3.3 Destiny or Fate
Destiny or fate plays a dominant role in the plot of the story. It is subject to the characters’ weaknesses and helplessness in struggling or fighting against their
own destiny or fate. George Sylvester Brander, a notable senator of the country, has fallen into the hands or a poor girl in Colombus. It is his fate to love this girl.
“At last, in spite of other looses, fate had brought him what he most desired – love – a woman whom he could love.”
Dreiser, 1963: 84
Brander realizes that Jennie and her family are very poor. Therefore, he helps them financially. In this case, we do not know whether he helps them because he is a
good and generous man, or because of his trick to gain Jennie’s sympathy. But, he finally finds his own destiny – he dies from typhoid, and Jennie bears a child from
him. On this occasion, destiny or fate also play a dominant role in Jennie’s life.
She always hopes that this man, Brander, can marry her and make her happy. But it is her destiny that this man has suffered from typhoid and dies.
It is also Jennie’s fate to fall into Lester’s hands, and she cannot resist. She, of course, likes this man. She thinks that she may be happy if she gets married with
him since he is also kind and rich. But Lester does not want to marry her although he loves her very much. This is because of his parent’s disapproval. They do not want
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their son to get married with a common girl because they come from the high level class. When Lester asks her to live with him without being married.
“….She realized ….that fate had shifted the burden of the situation to her. She must sacrifice herself; there was no other
way.” Dreiser, 1963: 159
Jennie finally believes that her life is doomed to failure. What she should do is that she must yield to her own fate.
3.4 Earthy Pleasure, Wealth, and Fame
The character of the naturalistic story usually long for the earthly pleasure, wealth, and fame. At the very beginning or this novel, we can see that Jennie
Gerhardt is a poor girl. She cannot stand seeing her family suffer from poverty. Therefore, she always dreams of being a rich woman. She always has daydreams of
the worldly pleasure. She likes to see the guest of the hotel who are wearing expensive ornamentations. She is used to seeing them eat delicious food. She always
asks her mother why her family is very poor while other people are rich. As a young girl of eighteen, she longs for being like the guests of the hotel. She is surrounded by
the luxurious things while she herself has nothing. She always whispers to her mother will be a rich woman some day, and she time and again says to herself that
she wishes she were rich. She says, “it must be nice to be famous”Dreiser, 1963:27.
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It is probably the reason why she accepts Brander’s offer to help her family. It is also probably the reason for her to accept Lester’s proposal to live together as far as she
can reach her ambition to a rich woman. This is what she says to her mother why she is willing to go to New York with Lester without being married:
“…you know ho poor were are. The reason anyway we can make things come out right. I have found someone who wants to help us.
He says he loves me, and he wants me to go to New York with him Monday. I’ve decided to go.”
Dreiser, 1963: 170
From the quotation above, we can see that Jennie’s decision to go to New York with Lester to live together has reasonable reason. She longs for worldly pleasure. We
also understand that the reason why Jennie likes to get along with Brander is that being his wife, she will get famous and rich.
3.5 Elaborate Details
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