An American Tragedy Group at eNotes

The title "An American Tragedy" is a play on the expression...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:40:18 PST

The title "An American Tragedy" is a play on the expression "the American dream." That dream is supposedly to rise from rags to riches, or at least to do better than our parents did before us.In the book, Clyde Griffiths dreams of living a better life. His parents are poor evangelists who shun material wealth. Clyde wants that wealth and everything that goes with it. He tries to get it through working, but he finds an...

What is the significance of the title "An American Tragedy" by Theodore...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:00:08 PST

What is the meaning of the title how does it relate to the book?

Keep in mind that Clyde didn't so much "move to work". He...

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:33:26 PST

Keep in mind that Clyde didn't so much "move to work". He ran away from his home as a result of the car accident he was responsible for. He ran in shame, as he will continue to do throughout his life. He is lucky enough to run into his uncle, who is wealthy and owns a factory, and is kind enough to give Clyde a job.Things are not so good back home. Esta meets a touring actor and becomes enamoured of him. She has a brief...

The novel is influenced by the philosophy and literary movement called...

Wed, 5 Dec 2007 03:56:34 PST

The novel is influenced by the philosophy and literary movement called “Realism and Naturalism,” which means that it tries to depict life in an unsentimental way. It shows characters developing as a result of their circumstances in life so that those who are strong succeed, and those who are not fail or are trampled upon by the strong. “Strength” proceeds from stability in wealth, social position, family ties, and so on. The...

What was the resolution of the story?

Tue, 4 Dec 2007 20:05:06 PST

What was the resolution of the story?

American Tragedy is a novel where the conflict is man vs. environment...

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 09:02:11 PST

American Tragedy is a novel where the conflict is man vs. environment or, alternately, man vs. himself. The antagonist, then, would be not another person, but a situation, or a trait within the character himself that the protagonist must battle against. If we accept that the conflict is man vs. environment, then the antagonist is the combination of social and hereditary constraints into which Clyde is born. Clyde is born in poverty to a...

In the work of Theodore Dreiser, if Clyde Griffiths is the protagonist,...

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 00:13:47 PST

In the work of Theodore Dreiser, if Clyde Griffiths is the protagonist, then who would be the antagonist?

In "An American Tragedy", what happens to Clyde's family after...

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 23:35:55 PST

In "An American Tragedy", what happens to Clyde's family after he moves to work with his uncle?

The name of the lake is Big Bittern, located in the Adirondacks. Clyde...

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:23:47 PST

The name of the lake is Big Bittern, located in the Adirondacks. Clyde wants to marry Sondra Finchley, who is wealthy. But Roberta, who is pregnant with Clyde's baby, is in the way. He is unable to convince her to have an abortion, so after reading a newspaper article about an accidental drowning, he decides to kill Roberta and claim it was an accident. He invites her to spend the weekend at the lake; Roberta thinks he is going to ask her to...

In T. Dreiser's book An American Tragedy, what is the name of the lake...

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:47:40 PST

In T. Dreiser's book An American Tragedy, what is the name of the lake in which Clyde Griffiths drowns Roberta Alden?

The state of New York provides most of the setting for An American...

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 08:11:36 PST

The state of New York provides most of the setting for An American Tragedy. The novel is divided into three books. The first book, which covers Clyde's early years, takes place in Kansas City, Missouri. At the end of that book, the accident which changes the course of his life occurs, and Clyde flees to Chicago, Illinois, where he stays briefly and comes in contact with his uncle who has a large factory in Lycurgus, New York. Clyde...

What state provides most of the setting for An American Tragedy by...

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:15:01 PST

What state provides most of the setting for An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser?

There are not a lot of symbols in Dreiser's novel; it is a work of...

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 06:14:19 PST

There are not a lot of symbols in Dreiser's novel; it is a work of naturalism, "the literary movement that believed an individual's life is determined by environment, heredity, and chance; survival of the fittest and natural selection govern an indifferent universe." But two symbols come up now and again: the genie and the bird. Both represent Clyde's desire to escape "the stresses of urbanization,...

What are the symbolisms found in An American Tragedy?

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:47:31 PST

What are the symbolisms found in An American Tragedy?

Many scholars consider An American Tragedy the defining work of American...

Sun, 13 May 2007 14:33:36 PST

Many scholars consider An American Tragedy the defining work of American naturalism, and the novel does incorporate all the hallmarks of the naturalist movement. At the core of naturalism is determinism, the idea that an individual's course in life is wholly determined by some combination of animal instinct, heredity, and environment. Naturalist writers portray these principles by creating ordinary characters, placing them in extraordinary or...

Dreiser is well-known as a naturalism writer.In An American Tragedy,...

Sat, 12 May 2007 23:12:06 PST

Dreiser is well-known as a naturalism writer.In An American Tragedy, where and how did he embody this characteristic?