratch, hoping, however, to succeed sooner or later.
A month passes. Clyde regularly does everything that is assigned to him. Griffiths Sr. asks his son what his opinion of Clyde is, but Gilbert, who was very wary of the appearance of a poor relative, is cool in his assessments. In his opinion, Clyde is unlikely to be able to advance - he has no education, he is not purposeful enough and is too soft. However, Samuel likes Clyde and is ready to give his nephew a chance to prove himself. Against Gilbert's wishes, Clyde is invited to the house for a family dinner. There he meets not only the family of his relative, but also the charming representatives of the Lycurgus elite, young Bertina Cranston and Sondra Finchley, who quite liked the handsome and well-mannered young man.
Finally, at the insistence of his father, Gilbert finds a less difficult and more prestigious job for Clyde - he becomes an accountant. However, Gilbert warns him that he must “maintain decency in his relations with female workers” and any kind of liberties will be resolutely suppressed. Clyde is ready to religiously carry out all the instructions of his employers and, despite the attempts of some girls to start relationships with him, he remains deaf to their advances.
Soon, however, the factory receives an additional order for collars, and this, in turn, requires an increase in staff. Young Roberta Alden enters the factory, and Clyde finds it difficult to resist her charm. They begin to date, Clyde's advances become more and more persistent, and Roberta, brought up in strict rules, finds it more and more difficult to remember girlish prudence. Meanwhile, Clyde meets Sondra Finchley again, and this meeting dramatically changes his life. A wealthy heiress, a representative of the local financial aristocracy, Sondra shows genuine interest in the young man and invites him to an evening of dancing, where the Lycurgian golden youth gathers. Under the onslaught of new impressions, Roberta's modest charm begins to fade in Clyde's eyes. The girl feels that Clyde is no longer so attentive to her, she is afraid of losing his love, and one day she gives in to temptation. Roberta and Clyde become lovers.
Sondra Finchley, however, does not disappear from his life. On the contrary, she introduces Clyde into her circle, and tempting prospects turn his head. This does not go unnoticed by Roberta, and she experiences severe pangs of jealousy. To top it all off, it turns out that she is pregnant. She admits this to Clyde, and he feverishly tries to find a way out of this situation. But the medications do not bring the desired result, and the doctor they find with such difficulty categorically refuses to perform an abortion.
The only way out is to get married, which Clyde is absolutely not happy with. After all, this means that he will have to give up the dreams of a brilliant future that his relationship with Sondra instilled in him. Roberta is desperate. She is ready to go to the extent of telling Clyde's uncle about what happened. This would mean the end of his career and the end of his romance with Sondra, but he shows indecision, hoping to come up with something. He promises Roberta either to find some kind of doctor or, if one is not found in two weeks, to marry her, even formally, and support her for some time until she is unable to work.
But then Clyde comes across a newspaper article telling about the tragedy on Pass Lake - a man and a woman took a boat for a ride, but the next day the boat was found overturned, and later the girl’s body was found, but the man could not be found. This story makes a strong impression on him, especially since he receives a letter from Roberta, who has gone to her parents: she does not intend to wait any longer and promises to return to Lycurgus and tell Griffiths Sr. everything. Clyde realizes that he is running out of time and he must make some decision.
Clyde invites Roberta to take a trip to Big Bittern Lake, promising to then marry her. So, it seems that a terrible decision has been made, but he himself does not believe that he will find the strength to carry out his plans. It's one thing to commit murder in your imagination, but quite another in reality.
So Clyde and Roberta go boating on a deserted lake. Clyde's gloomy, thoughtful appearance frightens Roberta; she carefully approaches him and asks what happened to him. But when she tries to touch him, he, unconscious, hits her with the camera and pushes her so that she loses her balance and falls. The boat capsizes and its side hits Roberta in the head. She begs Clyde to help her, not to let her drown, but he does nothing. What he had thought about more than once came true. He gets ashore alone, without Roberta.
But both the overturned boat and Roberta’s body are quickly found. Investigator Haight and Prosecutor Mason energetically take on the case and soon find Clyde. At first he locks himself out, but it is not difficult for an experienced prosecutor to drive him into a corner. Clyde has been arrested - now the court will decide his fate.
Samuel Griffiths, of course, is shocked by what happened, however, he hires good lawyers. They fight with all their might, but Mason knows his stuff. A long and tense trial ends with a death sentence. Wealthy relatives stop helping Clyde, and only his mother tries to do something for him.
Clyde is transferred to the Auburn prison, called the Death House. The mother's desperate attempts to find money to continue the fight for her son's life do not bring success. Society has lost interest in the convict, and nothing will now prevent the machine of justice from bringing the case to the end.
Factory work
The summary of “An American Tragedy” reflects the features of the plot of the work itself: brevity of the narrative, simple language, detailed reproduction of the realities of contemporary society. The next book is perhaps the culmination of the work. Clyde moves in with his uncle, who gets him a job in his factory. This wealthy businessman was generally kind to him, but his family looked down on his poor relative. Thus, the son of Samuel Griffiths Sr. oppresses his cousin in every possible way, speaks unflatteringly about him, and does not consider him capable of making a successful career. However, the uncle sympathizes with his nephew and makes him the head of the workshop where young girls work. The main character liked one of them, Roberta Alden, and the young people began dating. However, the situation changed after Clyde found himself included in the society of the “golden youth” thanks to his acquaintance with the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, Sondra Finchley.
Summary of American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
American tragedy Summary of the novel Kansas City, hot summer evening.
Two adults and four children sing psalms and hand out religious pamphlets. The eldest boy clearly does not like what he is forced to do, but his parents are passionately devoted to the task of saving lost souls, which, however, brings them only moral satisfaction. Asa Griffiths, the father of the family, is very impractical, and the family can barely make ends meet. Young Clyde Griffiths strives to escape from this dull world. He gets a job as an assistant to a soda seller at a pharmacy, and then as a delivery boy at the Greene-Davidson Hotel. Working in a hotel does not require any special skills or abilities, but brings good tips, which allows Clyde not only to contribute to the family budget, but also to buy himself good clothes and save something. His workmates quickly accept Clyde into their company, and he plunges headlong into a new, fun existence. He meets a pretty saleswoman, Hortense Briggs, who, however, is prudent beyond her years and is not going to favor anyone solely for her beautiful eyes. She really wants a fashionable jacket that costs one hundred and fifteen dollars, and Clyde finds it difficult to resist her desire. Soon, Clyde and his company go on a joyride in a luxurious Packard. One of the young men, Sparser, took this car without permission from the garage of a rich man for whom his father works. On the way back to Kansas City, the weather begins to turn bad, snow begins to fall, and we have to drive very slowly. Clyde and his comrades are late for work at the hotel and therefore ask Sparser to speed up. He does so, but, having gaped, he knocks down a girl, and then, escaping from pursuit, he loses control. The driver and one of the girls remain unconscious in the wrecked car, everyone else runs away. The next day the newspapers publish a report about the incident. The girl died, the arrested Sparser named the names of all the other participants in the picnic. Fearing arrest, Clyde and some of the other members of the company leave Kansas City. - For three years, Clyde lives away from home under an assumed name, does dirty, thankless work and receives pennies for it. But one day in Chicago he meets his friend Reterer, who was also in the Packard with him. The reterer gets him a job as a delivery boy at the Union Club. Twenty-year-old Clyde is quite happy with his new life, but one day Samuel Griffiths, his uncle, who lives in Lycurgus, New York, and owns a collar factory, appears at the club. The result of the meeting of relatives is Clyde's move to Lycurgus. His uncle promises him a place at the factory, although he does not promise mountains of gold. For Clyde, contacts with rich relatives seem more promising than working at the Union Club, although he earns good money. Samuel's son Gilbert, without much joy, accepts his cousin and, making sure that he does not have any useful knowledge and skills, assigns him to a rather hard and low-paying job in a decaling workshop located in the basement. Clyde rents a room in a cheap boarding house and starts, as they say, from scratch, hoping, however, to succeed sooner or later. A month passes. Clyde regularly does everything that is assigned to him. Griffiths Sr. asks his son what his opinion of Clyde is, but Gilbert, who was very wary of the appearance of a poor relative, is cool in his assessments. In his opinion, Clyde is unlikely to be able to advance - he has no education, he is not purposeful enough and is too soft. However, Samuel likes Clyde and is ready to give his nephew a chance to prove himself. Against Gilbert's wishes, Clyde is invited to the house for a family dinner. There he meets not only the family of his relative, but also the charming representatives of the Lycurgus elite, young Bertina Cranston and Sondra Finchley, who quite liked the handsome and well-mannered young man. Finally, at the insistence of his father, Gilbert finds a less difficult and more prestigious job for Clyde - he becomes an accountant. However, Gilbert warns him that he must “maintain decency in his relations with female workers” and any kind of liberties will be resolutely suppressed. Clyde is ready to religiously carry out all the instructions of his employers and, despite the attempts of some girls to start relationships with him, he remains deaf to their advances. Soon, however, the factory receives an additional order for collars, and this, in turn, requires an increase in staff. Young Roberta Alden enters the factory, and Clyde finds it difficult to resist her charm. They begin to date, Clyde's advances become more and more persistent, and Roberta, brought up in strict rules, finds it more and more difficult to remember girlish prudence. Meanwhile, Clyde meets Sondra Finchley again, and this meeting dramatically changes his life. A wealthy heiress, a representative of the local financial aristocracy, Sondra shows genuine interest in the young man and invites him to an evening of dancing, where the Lycurgian golden youth gathers. Under the onslaught of new impressions, Roberta's modest charm begins to fade in Clyde's eyes. The girl feels that Clyde is no longer so attentive to her, she is afraid of losing his love, and one day she gives in to temptation. Roberta and Clyde become lovers. Sondra Finchley, however, does not disappear from his life. On the contrary, she introduces Clyde into her circle, and tempting prospects turn his head. This does not go unnoticed by Roberta, and she experiences severe pangs of jealousy. To top it all off, it turns out that she is pregnant. She admits this to Clyde, and he feverishly tries to find a way out of this situation. But the medications do not bring the desired result, and the doctor they find with such difficulty categorically refuses to perform an abortion. The only way out is to get married, which Clyde is absolutely not happy with. After all, this means that he will have to give up the dreams of a brilliant future that his relationship with Sondra instilled in him. Roberta is desperate. She is ready to go to the extent of telling Clyde's uncle about what happened. This would mean the end of his career and the end of his romance with Sondra, but he shows indecision, hoping to come up with something. He promises Roberta either to find some kind of doctor or, if one is not found in two weeks, to marry her, even formally, and support her for some time until she is unable to work. But then Clyde comes across a newspaper article telling about the tragedy on Pass Lake - a man and a woman took a boat for a ride, but the next day the boat was found overturned, and later the girl’s body was found, but the man could not be found. This story makes a strong impression on him, especially since he receives a letter from Roberta, who has gone to her parents: she does not intend to wait any longer and promises to return to Lycurgus and tell Griffiths Sr. everything. Clyde realizes that he is running out of time and he must make some decision. Clyde invites Roberta to take a trip to Big Bittern Lake, promising to then marry her. So, it seems that a terrible decision has been made, but he himself does not believe that he will find the strength to carry out his plans. It's one thing to commit murder in your imagination, but quite another in reality. So Clyde and Roberta go boating on a deserted lake. Clyde's gloomy, thoughtful appearance frightens Roberta; she carefully approaches him and asks what happened to him. But when she tries to touch him, he, unconscious, hits her with the camera and pushes her so that she loses her balance and falls. The boat capsizes and its side hits Roberta in the head. She begs Clyde to help her, not to let her drown, but he does nothing. What he had thought about more than once came true. He gets ashore alone, without Roberta. But both the overturned boat and Roberta’s body are quickly found. Investigator Haight and Prosecutor Mason energetically take on the case and soon find Clyde. At first he locks himself out, but it is not difficult for an experienced prosecutor to drive him into a corner. Clyde has been arrested - now the court will decide his fate. Samuel Griffiths, of course, is shocked by what happened, however, he hires good lawyers. They fight with all their might, but Mason knows his stuff. A long and tense trial ends with a death sentence. Wealthy relatives stop helping Clyde, and only his mother tries to do something for him. Clyde is transferred to the Auburn prison, called the Death House. The mother's desperate attempts to find money to continue the fight for her son's life do not bring success. Society has lost interest in the convict, and nothing will now prevent the machine of justice from bringing the case to the end.
Secular society
Perhaps no work describes life in the United States in the 1920s in such detail and truth as “An American Tragedy.” The novel describes in great detail and at the same time effectively the representatives of high society of that time. Sondra is the embodiment of the golden dream for the main character: she is rich, young, beautiful, spoiled. Being a proud and narcissistic girl, she initially decided to use Clyde to annoy one of her unlucky suitors, but gradually the frivolous flirting gave way to sincere feelings. Griffiths began to spend a lot of time with her and finally realized that he had every chance of marrying her and becoming a full member of that very high secular society to which he so aspired. But the situation became more complicated due to the fact that his former lover turned out to be pregnant and demanded to marry her, threatening publicity that would deprive him of his chances of getting out into the public eye.
The novel "American Tragedy" summary
It was a warm summer evening in Kansas City.
Some were rushing home from work, others were strolling, enjoying the tranquility of the city. One family turned the corner onto one of the central streets. At the head, of course, was the head of the family named Asa Griffiths. His wife walked confidently next to him, leading her seven-year-old son by the hand. Three more children trailed behind them - two girls, fifteen and nine years old, and a twelve-year-old boy. The last one was called Clyde. He absolutely did not like what his parents had arranged, and his face betrayed his great reluctance to be in this place now. Meanwhile, Mrs. Griffiths reminded everyone what they had come for - the family's goal was to distribute as many religious leaflets as possible. Lately, they have been so carried away by serving God that they turned it into their work, which, alas, did not generate income. The Griffiths could often be seen distributing various leaflets on the streets of the city. They encouraged passers-by to attend church, thereby saving their sinful souls. And only twelve-year-old Clyde felt great embarrassment from the whole idea. He didn’t admit it to anyone, but he often felt ashamed of what his parents were doing - at school and in the yard, boys often teased young Griffiths. Even today, some passers-by noticed that the boy was experiencing great discomfort from such a situation. He did not want to take part in religious events - the boy dreamed of finding his life’s work, getting out into the world and earning more money. From a very early age, Clyde was distinguished by his intelligence and inquisitiveness. But he fundamentally did not like the “calling” of his parents. The only thing he thought was positive about his family tree was his wealthy Uncle Samuel, who lived in the East of the state.
At the age of fifteen, Clyde decided to find a job. Even then he understood that in life he needed to rely solely on himself. However, the young man did not want to engage in simple physical labor. He considered it beneath his dignity. All Clyde has been doing all this time is just talking about how unlucky he was to be born into a poor family and how difficult it will now be for him to achieve something in life.
If we download Dreiser’s novel “An American Tragedy,” we learn that one day, upon returning home, the Griffiths family noticed that Esther, Clyde’s older sister, did not show up for dinner. Several hours passed before Asa went out in search of his daughter. Which, however, turned out to be inconclusive. A few hours later, the Griffiths managed to find a note from Esther. It became clear from it that the girl ran away from her father’s house with some actor. The family decided to hide this news from everyone they knew and continue to live as if nothing had happened. But Clyde, inspired by his sister’s courageous act, decided to also start changing his life. He got a job at a pharmacy, where he helped a soda seller, and after some time became a delivery boy at one of the local hotels. The salary there was small, but the young man could earn good money, receiving generous tips.
Clyde was proud of himself. Thanks to his work, he was not only able to buy himself good new clothes, but also contributed to the general family budget. In addition, he also managed to save a certain amount for the future. His dreams became more and more bold, every day the young man made new acquaintances with interesting people and, it seemed, now the whole world was open to him. Already in the first days of work, Clyde knew all the gossip about the guests - rich men and their attractive companions. The hotel staff treated the young man friendly, and he finally felt in his place. Colleagues often got together and had parties with loud music and alcohol. For some time, Clyde resisted this lifestyle, but when friends invited him to dinner at Frissell's, he decided to agree. The young man was afraid of how his parents might react to him returning home late, but he didn’t want to leave early and upset the company. It was that evening that Clyde tried alcohol for the first time and spent the night with a girl.
Later he met a beautiful person named Greta. She interested the main character with her perkiness and cheerful disposition from the first minutes of communication. But then Greta’s friend Hortensia suddenly intervened in the conversation. She wanted to take the young man away from her friend at all costs, and by the end of the evening she succeeded. Clyde and Hortense agreed to meet the next day. The young man took his chosen one to a luxurious expensive restaurant, and then they went to the theater. All this time, the young man was proud that he was able to organize such a date. And with every second he became more and more interested in Hortense, while the girl seemed to have absolutely no interest in him. To gain her favor, Griffiths gave the girl everything she wanted: jewelry, perfume, beautiful expensive clothes. But this did not touch the heart of young Hortense.
One day, Clyde’s mother asked him to help her raise one hundred dollars. The young man was very surprised by such a request, because he knew that this was a lot of money for his family. He tried to find out why she needed such a sum, but Mrs. Griffiths did not want to answer. Having sold some jewelry to a pawnshop and borrowed some money from friends, the family managed to collect the required amount. Clyde was very interested in what his mother needed money for. One day he saw her entering one of the houses to look at a room for rent. In the evening, Clyde tries to find out who Mrs. Griffiths wants to rent a place to, but the woman still won’t admit it. Having followed his mother, the young man finds out that his sister Esther has settled in that house. The man with whom she ran away from home left her when he learned that the girl was pregnant. And her parents’ religiosity did not allow them to let her back into their home. Therefore, she is forced to hide in rented apartments, in which her mother helped her find.
Further in the novel “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser we can read how Clyde went for a ride in a car with his new friends. After a stormy evening and a lot of alcohol, the young people realize that they need to get to the hotel as soon as possible. But then the weather changes suddenly, heavy snow begins to fall, and it’s impossible to drive faster. In a desperate attempt to get his friends to work on time, a driver named Sparser loses control and kills a little girl. Clyde and several other people manage to escape before the police arrive. Fearing punishment, young Griffiths decides to completely change his place of residence and job and leaves Kansas City.
No more than three years pass, during which Clyde works under an assumed name and lives a rather unremarkable life. One day he accidentally notices his old friend Reterer. He was also in that car several years ago and, like Clyde, fled the scene of the crime. Reterer says he can get his friend a job in a position he is familiar with - he will have to work as a delivery boy in one of the clubs. There, one evening, Clyde meets his distant relative - that same rich uncle who has his own factory. As in Guy de Maupassant’s book “Beloved Ami,” this meeting radically changes the life of the main character. Samuel shows sincere kindness to his nephew and says that he can find him a place in his business. And, although Clyde did not want to quit his new job, he understood that close communication with his uncle would give him many connections with influential people.
The only one who was not happy about this idea was Samuel's son. From the very beginning, Gilbert saw in his cousin what his father did not want to notice - the desire to get rich by any means. Having no desire to contradict his father, he arranges for Clyde to do one of the hardest jobs, which, moreover, does not bring much income. However, young Griffiths grabs every opportunity. He does his job so flawlessly that within a couple of months Samuel is considering promoting him.
Gradually, from the novel “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser, it becomes known that Clyde begins to spend time in his uncle’s social circle. He is often invited to dinner parties, where he is introduced to other fairly wealthy relatives and friends. On one of these evenings, a young man meets the charming Sondra, who, by the way, is also very rich. The girl became interested in Clyde, but their communication did not last long.
Time passes and Gilbert, succumbing to his father’s persuasion, finds Griffiths a more prestigious job. He is transferred from a small basement room to an office. There he meets a young and beautiful girl named Roberta. Their communication does not go beyond friendship for a long time, since any love affairs between employees are immediately punished by dismissal. But young people are drawn to each other. Clyde realizes that Roberta does not belong to the circle of people with whom he would like to communicate - she does not have huge savings or rich relatives. While Sondra, who belongs to the representatives of the “golden youth,” also shows sympathy for the young man.
It's not easy for Clyde, but he understands that he must make a final decision. The desire to spend time with wealthy people wins, and the young man chooses to connect his life with Sondra. But suddenly Roberta admits that she is pregnant with his child. Griffiths is at a loss. He doesn’t know what to do in this situation and doesn’t understand what to answer Roberta. Then he decides to offer the girl to get rid of the unborn child. Together they visit various doctors, whose actions, however, do not bring results.
Further in Dreiser’s work “An American Tragedy” we can read that Clyde realizes that the only way out of this situation is a wedding. But he himself is categorically against such an outcome. As the protagonist of Émile Zola's novel "The Career of the Rougons", he understands that now either love or career is at stake. Roberta is in despair. Love for the young man pushes her to blackmail - she tells Clyde that she will tell old man Samuel everything that happened if the wedding does not take place. Then Griffiths asks the girl to give him two weeks to find a doctor who will agree to perform an abortion. If this idea fails, he promises Roberta that he will marry her and help take care of the child.
The girl goes to her parents, and Clyde walks around the city in confusion, hoping to find a way out. Then a newspaper article catches his eye. It says that last weekend a terrible event happened - a boat capsized. There were two people in it - a man and a woman. A few days later, the woman was found lifeless at the bottom of the river, but her companion could not be found. A terrible and insidious plan is brewing in Clyde's head.
He invites Roberta to go with him to the lake. From the very beginning, the girl notices Clyde’s strange behavior, but his words that after the walk they will finally be able to get married reassure her. In a boat in the middle of the lake, a young man stuns Roberta with a blow and throws her into the water. He does not react in any way to all her cries for salvation. In the end, the girl stops resisting the elements and goes to the bottom.
However, not everything was so smooth in this idea. Local police quickly discovered Roberta was missing, tracked her location and found her body. And although the search for the killer took a little longer, investigators still managed to find Clyde. The young man already had many excuses in his arsenal that could serve as an alibi, but his guilt can be proven. Samuel is horrified. He didn't expect his nephew to be capable of something like this. Wanting to help the young man with all his might, he hires famous lawyers. After a lengthy trial, Griffiths is sentenced to death by electric chair. His parents are trying to the last to help, but their connections and funds are not enough for this.
Fatal decision
“An American Tragedy” is distinguished by its accurate psychological sketch of the characters. Theodore Dreiser, in a simple and very accessible language, conveyed the inner world of his hero, who did not immediately decide to kill his girlfriend. The author skillfully conveyed his emotional fluctuations, doubts, and experiences, showing that the young man was unprepared for such life trials. In fact, when the threat of exposure loomed over him, he could not find any other way out than to kill the mother of his child. Thus, the writer showed how the dream of a prosperous life spoiled the moral character of this initially very ordinary, good person.
Consequences
The last part of the novel “An American Tragedy” ends with a description of the trial of the main character. Theodore Dreiser reproduced the trial in detail, based on the chronicles and documents of his time, which is why his narrative is distinguished by its terrible truthfulness and authenticity. The reader learns that Clyde, after much hesitation, did not decide to kill Roberta, but a random newspaper article about how, during a river trip of a young couple, a boat capsized, as a result of which the woman died and the man disappeared, gave him the same idea to do with the girl. At the lake, however, he could not make up his mind completely and only accidentally pushed her into the water. However, Clyde was definitely to blame for not being able to get the girl out and allowing her death. He expected that the circumstances of this case would remain a secret, but the very ambitious and active local investigator Mason, seeking his appointment to the post of district judge, very energetically conducted the investigation and ensured that the young man was exposed and sentenced to death.
"American Tragedy" summary by chapter
"American Tragedy" summary by chapter
Book one
On a summer evening in a shopping center in the American city of Kansas City, the Griffiths family sings psalms. The eldest boy, twelve-year-old Clyde, is burdened by his position. His parents, Asa and Elvira Griffiths, live poorly. Asa's brother, Samuel, the owner of a collar and shirt factory, makes the boy jealous.
The grown-up Estha (Esther), Clyde’s older sister, runs away from home with the actor. Sixteen-year-old Clyde first works as an assistant to a soda water salesman in a drug store, after which he happily exchanges his unprestigious job for the position of a bellhop at the Green-Davidson Hotel. He withholds most of his salary from his parents and takes part in the obscene entertainment of other boys: he goes with them to Frissell's restaurant, tastes wine there for the first time, then goes to a brothel, where he learns the physical side of love. One of his new friends, Reterer, introduces Clyde to his company and introduces him to his mother and younger sister Louise.
Clyde falls in love with Louise's friend, the flirt Hortense Briggs. He invites her to a restaurant, then takes her to the Libby Theater to see Le Corsaire. The girl distantly accepts Clyde's advances. For four months she flirts with him, forcing him to spend money on herself.
Elvira Griffiths asks her son for financial help. Dissatisfied, Clyde begins giving her ten dollars a week instead of five. Over time, he realizes that his mother is hiding something from him. Clyde begins to follow her and finds Estha. The older sister is pregnant, unmarried and poor.
Hortensia begs Clyde for an expensive fur jacket. The young man has difficulty collecting money. His mother asks him for fifty dollars for Estha, but Clyde says that he has not yet given back the previous money, allegedly borrowed from friends.
At the end of January, Clyde and his friends go for a country walk. Hortense is infatuated with Sparser, a guy from a farm who “rented” someone else’s expensive car. Clyde quarrels with a girl and realizes that she will never love him. On the way back, the friends get stuck in a traffic jam. While rushing to work, they hit a little girl on the road, run away from the police and get into an accident. Hortense, frightened by the blood running down her face, runs away first. The rest scatter before the ambulance and police arrive. Only Sparser and one of the girls named Laura remain in the car.
Book two
Samuel Griffiths, who lives in Lycurgus, has two daughters - the eldest, ugly, twenty-six-year-old Myra and the lovely, lively seventeen-year-old Bella, liked by everyone without exception, and one son - twenty-three-year-old Gilbert. Clyde meets him in Chicago, three years after fleeing Kansas City, which he spends changing one job to another and living under the false name Harry Tenet.
Before meeting his uncle at the Union Club Hotel, the guy runs into Reterer. At the latter’s suggestion, Clyde gets a job as a delivery boy at the Great Northern, and then at the Union Club.
In Lycurgus, Clyde receives a cold reception from Gilbert. He sends his cousin to the lowest paid job in the decal shop. Clyde lives in Mrs. Cuppy's boring, cheap boarding house. His only friend, Walter Dillard, a frivolous young man who serves as a salesman in the men's dress department, introduces Clyde to Zella Schumann and Rita Dickerman. The girl immediately tries to take Clyde's turn, and he doesn't like it. The young man is saved from meeting Rita again by an invitation to Sunday dinner at his uncle’s, where he meets his cousins and Bella’s friends, Sondra Finchley and Bertina Cranston.
After working for several months in the decal shop, Clyde begins to lose hope of gaining a position in Lycurgus society, but one day his uncle comes into his basement and is amazed at how pathetic his nephew looks in a low position. Samuel instructs Gilbert to find a more decent place for Clyde. Whigham proposes to appoint the young man as a supervisor of the stamping work. Before his appointment, Gilbert instills in Clyde the idea of good behavior among the women working at the factory.
Having received a new position, Clyde moves to one of the best houses on Jefferson Avenue. Over time, the young man distinguishes among the workers three girls who are not too concerned about morality - Ruza Nikoforich, Marta Bordala and Flora Brandt, but he only dreams of them, afraid even to flirt. Clyde becomes truly interested in a new employee, Roberta Alden. A twenty-three-year-old farm girl gets a job in a factory in the hope of a high salary and... a husband who can be found in Lycurgus. She lives in the city with her friend Grace Marr. Clyde almost immediately attracts Roberta's attention.
One day on Lake Crum, Clyde, kayaking, meets Roberta admiring the water lilies. A few days after the unexpected meeting, he arranges a date with the girl, where he finds out that she loves him. After a secret meeting over the weekend, Roberta, caught in a lie, moves out of Grace Marr's relatives and rents a room in the south-east of Lycurgus from the family of upholsterer Gilpin.
For a month and a half, Clyde and Roberta have been meeting on the street. With the onset of cold weather, the young man offers to move the meeting to the girl’s room, but she refuses. Lovers quarrel. The next day, Roberta asks Clyde for forgiveness and becomes his mistress.
One evening, Sondra, mistaking Clyde for Gilbert, offers to give him a ride. Realizing her mistake and wanting to make up for the awkwardness, the girl actually does it. The young man seems nice to her, and to annoy Gilbert, she decides to introduce him to Lycurgusian society. “Golden Youth” is favorably received by Clyde. The young man receives numerous invitations and begins to visit Roberta less and less. Sondra admits to Clyde that she likes him.
Having learned from a newspaper article about Clyde's social successes, Roberta is upset, and Gilbert is furious. Samuel Gruffudd invites his nephews to dinner on the first day after Christmas.
Two weeks after New Year's Eve, Sondra invites Clyde home for hot chocolate. Young people kiss for the first time.
In mid-February, Roberta realizes that she is pregnant. Clyde buys medicine at a Schenectady pharmacy, but it doesn't help. On the advice of Orin Short, the owner of a small men's underwear store, the young man Robert turns to Dr. Glen, but he refuses to have an abortion. The girl demands that Clyde find her another doctor or get married.
Sondra and Clyde dream of a secret wedding. At the beginning of June, the young man takes Roberta to her parents. Painfully searching for a way out of this situation, Clyde accidentally comes across a newspaper article about a young couple who drowned on Pass Lake. All night the young man tries to get rid of thoughts of murder.
In mid-June, Clyde goes to Sondra on Twelfth Lake. Roberta writes desperate letters and insists on the wedding. Clyde and his friends visit lakes hidden in deep coniferous forests, and again think about the incident at Pass Lake.
On July 6th, Clyde meets Roberta on the Fonda platform. He takes the girl to nature. While riding a boat on the Great Bittern, Clyde does not dare to carry out his plan, but an accident comes to his aid: in a fit of anger, he hits Roberta in the face with a camera and, wanting to help her, accidentally overturns the boat. The girl is drowning and asks for help. Clyde deliberately does not save her.
Book three
Cataraqui County Investigator Freud Heit and his assistant, nineteen-year-old Earl Newcome, begin an investigation. They find a letter to her mother in the pocket of the murdered girl and receive testimonies from two hunters about meeting a young man in the forest. Prosecutor Orville Mason, who wants to advance politically, is happy to join the investigation. He informs Titus Alden, Roberta's father, about his daughter's death. The girl's mother tells Mason about Clyde Griffiths. In Roberta's suitcase, the prosecutor discovers a toilet set donated by Clyde with a card signed by him, and during a search of the young man's room, letters from the murdered woman.
At the Cranstons' dacha, Clyde pretends that everything is fine, but in his heart he is very worried about what happened and is afraid of being caught. He turns pale when he hears about the "drowned on Big Bittern Lake" couple and gets rid of his wet suit. Having learned from the newspapers about the search for the killer, at the first moment Clyde decides to confess to what he had done, to explain that he did not kill Roberta, but immediately realizes that this is impossible - he will lose Sondra and no one will believe him anyway. Together with the company, the young man leaves for Bear Lake for a week. Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Kraut arrests Clyde, who is thinking about escaping in the wilderness. Mason tries to get a confession out of the young man. Fearing that the prosecutor will take him to Sondra's camp, Clyde admits that he was with Roberta at the lake, but says that she drowned by accident.
A rumor spreads around the area about a caught criminal. Locals gather to see the Clyde. Once in prison, the young man still maintains that he is innocent. The police find a photographic camera at the bottom of the lake. Burton Burley, convinced of Clyde's guilt, steals several of Roberta's hairs from the morgue and wraps them around the “murder weapon.”
American newspapers describe in detail what happened on Big Bittern Lake and publish excerpts from Roberta's letters. Finchley and Craxton escape from Lycurgus. Samuel Griffiths asks his lawyer Darragh Brookhart to look into his nephew's case. Brookhart's assistant, Ketchumen, hires Mason's political opponent, Alvin Belknap, as a lawyer for Clyde. The young man immediately takes a liking to the latter, and he tells him everything. Belknap's companion, Reuben Jephson, can't quite figure out whether Clyde is guilty or not, but he comes up with an excellent exculpatory story for him.
Elvira Griffiths learns from Estha about the misfortune that happened to her son. She wants to come to Bridgeburgh, but Clyde asks her not to. Information appears in the newspapers about the young man’s family and his childhood.
For several months, lawyers have been training Clyde. The trial begins in mid-October. Jury selection takes five days. Mason reads the indictment. One hundred and twenty-seven witnesses are being interviewed until November. Mason is elected judge. Belknap portrays Clyde as a craven coward. Jephson interrogates the young man in accordance with a pre-prepared plan. Clyde answers questions with memorized phrases. He denies any malicious intent and adheres to the version that he wanted to tell Roberta about his love for another girl and, if she did not let him go, agree to fulfill his moral duty and marry her. The young man imagines the trip to Lugovoye and Lake Big Bittern as Roberta’s initiative. Mason begins interrogating Clyde. The prosecutor asks to bring the boat into the courtroom and invites the young man to show exactly how he hit Roberta with the camera. When Mason asks why Clyde didn’t save the girl, the latter begins to get nervous and the prosecutor realizes that this is his weak point.
Mason tries to piss Clyde off. He catches him on a carefully packed chest, not knowing the price of a boat rental on Big Bittern Lake, guidebooks from Lycurgus, bought, according to the young man, in Utica. The lawyers conclude that Clyde killed Roberta. The jury returns a guilty verdict. They believe Clyde committed the murder with "premeditation."
Samuel Griffiths abandons his appeal and moves the factory to South Boston. Elvira Griffiths gets a job as a reporter for the largest Denver newspaper in order to get money to travel to her son. Clyde is transported to Auburn, Western New York State Penitentiary.
Elvira Griffiths is trying to raise $2,000 for her appeal. The official Christian church turns away from her, an ordinary preacher. With great difficulty, the woman manages to collect one thousand one hundred dollars.
In the House of Death, Clyde watches as the criminals, one by one, leave for execution. Reverend Duncan McMillan, at Elvira's request, visits the young man in prison. Over time, Clyde achieves spiritual enlightenment and tells the priest the whole truth. McMillan believes that the young man committed murder in his heart. Four months later, Clyde's appeal is rejected. McMillan and Elfira Griffiths ask the Governor of New York to commute the death penalty to life imprisonment, but he does not agree to change the court's decision. In February, Clyde dies in the electric chair.
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Characteristics of Clyde
“American Tragedy,” the analysis of which is the subject of this review, is interesting for its reliable and truthful images of the characters. The main character is ambitious beyond measure and clearly overestimated his strengths, merits and capabilities. He could never satisfy the average employee with the average position; he always wanted more, hence all his troubles. At the same time, it is quite obvious that the young man does not have sufficient intelligence or abilities to make his way in life through personal merits and talents. Clyde is the most ordinary American, he is intelligent, courteous, has a good appearance and attractive manners, but all this is clearly not enough for a successful career. The young man does not have a strong-willed character that would help him in his trials; on the contrary, at a critical moment he falls into panic and gets lost. So, the novel “An American Tragedy,” whose main character became a victim of his own ambitious aspirations, showed the other side of the so-called golden dream of generations of that time.
Dreiser "American Tragedy" - summary
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The events narrated by Theodore Dreiser in the novel “An American Tragedy” unfold in America.
The main character of the novel is Clyde Griffiths, a young man striving for wealth, fame, and independence. ... On a hot summer evening in Kansas City, two adults and four children sing psalms and hand out religious tracts. The older boy - and this is Clyde Griffiths - clearly does not like what he is forced to do. However, his parents are passionately devoted to the cause of saving lost souls. But such activity brings only moral satisfaction to the family; the family lives in poverty and barely makes ends meet. Young Clyde Griffiths seeks to escape his family. He gets a job as an assistant to a soda seller at a pharmacy, then as a delivery boy at the Gray-D-Widson Hotel. Working in a hotel does not require any special skills and abilities and brings good tips. Clyde contributes to the family budget and buys his own clothes. At the same time, his workmates quickly accept him into their company. He meets a pretty saleswoman, Hortense Briggs. This girl is prudent beyond her years and is not going to be favorable “just for her beautiful eyes.” She really wants a fashionable jacket that costs one hundred and fifteen dollars, and Clyde grants her wish. Soon, Clyde and his company go on a pleasure ride in a luxurious Packard. This car was taken by Sparser, a young man from their company. The car belongs to a rich man for whom his father works. On the way back the weather worsens and we have to drive slower. The guys are late for work and ask Sparser to speed up. He does so, but, having gaped, he knocks over the girl. Trying to escape, he loses control and the car overturns. Sparser and another girl remain unconscious, the rest scatter. The next day the newspapers publish a report about the incident. The girl died, the arrested Sparser named the names of all the participants in the walk. Fearing arrest, Clyde leaves Kansas City. For three years he lives away from home under a false name, does dirty work and receives a pittance. But one day he meets his friend from Kansas City and thanks to him, he gets a job as a delivery boy at the Union Club. And one day he meets his uncle, Samuel Griffiths, a wealthy owner of a collar factory. Clyde moves to Lycurgus, his uncle gets him a job in his factory. The son of Samuel Griffiths, who is very unsympathetic to a poor relative from Kansas City, gets Clyde a hard and low-paid job. A month passes. Samuel Griffiths is interested in the fate of his nephew and transfers him to a more prestigious job as an accountant. And then he invites you to his house for lunch. There, Clyde meets charming representatives of the elite, and among them Sandra Finchley. She immediately distinguishes the young man from others. In his new position, Clyde behaves quite prudently: he rejects all attempts of working girls to get close to him. But soon Roberta Alden arrives at the factory. Clyde is unable to resist her charm and they begin dating. Page 1 ]
Other characters
The rest of the characters also turned out to be very truthful and reliable, since the author himself often encountered representatives of various classes and professions in his life, which was reflected in his work. He brought out typical images of rich, successful factory owners and entrepreneurs, representatives of the “golden youth”, ordinary workers and poor employees. The novel "An American Tragedy", reviews of which are generally very positive, reproduced in artistic form a picture of society in the second decade of the 20th century. Users note the latter circumstance as an undoubted advantage of the work, but at the same time they stipulate that there is not a single hero in it who could be called unconditionally positive, with whom one could worry and sympathize. Many people call this a flaw in the novel.
Movies
The work “An American Tragedy”, the film adaptation of which is a notable phenomenon in cinema, despite the apparent simplicity of the plot, is a complex socio-psychological drama, which, unfortunately, was not always taken into account by the creators of the films. The first film was made in 1931. The script was originally written by Russian director S. Eisenstein, and his work satisfied Dreiser. However, later, for ideological reasons, the text was written by another author, but the author himself did not like the picture. The most famous film based on the work is called A Place in the Sun (1951), which received several Oscar awards. So, one of the most famous works today remains “An American Tragedy”. The novel remains relevant thanks to its careful analysis of human nature.
