An American Tragedy (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Theodore Dreiser
- First Published: 1925
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Naturalism
- Time of Work: Early twentieth century
- Setting: Kansas City, Chicago, and Lycurgus, New York
- Principal Characters: Clyde Griffiths, Roberta Alden, Samuel Griffiths, Gilbert Griffiths, Sondra Finchley
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Naturalistic literature
- Subjects: Values, United States or Americans, Love or romance, Murder or homicide, Twentieth century, Chicago, Moral conditions, Ethics, Attorneys, Factory management
- Locales: Chicago, IL, Kansas City, MO, Lycurgus, New York
The Story:
When Clyde Griffiths was still a child, his religious-minded parents took him and his brothers and sisters around the streets of various cities, where they prayed and sang in public. The family was always very poor, but the fundamentalist faith of the Griffithses was their hope and mainstay throughout the storms and troubles of life. Young Clyde was never religious, however, and he always felt ashamed of the life his parents were living. As soon as he was old enough to make decisions for himself, he went his own way. At age sixteen, he got a job as a bellboy in a...
[The entire page is 2267 words long]
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