The Elements Of Naturalism In Theodore Dreiser’s Jennie Gerhardt

THE ELEMENTS OF NATURALISM

IN THEODORE DREISER’S

JENNIE GERHARDT

A THESIS

BY

IMELDA GUSTIA Reg. No. 060721035

UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA

FACULTY OF LETTERS

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

MEDAN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillah, this is the first utterance from me to express my thankfulness to Allah the Almighty who has given me all His blessing in finishing this thesis entitled The Elements of Naturalism in Theodore Dreiser’s Jennie Gerhardt. And I always believe that Allah watches me and blesses me to complete my study.

I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to Drs. Syahri Saja as my supervisor. Thanks to everything you’ve done to me, and Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M. Hum, as my co- supervisor. Thanks for being generous, and also for their useful aids and suggestion, especially in giving their time in order to encourage me in completing this thesis.

Deep thanks and sincere appreciation due to Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M. Hum, the Chairman of English Department, and the secretary of English Department, Drs. Yulianus Harefa, M.Ed TESOL, for their kindness and helps.

The writer also indebted to the Dean of the Faculty of Letters, Drs. Syaifuddin, M.A, Ph.D and all the lecturers and staff of the English Department for their contribution in improving her intellectuality and thought during her study in English Department.

My only special thank is due to my beloved parents, my father Zulfahmi and my mother Dahniar who have given their moral and material supports. And for my boy friend Agus Syahptra A,md thanks for his ideas and the spirit he gave me in finishing my thesis. I give my grateful love from my body and soul, for my beloved

brothers Sonirol, and Muharlinsas, Indra Wijaya, Aprisa Yudha, and my sister Maulina,SE, Ida lusia, Zulfalinda,SE, Wisni Dahlia, S.Sos, Subutiah, and Surona.

Last but not least, I also express my thanks to all my classmate, my seniors, for their kindness and assistance during my study in this Faculty.

Finally, I hope that this thesis will help the readers to enjoy English Literature particularly who take a special interest in Theodore Dreiser’s works.

My Almight Allah preserves and beliefs them all. Amin

Medan, December 2008

The writer

Imelda Gustia

Reg. No. 060721035

ABSTRAK

Di dalam skripsi ini saya akan membahas beberapa elemen atau unsur yang pada umumnya terdapat di dalam novel-novel yang beraliran naturalisme. Unsur-unsur tersebut antara lain determinism (pelaku cerita tidak berdaya untuk merubah nasibnya), rangkaian kebetulan dan sebab akibat, gambaran yang sangat rinci, nafsu sex yang sukar dikendalikan, keinginan untuk kaya dan terkenal, akhir cerita yang tragis, dan lain-lain.

Di dalm novel, Jennie Gerhardt, kesemua unsur ini akan saya teliti secara berurutan sehingga pada akhir skripsi saya akan dapat berkesimpulan bahwa karya Dreiser ini adalah naturalistic novel.

Untuk menganalisis novel ini, saya menggunakan pendekatan intrinsic, atau disebut juga dengan textual approach. Dalam hal ini, saya akan terfokus pada penganalisaan teks cerita. Meskipun demikian, saya juga mengambil data-data dari buku-buku referensi, terutama mengenai faham naturalisme dan realisme.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

...i

ABSTRACT

...ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

………..iii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Analysis……….1

1.2 The Problems of the Analysis………..3

1.3 The Objectives of the Analysis………3

1.4 The Scope of the Analysis………...3

1.5 The Method of the Analysis………4

1.6 Review of the Related Literature………5

CHAPTER

II

THE EXPLICATION OF REALISM AND

NATURALISM

2.1 Realism………7

2.2 Naturalism………8

2.3 Dreiser’s Pictures of America………10

CHAPTER III

THE ELEMENTS OF NATURALISM IN

DREISER’S

JENNIE GERHARDT

3.1 Determinism………..14

3.2 The Web of Accidentalness and Causation…………...21

3.3 Destiny or Fate………...23

3.4 Earthly Pleasure, Wealth, and Fame………..24

3.5 Elaborate Details………25

3.6 About Common People………..28

3.7 Sexual Desire……….30

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

4.1 Conclusions………35

4.2 Suggestions………37

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX I

: THE SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL

ABSTRAK

Di dalam skripsi ini saya akan membahas beberapa elemen atau unsur yang pada umumnya terdapat di dalam novel-novel yang beraliran naturalisme. Unsur-unsur tersebut antara lain determinism (pelaku cerita tidak berdaya untuk merubah nasibnya), rangkaian kebetulan dan sebab akibat, gambaran yang sangat rinci, nafsu sex yang sukar dikendalikan, keinginan untuk kaya dan terkenal, akhir cerita yang tragis, dan lain-lain.

Di dalm novel, Jennie Gerhardt, kesemua unsur ini akan saya teliti secara berurutan sehingga pada akhir skripsi saya akan dapat berkesimpulan bahwa karya Dreiser ini adalah naturalistic novel.

Untuk menganalisis novel ini, saya menggunakan pendekatan intrinsic, atau disebut juga dengan textual approach. Dalam hal ini, saya akan terfokus pada penganalisaan teks cerita. Meskipun demikian, saya juga mengambil data-data dari buku-buku referensi, terutama mengenai faham naturalisme dan realisme.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1The Background of The Analysis

Literature is a written and oral work and exists in a society in a society as communicative practice, dealing with a social life. It expresses and communicates thought, feelings, and attitudes toward life. Through literature we can get along with a lot of people to know other different point of views, ideas, thought, minds, and way life.

A novel is a literary work which can give pleasure and satisfaction it can arouse conflicts, moods and also interrelationship among people. On this occasion, I would like to analyze a novel which was written by a famous American author, Theodore Dreiser. He wrote many good novels but I choose Jennie Gerhardt as the subject of the analysis.

Theodore Dreiser is a famous American novelist and short story writer. He is recognized as a genuine American literary pioneer in naturalistic writing. In most of this novels and short stories, he drew up his acute awareness of the growing America of his time. His novels and shot short stories provide a carefully detailed, often documented picture of his own American society, as he saw it. It is as if he felt the pressure, the responsibility to expose a new and rather monstrous America which found its gigantic sprawling expression around 1900 and thereafter.

This America was industrialized, urban society which had developed as rapidly as the huge fortunes (in oil, meat, packing, steal railroad, speculation, etc) which supported it. Unfortunately, such rapid transformation of country was bound to carry with it the extremes of poverty, and Dreiser was not the stranger to the slums of the cities he knew, especially New York and Chicago.

Jennie Gerhardt tells about a young woman who is eager to climb herself to a high level of society by depending herself on the wealthy man. She is eventually trapped in her own environment and unable to fight against her fate. From her girlhood she daydreams the worldly pleasures and in a literal sense, she never succeeds in tasting them completely. It seems as if fate is very dominant in “arranging “her series of life. She is weak and helpless creature. She is like a pawn in a chess game. She has an effort, but it is always in vain. This Kind of story is very interesting to be read and analyzed. Therefore, I try to analyze it in this thesis.

I am interested in analyzing this novel since it talks about “the real life” although it is written by the author imaginatively. The novel is full of the interaction between the characters as if they were in a real life. This is the most interesting element for me to analyze.

Besides that, I feel sympathetic arts the main character of the novel, Jennie Gerhardt. She actually tries hard to improve her life condition but fate has said differently. These are, I believe, the reason why I choose this novel as the subject matter of the analysis.

1.2 The Problems Of The Analysis

In This thesis, I am going to analyze the naturalistic elements which are found in the novel. The problem which may be found in the analysis is whether this novel contains some elements of naturalism. If I cannot prove or find the evidence that this novel has the naturalistic elements, I will, of course, fail. However, I have an assumption that I can prove it.

This hipothesis raises some questions:

- Does the novel have the elements of naturalism? - Can the novel be said as the naturalistic novel?

1.3 The Objectives of the Analysis

The objective of the analysis is a statement about the activities which are going to analyze or do based on the problems of the study. In this case, I have some objectives of the analysis as follows:

- To find out whether this novel contains the elements of naturalism - To prove that this novel is a naturalistic one.

1.4The Scope of The Analysis

In doing the analysis, I need to restrict the subjects which are going to analyze, so that it will come to the conclusions. In this case, I will focus my analysis of

finding some characteristics in the novel so that I will come to a conclusion. My attention will be focused in the novel so that I will come to a conclusion. My attention will be focused on the text of the novel since most of the quotations are derived from it.

1.5The Method of The Analysis

Wellek and Warren in their book, Theory of Literature (1997; 63) point out that there are two kinds of approaches in analyzing literary works. They are the intrinsic approaches and the extrinsic approach. The intrinsic approach deals with the analysis of the literary work itself. It means that I collect the data from the work we are analyzing. People usually call this approach, the formal or textual approach.

The extrinsic approach deals with the references from the outside the text being discussed, such as biography, history, sociology, psychology, etc. on this decision, I mostly quote the data from the novel, Jennie Gerhardt, although I also refer to some references in order to support the analysis.

In order to prove that there some naturalistic elements in the novel, I use the intrinsic approach which means that I merely analyze the text of the novel. Some critics also call this approach, the textual approach. In this case, I only examine carefully the content of the novel, without paying much any attention its background or its author’s biography.

The aim of this approach or method is to establish as accurately as possible what the author actually wrote or intended to be the final version. By using this method I

will need to consult many books, analysis. In this case, I mean that the use of other materials or references in the bibliography section will be consulted. I will, of course, need them to support the analysis.

1.6Review of The Related Literature

- The Jazz Age, by Max Bofart (1969).

This book is very useful in understanding what happened in the American society at that time.

- The American Novel and its Tradition, by Richard Chase (1979).

This book gives me a lot of information about Theodore Dreiser and the American literature by the end of the nineteen century.

- A Glossary of Literary Terms, by M.H. Abrams (1982).

This book is very valuable in giving the information about some major term in literature, such as romanticism, realism, naturalism, and surrealism.

- The Lixington Introduction to Literature, by Cary Waller (1987).

This book provides the responding to the texts of the literary woks. In this case, I get some information about how to respond the text of the novel. - How to analyze fiction, by William Kenney (1966).

This book provides various ways to analyze the aspects of the literary works, especially the discussion on the aspects which are found in the prose writing.

- The third Dimension, Studies in literary history, byE.R. Spieler (1965). This book is very important for me to understand in order to know the life background of the author of the novel. It will help me understand a little bit the naturalism in the American literature.

- Theory of Literature, by Rene Wellek and Austin Warren (1977).

This book can help me understand the way how to analyze the novel. It talks a lot about the theory of approaches in analyzing the literary work.

CHAPTER II

THE EXPLICATION OF REALISM AND NATURALISM

2.1 Realism

Realism is used in two ways: (1) to identify a literary movement of the nineteenth century, especially in prose fiction, and (2) to designate a recurrent way, in this and other eras, of representing life in literature, which was typified by the writers of this historical movement (Abrams, 1980: 152).

Realistic fiction is often opposed to romantic fiction: the romance is said to present life as we would have it to be, more picturesque, more adventurous, more heroic than the actual, realism, to present an accurate imitation of life as it is. The distinction is not invalid, but it is in adequate. Winston Churchill, Lady Diana, Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington were people in real life, but their histories, as related by themselves or others, demonstrate that truth can be stranger than literary realism.

The realist sets out to write a fiction which will give the illusion that it reflects life as it seems to the common reader. To achieve this effect he prefers as protagonist an ordinary citizen of Middletown, living on the Main Street, perhaps, and engaged in the real estate business. The realist, in the other words, is deliberately selective in his material and prefers the average, the commonplace, and the everyday over the rarer aspects of the contemporary scene. His characters, therefore, are usually of the middle class or (less frequently) the working class–people with out

highly exceptional endowments, who live through ordinary experiences of childhood, adolescence, love, marriage, parenthood, infidelity, and death; who find life rather dull and often unhappy, though it may be brightened by touches of beauty and joy; but who may, under special circumstances, display something akin the heroism.

A thoroughgoing realism involves not only a selection of subject matter but, more importantly, a special literary manner as well: the subject is represented, or ‘rendered’ in such a way as to give the reader the illusion of actual experience. The realistic writers often render ordinary people so richly and persuasively that they convince us that men and women really lived, talked, and acted in the way that they depict.

Some critics, however, use the term “realist” more narrowly for writers who render a subject so as to make it seem a reflection of the casual order of experience, without too patently shaping it into a tightly wrought comic or ironic or tragic pattern. In this narrow sense, “realism” is applied more exclusively, to works such as William Dean Howell’s The Rise Of Silas Lapham, Arnold Sennet’s novels about the “Five Towns”, and Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street.

2.2 Naturalism

Naturalism is sometimes claimed to be an even more accurate picture of life than is realism. But naturalism is not only, like realism, a special selection of subject matter and a special literary manner; it is a mode of fiction that was developed by a

school of writers in accordance with a special philosophical thesis. This thesis, a product of post-Darwinian biology in the mid-nineteenth century, held that man belongs entirely in the order of nature and does not have a soul or any other connection with a religious or spiritual world beyond nature; that human is therefore merely a higher-order animal whose character and fortunes are determined by two kinds of natural forces, heredity and environment. He inherits his personal traits and his compulsive instincts, especially hunger and sex, and he is helplessly subject to the social and economic forces in the family, the class, and the milieu into which he is born.

The French novelist, Emile Zola, beginning in the 1870s, did much to develop this theory in what he called “le roman experimental” (that is, the novel organized in the mode of a scientific experiment). Zola and later naturalistic writers, such as the Americans Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, and James T. Farrell, try to present their subjects which an objective scientific attitude and with elaborate documentation, often including an almost medical frankness about activities and bodily functions usually unmentioned in earlier literature.

The naturalistic writers tend to choose characters who exhibit strong animal drives, such as greed and brutal sexual desires, and who are victims both of their glandular secretions within and of sociological pressures without. The end of the naturalistic novel is usually “tragic”, but not, as in classical and Elizabethan tragedy, because of a heroic but losing struggle of the individual mind and will against gods, enemies, and circumstance. The protagonist of the naturalistic plot, a pawn to multiple compulsions, merely disintegrates, or is wiped out.

The elements of the naturalistic selection and management of materials and its austere or brutal frankness of manner are apparent in many modern novels and dramas, such as Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (although Hardy substituted a cosmic determinism for biological DNA environmental determinism), various plays of Eugene O’Neill, and Norman Mailer’s novel of world war II, The Naked and The Dead.

An enlightening exercise is to distinguish how the relation of the sexes is represented in a romance ( Richard Blackmore’s Lorna Doone ), an ironic comedy of manners ( Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice ), a realistic novel ( William Dean Howells’ A Modern Instance ), and a naturalistic novel ( Emile Zola’s Nana, or Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy ).

2.3 Dreiser’s Pictures of America

It is very clear, however, that in addition to the source of autobiography, Dreiser in his writings drew upon his acute awareness of growing America of his time; his novels provide a carefully detailed, often almost documented picture of his own American society, as he saw it. It is as if he felt the pressure, the responsibility-perhaps because of his many and varied youthful experiences-to expose a new and rather monstrous America which found its gigantic, sprawling expression around 1900 and thereafter. This America was an industrialized, urban society which had developed as rapidly as the huge fortunes (in oil, meat packing, steel, railroad, speculation etc.) which supported it. Unfortunately such rapid transformation of a

country was bound to carry with it the extremes of poverty, and Theodore Dreiser was no stranger to the slums of the cities he knew – especially Chicago and New York. What disturbed Dreiser most (and many another observer of the era ) was the huge gap between good old American ethics and religious standards still being preached daily, and the actual practices of those who yet listened complacently and comfortably to the preachers. In short, it is the theme of hypocrisy which Dreiser took up as a cause in his writing; and it this hypocrisy-the false front, the appearance of virtue and the practice of ruthless realities which he undertook to expose in such writings as Sister Carrie. Dreiser had come to believe that the society, not its people individually, was corrupt; of rather, he disbelieved that men are born sinful, suggesting (to the discomfort of some of his earlier readers) that hypocrisy, corruption, not to mention sheer poverty, are not conducive to building character or strength of will – the lack of which we see so demonstrated in the structure of Sister Carrie’s personality. Such a society is more likely, instead, to produce seduction, adultery, crime, selfishness, waste. And Dreiser saw such results so inevitable as to rule out the possibility of condemning the actors and actresses in tragedies although the reasons for their decline or ultimate unhappiness are always carefully spelled out.

Dreiser’s consistently humane and sympathetic attitude toward his material – his characters, their stories – throughout his writing career should be stressed. No doubt such an attitude is due in part to the lack of prevailing conventional propriety in his own early life, which is just what he claims for Sister Carrie, upon the occasion of her first acceptances of favors from Drouet; there were no strong home traditions to hold her. Dreiser presents the facts of life as he sees them – that is,

pragmatically – not as readers (especially of his own era) would expect them to be. Such matter – of – fact presentation of the experiences of his characters, however, combined with his indifference toward the conventions of reward and punishment, indicate that his attitudes ( while born of his own autobiographical background, personally, and nurtured on the hypocritical materialism of his times ) deepened into “ philosophy “: the belief that any ethic, any sense of love or justice, must spring from the individual’s actual experience with forces both inside and outside himself combined with his own growing awareness of self ( the cultivation of intellect and sensibilities ), in order to make judgment – reasoned action – possible, state which no fully developed characters created by Theodore Dreiser ever reach.

Dreiser’s first picture of human and social conditions, however, reflecting this very indifference toward conventional morality and toward the traditions of reward and punishment – Sister Carrie – encountered difficulties of publication, although Doubleday had been formally committed to publish it. Not only that Carrie escaped punishment, but that Dreiser did not look upon her life as sinful, was an insult to late nineteenth century conventionality (expressed, for example, in the horrified response of Mrs. Doubleday to the novel). However, Mrs. Doubleday’s horror may have been exaggerated in the tale retold so often as to have become a legend, partly through the interest and friendship of such writers as H. L. Mencken. A young novelist, frank Norris, as editorial reader for Doubleday, helped in the original acceptance of the novel for publication. Norris’ own work would so resemble Dreiser’s in its frankness and exposure of the hypocrisies and inequalities of American life that it was inevitable he should heartily applaud this author.

Dreiser’s publishers issued a minimum number of copies, without advertisement, and the author netted less than a hundred dollars from the novel. A decade or so would have to evolve (during which the author suffered depression and futility at the reception of sister Carrie, and found himself less and less able to attempt more fiction) before the book would receive its proper critical acclaim; in 1907, when the novel was reissued, and thereafter, the public was more receive its proper critical acclaim; in 1907, when the novel was reissued, and thereafter, the public was more receptive to Sister Carrie.

CHAPTER III

THE ELEMENTS OF NATURALISM IN

DREISER’S

JANNIE GERHARDT

3.1 Determinism

The naturalistic elements which have been explained in chapter II will be analyzed one by one in connection with Dreiser’s novel, Jennie Gerhardt. One of the characteristics of naturalism is determinism; that is, the doctrine that all events, including human choices and decisions have sufficient causes. In other words, the characters are very weak and helpless in their struggling against their own existence. They are trapped in a fierce world whose events are determined by the uncontrollable forces. They have to succumb to their own destiny. They are like pawns in chess. It seems that destiny or fate is so powerful that it cannot be changed by the human power.

One of the characters in the novel, William Gerhardt, Jennie’s father, is the first one in the novel who is weak and helpless in his struggle against his own destiny. The only one he owns as the mainstay is his house, but it is on mortgage. If he cannot pay his loan in the bank in three years, his house will be taken by the bank. He is burdened by various duties: he has to pay the principal and the annual interest of the loan money to the bank; he as to pay for the doctor’s bill, the butcher, the baker, the grocer, and so on. His earnings as a glass blower are far from enough to support his family. Therefore, it is natural if he feels helpless and hopeless.

“Gerhardt was helpless, and the consciousness of his precarious situation – the doctor’s bill, the interest due to the mortgage, together the sums owed to butcher and baker, who, through knowing him to be absolutely honest, had trusted him until they could trust no longer all these perplexities weighed upon his mind and racked him so nervously as to delay his recovery.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 16-17)

The only way how to survive is asking his wife and his daughter, Jennie, for help. Fortunately, both of them are willing to find jobs. His wife, Mrs. Gerhardt, gets the job in the cleaning service with the wages of three dollars a weak. Jennie helps her mother do the service and the laundry in the hotel. In his old age, Gerhardt is described as a weak and helpless person. He is really trapped in a fierce world, and he yields to his own destiny. He has nobody to take care of him except Jennie. Now he lives with Jennie and depend his whole life on her.

Jennie Gerhardt, the leading character of the novel, is also trapped in the fierce world so that she cannot fight against her own fate or destiny. When she is eighteen years old, she yields to an old man and loses her virginity because she is very poor and needs financial help desperately. Brander, the senator, is very kind, generous, and helpful to her and her family. She has to pay back his generosity. It means that she is trapped in his hands. She is too weak and helpless to resist his temptation. It also indicates that she yields to her own fate.

Jennie then comes across Lester Kane, a young man who comes from high class society. He is rich, handsome, generous, and helpful. The first time he meets

Jennie, he falls in love with her. He says that he will help her financially. In the beginning, she refuses her offer to help her because of her dignity and her daughter whom she has gotten from Brander. Lester does not know that she has a daughter. However, she is too weak to resist his offer to help her family. She loves her parents and does not want to see them suffer. Her accepting Lester’s help means that she succumbs to her own destiny. She herself does not know why she yields to this young man.

“She had yielded to another man. Why? Why? She asked herself, and yet within her own consciousness there was an answer. Though she could not explain her own emotions, she belonged to him temperamentally and belonged to her… There is a fate in life and a fate in fight. This strong, intellectual bear of a man, son of a wealthy manufacturer, stationed, so far as a material conditions were concerned, in a world immensely superior to that in which Jennie moved, was nevertheless, instinctively, magnetically, and chemically drawn to his poor serving maid…….”

(Dreiser, 1963: 136)

The first time she meets Lester Kane, she feels sympathetic with him. However, because of her poverty and low-class level, she feels discouraged to show her feeling toward him. It is her weakness and helplessness which causes her to surrender to his seduction.

She actually tries hard to resist the temptation. She realizes that she will encounter difficult problems is she accept his persuasion. She is thinking of her father, her mother, her brother and sister who will definitely disapprove of her

action. They will consequently hate her for the rest of her life.” Was she allowing herself to slip into another wretched, unsanctified relationship? “(Dreiser, 1963: 142) she realizes that she is going to another “wretched” relationship. But she is too weak to resist it. The following dialogue between Lester and her will show her helpless she is in confronting her own conscience.

“ … come, he said, “ and get in this carriage with me. I’ll take you home.”

“No, “she replied. “I don’t think I ought to”.

“Come with me, I’ll take you home. It’s a better way to talk.’’ Once more that sense of dominance on his part, that power of compulsion. She yielded, feeling all the time that she should not….”

(Dreiser, 1963: 143)

Although she is a good woman, her fate is very miserable. Her father accuses her of doing a sinful deed when she is pregnant without a husband. Lester’s family does not approve of their relationship since she comes from the low class. She knows that in some way she should make herself right with the society, but she really does not know how to do that.

“So this was her real position in another woman’s eyes. Now she could see that the world thought. This family was aloof from her as if it lived on another planet. To his sisters and brothers, his father and mother, she was a bad woman, a creature far beneath him mentally and morally, a creature of the streets. And she had hoped somehow to rehabilitate herself in the eyes of the world. It cut her as nothing before had ever done. The thought tore a great, gaping wound in her sensibilities. She was really low and vile in her Louse’s eyes,

in the world’s eyes, basically so in Lester’s eyes. How could it be otherwise? She went about numb and still, but her ache of defeat and disgrace was under it all. Oh, if she could only see some was to make herself right with the world, to live honorably, to be decent. How could that possibility be brought about? It ought to be – she knew that. But how?”

(Dreiser, 1963: 152)

From the quotation above, we can see that Jennie is so helpless in elevating her social life that she becomes depressed. There is a real gap between her social status and Lester’s family. For them, she is only one of the ‘creatures’ of the streets, she is nothing compared with Lester and his family. But she can do nothing since she is weak and helpless.

Lester is very kind to her and her family. He buys a big house for them in Claveland. He also gives her a lot of money and affection. She is once more trapped in Lester’s hands. It is actually easy for her to decide to refuse Lester’s offer, but she is too weak to do that. She finally goes with him to New York and lives with him without being married. All she has done, in her opinion, is for the sake of her family. They are very poor and there is someone who will help them financially. Moreover, Lester says that he loves her. Jennie also thinks that no one will marry her since she is sinful.

Lester than arranges their dwelling in Chicago where they can live together happily. It is true that they are happy although they are not a married couple. He loves her very much and she also loves him. She feels secure now and can send an allowance to her family in Claveland. What else can she do in her life except accepting this condition? Lester’s family would not know their illegitimate relation if

Lester’s sister, Louise, did not come to their apartment. Louise comes to visit her brother and finds out that he keeps a “concubine” in his apartment. Louise then despises her intolerably; she hurts her feeling. Louise says that Jennie is not suitable for Lester since Jennie comes from the lower class. Jennie cannot stand the circumstance, but she always doubts whether she will leave Lester and goes back to Claveland.

“For the first time in her life, aside from the family attitude, which had afflicted her greatly, she realized what the world thought of her. She was bad – she knew that. She had yielded on two occasions to the force of circumstance which might have been fought out differently. If only she had had more courage! If she did not always have this haunting sense of fear! If she could only make up her mind to do the right thing! Lester would never marry her. Why should he? She loved him, but she could leave him, and it would be better for him. Probably her father would live with her if she went back to Claveland. He would honor her for at least taking a decent stand. Yet the thought of leaving Lester was a terrible one to her – he had been so good. As for her father, she was not sure whether he would receive her or not.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 2390)

From the quotation above, we can see that Jennie is trapped by her own fear and uncertainty. She can do nothing to change her fate. She surely yields to her own destiny. She also cannot do anything when Lester plans to leave her. She is like a pawn in the cheese game. She is too weak and helpless to change her fate. She has to accept it. She is always a loser. Lester gets married with Letty Pace who is richer and higher in the social status than she is.

Lester Kane is also too weak and helpless to resist the temptation, dealing with his relationship with Jennie. If he leaves her, he will lose his opportunity to become a rich and powerful man in business. He knows that his father’s will have a requirement to be followed if he does not want to lose everything. But he loves Jennie. When he knows that she has lied to him about Vesta, he decides to leave her, but he is not able to do that.

“Curiously, now, as he thought, his first meeting with Jennie at Mrs. Bracebridge’s came back to him. What was it about her then that had attracted him? What made him think, after a few hours’ observation, that he could seduce her to his will? What was it – moral looseness, or weakness, or what? There must have been art in the sorry affair, the practice act of the cheat and, in deceiving such a confiding nature as his, she had done even more than practice deception, she had been ungrateful….. His first impulse, after he had thought the thing over, was to walk out and leave her.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 208-9)

He leaves the apartment, but after a few steps, he comes back.

Sometimes he thinks that it is better for him to leave Jennie in order stabilize his position in society and in business. If he can leave her, his father will trust him to lead the company. But how could he leave her because he loves her? Jennie will never say anything if he leaves her. It all depends on him now, but “…it seemed cruel, useless, above all…it would be comfortable for himself. He liked her – loved her, perhaps in a selfish way “(Dreiser, 1963: 193).

He is, of course, not able to leave Jennie. She is so good, so motherly, so womanly that he seems to depend on her. When he is busy in his office and becomes tired, he goes home and finds a relaxation with her. She is clever enough to soothe him, and she is faithful to him. How could he leave her without a shame?

3.2 The Web Accidentalness and Causation

The second element of naturalism is that the characters are usually caught in the web of chance and causation, that is, the relation of cause to effect. It is by chance that Jennie meets Brander in the hotel. This meeting will cause her to find disaster later on. Brander is good and generous. He helps her and her family financially so that they are able to survive. But it is Brander who brings about Jennie’s shamefulness.

Lester Kane meets Jennie accidentally at Mrs. Bracebridge’s house. He is visiting Mrs. Bracebridge because the latter is his father’s friend. This meeting also causes Jennie to face many problems. Jennie meets Brander when she works at the hotel, and he is the hotel guest. She meets Laster when she works for Mrs. Bracebridge and he is Mrs. Bracebridge’s guest. Both meetings are accidental.

It is also by chance that Lester meets Letty Pace, his ex-girlfriend. At the time, Lester and Jennie are traveling to Europe and Egypt, and they accidentally meet Letty. If they did not meet Letty, there would not be any separation between Lester and Jennie. The meeting is by chance or accidentally:

“It was while traveling abroad that Lester came across, first at the Carlton in London, and later at shepheards at Cairo, the one girl, before Jennie, whom it might have been said he truly admired – Letty pace.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 300)

It seems to us that it hardly possible for two Americans to meet twice in foreign countries. While Lester and Jennie are in London, they meet Letty. They meet her again while they are in Cairo, Egypt. But this is one of the characteristic of the naturalistic novel. We, readers, will accept this fact as a conventional, that is, the agreement between the author and the reader.

It is also by chance that Letty Pace is going back to America on the same ship with Lester and Jennie. If there were not on the same ship, Lester’s relationship with Letty might not continue. If their relationship did not continue, he might not leave Jennie and get married with Letty. This causation or the cause and effect, always exists all over the story.

Let us have a further look on this causation in the novel. Jennie and her mother work in a hotel, and accidentally Brander, the senator, stays in the same hotel. He meets with Jennie and likes her. If he did not stay in the same hotel, Jennie would not be pregnant. If Jennie were not poor and needed help financially, she would not accept Brander’s help.

Laster meets Jennie accidentally at Mrs. Bracebridge’s house. If he did not visit Mrs. Bracebridge and Jennie did not work for Mrs. Bracebridge, they would not meet. If they did not meet, Jennie’s fate would be different. Here, we can see that accidentalness and causation play an important role in the plot of the story.

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

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).

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

Another characteristic of a naturalistic novel is the elaborate details. At the beginning the story, we find out that the Gerhardt consist of Mr. Gerhardt , his wife, and their six children: the oldest son, Sebastian or “Bass”, works as an apprentice at a local freight car builder; Genevieve or Jennie, who is eighteen years old; George, fourteen, Martha, twelve, William, ten, Veronica, eight. Dreiser, actually, doe not need to tell us the last three children of the family since they do not play any role in

the plot of the story. But Dreiser does this in order to give an impression to his reader that this is a true story. This detailed description is one of the characteristics of the naturalistic novel.

In describing the place where Mrs. Gerhardt and Jennie work, Dreiser gives an elaborate detail so that we, readers, feel as if we were in that place, or the place were in front of us.

“The structure, five stories in height and of imposing proportions, stood at one corner of the central public square….The lobby was large and had been recently redecorated. Both floor and wainscot were of white marble, kept shiny by frequent polishing. There was an imposing stairs case with handrails of whale nut and toe strips of breast. An inviting corner was devoted to a news and cigarstand, where the staircurved upward the clerk desk and offices had been located, all done in hardwood and ornamented by novel gas fixtures. One could see through a door at one end and the lobby to the barbershop, with its chairs and array of shaving mugs. Outside were usually two or three buses, arriving or departing….”

(Dreiser, 1963: 18)

We can see in the quotation above how detailed Dreiser describes the place where both Jennie and her mother work. He describes the lobby of the hotel, the floor, the staircase, the corner of the room, the clerk desks, the offices, or even the buses which arrive and depart from the hotel. He describes them very them very vividly.

The author also describes the members of the Kane in details. We can understand clearly that Robert Kane is the oldest son; Lester Kane the second son,

Amy, thirty years old, is married and has one child; Imogene, twenty eight years old, is married with no child; Louise, twenty five years old, is the youngest daughter of the family. This is an incredible detail since the last three daughters do not play an important role in the story.

In describing the Kane’s house in Cincinnati, Dreiser also gives a complete detail. Let us have a look how Dreiser describes the nature when Vesta and her grandfather are walking in the woods. He describes it minutely:

“Everywhere nature was budding and burdeoning; the birds twittering their arrival from the south; the insects make the best of their brief span of life. Sparrows chipped upon the grass; bluebirds built their nests in the eaves of the cottages.” (Dreiser, 1963: 188-9)

From the quotation above, we can see how vividly and minutely Dreiser describes the nature. It is as if we were watching or looking into the nature itself.

The details of the story are spread throughout the whole plot of the story. This is the characteristics of the naturalistic writing. Wherever Jennie moves from one place to another, the author always describes the details of those places.

Another good example of the detailed description in the story is the description of the cottage in Sandwood, where Jennie lives for the last time in her life. She lives with Vesta in this cottage because Lester has left her and gets married

with Letty. Besides that, his father has passed away. Later we know that Vesta also dies of Typhoid. Now let us have a look at the cottage:

“The cottage which was finally secured at Sandwood was only a story and a half in height, but it was raised upon red brick piers between which were set green lattices and about which ran a veranda. The house was a long and narrow; its full length – some five rooms in a row – facing the lake. There was a dining room with windows open even with the floor, a large library with built–in shalves for books, and a parlor whose three large windows afforded air and sunshine at all times. The plot of the ground in which this cottage stood was one hundred feet square and ornamented with a few trees. The former owner had laid out flower beds, and arranged green hardwood for the reception of various hardy plants and vines. The house was painted white, with green shutters and green shingles.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 154-5)

By reading these details, we feel as if we were standing in front of the cottage and then we came into it.

3.6 About Common People

Another characteristic or element of naturalistic writing is that the character, especially the main characters usually come from the common people or the lower level society. Caroline Meeber in Dreiser’s Sister Carrie is a poor girl headed for the big city and some kind of new life materially better than the one she is leaving behind. Clyde Griffits in his An American Tragedy is also a poor boy and the son of a priest who tries to find a better life materially in a big city. In Jennie Gerhardt,

Jennie, the leading character, is a poor girl who happens to be trapped in a sophisticated world.

Jennie is helpless and defenseless in fighting for her better life in the fierce world. Actually, it is better for her to live in her own low class society, but she does not feel secure. She longs for earthly pleasure, wealth, and fame. Here, Dreiser describes the human society as the animal society where every species of animal has its own limited community.

“A fish, for instance, mat not pass out of the circle of the seas without courting annihilation; a bird may not enter the domain of the fishes without paying for it dearly. From the parasites of the flowers of the monsters of the jungle and the deep we see clearly the circumscribed nature of their movements – the emphatic manner in which life has limited them to a sphere; and we are content to note the ludicrous and invariable fatal results which attend any effort on their part to depart from their environment….And yet so well defined is the sphere of social activity that he who departs from it is doomed. Born and bred in this environment the individual is practically unfitted for any other state. He is like a bird accustomed cannot live density of atmosphere, and which cannot live comfortably at either higher or lower level.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 236-7)

When we read the quotation above, we can understand that Dreiser indicates that a certain class of people cannot live in the other class of society. Jennie, who comes from a poor family, will never be in accordance with the life of the high class people. On the other hand, Lester, who is rich and comes from the high level class. It seems

impossible for him to get along with such a poor, uneducated girl. They are different in status. Dreiser’s theory is that “a bird may not enter the domain of the fishes.” Of course, we can argue his theory, but is his theory. He then applies it in his works. It seems to us that in this novel, the two young couple, Jennie and Lester must be separated in the end of the story, for they do not match to each other. Lester must get married with a woman of the same level. In consequence, he has t leave Jennie.

Jennie herself is trying to be the member of his high-class society by getting along with two high – class gentlemen: Brander and Lester. Brander suddenly dies from Typhoid; Lester has to leave her since his status has caused him to abandon her. Here, we can see that a person has to live accordingly in his own society. If Brander were alive, he would probably face a very difficult problem in getting married with Jennie. His family, relatives, and friends would get angry with him if he gets married with a poor girl. On the other hand, Jennie’s family would also be angry with her because she got married with an old and married man.

3.7 Sexual Desire

The character, especially the main characters in the naturalistic story usually yield to the temptation of sexual desire. They are not able to resist this temptation, and consequently, they find their own doom of disaster. In this novel, we can see that Brander cannot resist his sexual desire when he sees such as a beautiful girl. He does not care whether Jennie is poor or not. He is actually old enough to match with Jennie. He is now fifty – two years old, and he is at the same age with Jennie’s

father. Besides that, Brander is a notable senator ad a rich man. He, of course, belongs to the high class society. But his sexual drive is so strong that he does not care anything anymore. He yields to the temptation of Jennie’s beauty and youth. He is ready to help Jennie’s family financially because he wants to own her body. This is what we call by ‘carnal love’ or ‘sexual love’. Some people call it ‘bodily love.’

Jennie herself is too young and immature to understand anything about love. Besides that, she is so innocent that she cannot understand what Brander intends to do with her. When he gives her some money, she feels very happy. She is never

suspicious of his giving her the money. She only thinks that Brander is the savior.

“Jennie accepted the money with mingled feelings; it did not occur to her to look and see how much it was. The great man was so near her, the wonderful chamber in which he dwelt so impressive, that she scarcely realized what she was doing ….she immensely taken with the comfort and luxury surrounding this man, and subconsciously with the man himself, the most attractive she had ever known. Everything he had was fine, everything he did was gentle, distinguished and considerate.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 35 – 6)

From the quotation above, we can see that Jennie adores Brander because he “saves” Jennie and her family from poverty. In consequence, she yields to Brander and gives her virginity to him. Brander promises to marry her as soon as he comes back from Washington. But he suddenly dies before he keeps his promise. If he were still alive,

would he marry her? Nobody knows about it. The fact is that Jennie suffers from shame because she is pregnant.

Lester Kane is described as an easy – going man and a woman hunter. The firs time he sees Jennie, he cannot resist his temptation to possess her physically. For him, Jennie is the typical girl who can fulfill his sexual desire. She is still young, beautiful, and charming. He is anxious to know if Jennie will accept him or not. But he believes that he can persuade her since she is very poor. He can use his wealth to seduce her. Besides that, he is also handsome. He usually uses his wealth to conquer any woman he likes. Although his parents want him to get married and live decently, he likes to choose his own way of life. He wants to be free so that he can satisfy his sexual desire whenever he wants. He is described as

“…a man of vigorous, aggressive, and sound personality; he was nevertheless an essentially animal-man, pleasantly veneered by education and environment.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 138)

Dreiser calls Lester an ”animal-man” which means that Lester has an animal drive – sexual desire.

Lester is actually appropriate to get married and live decently with family because he is thirty five years old. But he always thinks about enjoying his life with different women.

“Lester Kane was past the youthful love period, and he knew it. The innocence and unsophistication of younger ideals had gone. He wanted the comfort of feminine companionship, but he was more and more disinclined to give up his personal liberty in order to obtain it. He would not wear the social snackles if it were possible to satisfy the needs of his heart and nature and still remain free and unfettered.”

(Dreiser, 1963: 140)

From the quotation above, we can see that Lester wants to be free as a single man. Therefore, he does not like a wedlock. In the novel, he tries hard to win Jennie’s love. He is not able to stop, or at least, to resist the temptation. Finally he is able to persuade her to live with him with out getting married. They have lived together for four years when they finally realize that each of them must be separated.

3.8 Tragedy

Another element of naturalistic writing is tragedy, the story usually ends in tragedy. In this novel, the tragedy happens to the protagonist of the novel, Jennie Gerhardt. She is starting to climb up to her higher social status by getting along with an old man who is rich and popular. She hopes that her dream of becoming famous and rich will come true if she can marry this man. The senator himself promises to marry her. But the senator dies.

Jennie’s ambition to become rich does not fade away. Her acquaintance with another wealthy man has grown her ambition. Lester again helps family financially. He buys expensive ornaments, a new house for her family, and he says that he loves

her. He often takes her to see the operas and the movies. He also takes her to the parties. Now she can get along with high-class people. She does not care whether they are married or not. She seems very happy now. But the tragedy then comes to her. Her mother dies; her brothers and sisters never get in touch with her any more. After that she also realize that Lester leave Jennie. He marries with another woman. Her name is Letty Pace. Lester had better marry Letty in order to get rich and powerful in business.

In the mean time, Gerhardt is sick because he is very old now. Jennie is so sad now because she now does not have anyone, except Vesta. Meanwhile, her relationship with Lester finally breaks off. Once more tragedy come in Jennie life, her beloved daughter, Vesta dies.

This novel ends with a tragedy. In this case, Jennie, the protagonist of the novel finally fails to gain her ambition as a rich and famous woman. She is left by the people whom she loves: Lester, her mother, her father, her daughter, and her brothers and sisters.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

4.1 Conclusion

After having analyzed the novel, Jennie Gerhardt, I come to conclusion that this novel has some elements of naturalism. Therefore, I would say that Dreiser’ Jennie Gerhardt is a naturalistic novel.

The concept of determinism is clearly seen in the plot of the story. The leading characters, especially the protagonist, are very weak and helpless in their struggle or fight against their own existence. They are trapped in a fierce world whose events are determined by the uncontrollable forces. They have to yield to their own destiny. They are like pawns in the chess game. Jennie, the protagonist of the novel, is so weak and helpless that she can resist the powerful forces which determine her fate. She is like a drifted wood on the river. She is not able to make any effort to change her destiny.

Accidentalness and causation as the elements of naturalistic writing are also seen clearly in the novel. Lester and Jennie meet Letty Pace in London and Egypt. Both these places are far away from America. How can they meet a person who has not long be seen in such far away places? Of course, Dreiser can arrange their meeting since he is the author of the novel. Again, Jennie accidentally meet Brander in the hotel, she also meets Lester at Mrs. Brancebridge’s house by a chance.

If Jennie did not meet Brander, she would not be pregnant. Is she did not meet Lester, her life would be different. If, again, she and Lester did not meet Letty, who had close relationship with Lester, she would not be abandoned by Lester. This causation always happens in the plot of the novel.

Destiny or fate is the dominant element in the novel, Jennie Gerhardt because, I believe, destiny can be said as the theme of the novel. It is fate that brings Jennie to her doom at the end of the novel. It is her fate that causes her to be pregnant without a husband. It is fate that leads her to find another wealthy man, but it is also fate that causes her to be left alone and be lonely.

It is clearly seen in the novel that Jennie, the protagonist, longs for the earthly or worldly pleasure, wealth and fame. She always dreams of becoming a rich girl when she works in the hotel. Therefore, she easily accepts Brander’s offer to give her financial help. She imagines that she will be happy if she has a lot of money. If she could get married with Brander, the famous senator, she would also get popularity.

Jennie also gets another opportunity when she meets Lester, a rich young gentleman. She again hopes that she will be a happy woman if she can live with Lester although they are not married. And she is happy until Lester abandons her.

Dreiser elaborate details the condition of a certain place. He vividly describes the hotel and its lobby where Mrs. Gerhardt and Jennie work at it. He, for example, describes in detailed the cottage where Jennie and her daughter live in. he even describes and mentions one by one, along with their ages, the members of the family, either the Gerhardt or the Kane.

The novel is peopled by common people, whether they belong to the low class or the middle class. William Gerhard is a German immigrant who works in various glass factories in Pensylvania. Brander is a senator; Lester Kane works for his father’s company, while Mr. O’Brien is a lawyer.

It seems that some of the characters succumb to the temptation of sexual desire. Brander cannot resist his sexual drive when he sees Jennie. He should regard her as his own daughter because she is too young to be his wife. Lester, a womanizer or a philanderer (that is, a woman-chaser), also cannot resist his sexual drive when he sees Jennie, who is young and beautiful.

This novel ends with a tragedy. In this case, Jennie, the protagonist of the novel finally fails to gain her ambition as a rich and famous woman. She is left by the people whom she loves: Lester, her mother, her daughter, and her brothers and sisters.

4.2 Suggestion

In this opportunity, I would like to suggest that the reader of this thesis, especially the students of the English Department, enjoy reading the novel, Jennie Gerhardt. This novel is very valuable to be read and discussed. The reader of this thesis will get valuable benefit in understanding the elements of naturalism. Therefore, he will consequently understand the content of the novel easily.

On this occasion, I would also like to suggest that the students of the English department read and study some naturalistic novels written by the naturalistic

writers, such as Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, William Dean Howells, Stephen Crane, Thomas Hardy, etc. Reading naturalistic novel is very enjoyable because it talks about people around us.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M.H.1998. A Glossary of literary Term. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Aldridge, John.1983. The American Novel and The Way They Live Now. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bofart, Max.1969. The Jazz Age. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, Inc.

Chase, Richard.1979. The American Novel and Its Tradition. New York: Gordian Press.

Dreiser, Theodore. 1963. Jennie Gerhardt. New York: Dell Publishing Co. Inc. Herzog, Max. 1966. The Reader’s Encyclopedia of American literature. New York:

Thomas J. Cornwell Company.

Kazin, Alfred.1973. On Native Ground, An Interpretation of Modern American Prose Literature. New York: Harcourt, race, and world, Inc.

Kenney, William, 1996. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press.

Spiller, E.R.1965. The Third Dimension, Studies in Literary History. New York: The Mac Millan Company.

Waller, Gary.1987. The Lexington Introduction to Literature. Lexington: Massachusetts D.C. Heath and Company.

Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. 1977. Theory of literature. New York: Harcourt Brace and World Inc.

APPENDIX

THE SUMMARY OF JENNIE GERHARDT

The story begins with the searching of a job by Mrs. Gerhardt and her daughter, Jennie, in a big hotel in town. The Gerhardt’s family is very poor that Mr. Gerhardt cannot afford to support the family. Mrs. Gerhardt thinks that it is better for her to find a job of two or three dollars a week in order to help her husband in financial problems. She gets the job in the cleaning service with the wages of three dollars a week. She is helped by her oldest daughter. After three weeks in the hotel, her oldest son, Sebastian (Bass) suggests her get a washing service for the guests of the hotel. Fortunately, the manager of the hotel agrees to the idea.

One of the honorable guests of the hotel is George Syvester Brander, a notable senator of the country. He becomes one of Mrs. Gerhardt’s customers in doing the laundry. Usually, Jennie is the person who takes the clothes to be washed. Brander feels sympathy with Jennie who is so beautiful and young. It seems as Jennie also likes Brander who is rich and famous besides his old age. But Brander is very kind toward Jennie and her family. He feels sorry for their poverty.

He usually gives some money and presents. For the time being, Mr. Gerhardt does not know about Brander and his relationship with Jennie, until one time his neighbor tells him that Jennie is used to going a ride with an old gentleman. Gerhard feels angry because he does not want his daughter to get a long with an old man

especially after dark. He is religious man. One time Sebastian is caught by the police because he is stealing the coal from the train. He is doing this because he wants to help his family. Gerhardt and the members of the family become panic. They do not know how to solve the problem, because the police say that Sebastian will free if they pay the government ten dollars. Jennie then goes to Brander to ask for help. Brander is willing to help bass get free from the jail, but the consequence of this deed is that Jennie has lost her virginity.

When Jennie’s father knows it, he instantly orders Jennie to leave the house for good. Jennie and her mother are so upset, but they do not know what to do. Meanwhile, Sebastian is preparing to leave their town, Colombus and moves to Claveland. He believes that he will succeed in finding a good life in that town. After a few months in Claveland, Sebastian writes to his mother asking her and her family to move to Claveland. The important one is getting jobs and everything will be all right. Meanwhile, Jennie has been pregnant for six months. So, this is a good chance for her to leave the town, so that nobody will ask her who the father of the baby is.

The Gerhardt’s family is in Claveland, except Gerhardt himself who is still working as porter in a certain factory in Colombus. Sebastian works at a vigar store, Jennie works for Mrs. Bracebridge, a wealthy woam in Claveland, a servant girl. After a few months in Mrs. Bracebridge’s house, Jennie has got some experience in handling the house. She gets four dollars a week and by this some of money she can save a few dollars a month for her family. Meanwhile, her girl baby was born when she still lived in Colombus. Now, her daughter, Vesta, is at home with her

grandmother. The father or her child, George Sylvester Brander, has died and they never got married. That is why Gerhardt feels upset about this.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bracebridge has a friend, Mr. Kane, who owns a big company is very rich. He has two sons, Robert and Lester. The latter is visiting Mrs. Bracebridge’s house and meets Jennie. He is astonished to see Jennie who is so beautiful and attractive. He falls in love with Jennie for the first sight. Jennie actually likes him but she cannot show her feeling, since she is only a servant and has a daughter. Lester tries to seduce Jennie and promises to help her financially because he knows that Jennie is poor. First, Jennie refuses his love since she is afraid if the same problem will happen to her again. But Jennie is a great trouble because accidentally her father has an accident. She has to accept Lester’s offer to help her and agrees to go New York with Lester for a couple of weeks.

Lester loves Jennie very much but he does not want to marry her since she is not a rich woman. Moreover, his family is very strict with their tradition. So, it is impossible for Lester to marry her because of this social level. They only live together in Chicago by renting an apartment, without being married. Lester’s parents seem not to approve of this unmarried couple. Moreover, the high-class society in Chicago feels that it is not good for a successful businessman like Lester to live with a woman without getting married. But Lester does not care all this criticism. He enjoys his way of life and he is very happy with Jennie beside him. Meanwhile, Jennie herself never mentions to Lester about her daughter, Vesta, because from the first time Lester says that he does not like children. She puts Vesta in the boarding

house, but finally Lester knows that Jennie has a daughter. He gets angry because Jennie never tells him about it. But, later on, he agrees to let Vesta live with them.

Lester is still doubtful if he should marry Jennie or not. This is due to his father’s will which states that his father will give or bequeath him one-fourth of the wealth if he leaves Jennie or gives him ten thousand dollars a year for three years only if he marries her. Lester seems to ignore all these things. He does not care all of them. The important one is getting align with Jennie without being married. Jennie herself does not feel secure in her life because she is not Lester’s wife. But at least her family can be saved financially.

One time, Lester’s sister comes to visit Lester and finds out that Lester lives with a lower-class woman in the same house without being married. She despises Jennie as a concubine (she is a concubine!). Jennie feels embarrassed and writes a letter to Lester while he is away. She says that she is going to leave Lester for the sake of his happiness. Lester comes home before Jennie leaves the house and he forbids her to leave him because he loves her very much. He suggests her to move to South Hyde and rent a big house for them. They rent a big house which consists of eleven rooms. They have wealthy neighbors now. Meanwhile, most of her brothers and sisters move to another town get jobs because their mother has died. Now, her father Gerhardt lives by himself. Jennie asks her father to live with her. First, he refuses to live with her since he is suspicious about her marriage. But she says that she is a married woman now. Lester himself says that they are married. Gerhardt then moves to Jennie’s house. Meanwhile, Mrs. Kane, Lester’s mother dies. Robert, his only brother is handling the company now because his father believes that Robert

is more faithful and reliable than Lester, especially in handling the company. Lester seems not to care about this wealth because what he needs in his life is peacefulness. What his father has told him about the will comes true. His father dies and the wealth of the Kane is divided equally among the members of the family, except Lester Kane. His father’s will state that he will bequeath one fourth of the wealth to Lester on the condition as has been stated above. Lester is very upset to hear this, but he does not care. He comes home to Jennie and asks her to go abroad.

Lester and Jennie go to Europe and North Africa. In Europe they meet Letty Pace, not a widow under the name of Mrs. Gerhardt. She was Lester’s lover when they were in Cincinati. Letty is now in Europe as a very wealthy widow. She still loves Lester and Lester also still loves her. Their meeting in Europe makes them intimate again. She tells Lester that she is going to America and lives there. Lester is very happy to hear it, although he still loves Jennie and tells everybody that Jennie is his wife. Actually, Letty is an appropriate wife for him because they have the same level in the society, unlike Jennie who is from the lower class society. It is by chance that Letty and Lester and Jennie will be in the same ship to America. This will intimate their ‘friendship’ as ever.

After Lester and Jennie arrive in Chicago, Lester tries to invest his some of money in the small company in northern Indiana which build wagons and carriages. But he later realizes that he will not be able to compete with his brother’s big company. He then invests his money in the real-estate business in Chicago. But again, he fails as does not grow Southward but Northward. His real-estate is in south of Chicago. Letty Pace persuades him to leave Jennie in order to inherit hundred

millions of dollars from his late father. She also induces Lester to marry her because she knows that he still loves her. They can combine their wealth to create a bright future for Lester and her self. Lester seems to agree to what Letty Pace has proposed to him. But he still needs time to tell his plan to Jennie. Moreover, he is still doubtful about leaving Jennie or not. Meanwhile, Robert, Lester’s brother, feels that it is time to make a decision about his father’s will because the three year period as promised in the will has nearly come to an end. He then sends his lawyer to Jennie to ask her opinion about the will. She is rather shocked when the lawyer her that it depends on her whether she will leave Lester alone or not. Is she leave Lester, she will be given thousands of dollars in the form of trust for her whole life. She never thinks of money. What she is thinking is that she loves him very much, but she must leave him in order to give Lester a chance to be a rich man. Moreover, she also realizes that Letty will be an appropriate wife for Lester because they have the same level in the high-class society. Lester had better marry Letty in order to get rich and powerful in business.

In the mean time, Gerhardt is sick because he is very old now. Jennie loves her father very much and she takes care of him seriously. Vesta also loves her grandfather very much. But they both know that Gerhardt is too weak and old to stand the illness. The doctor himself says that he is not able to help Gerhardt who finally dies. Jennie is so sad because she now does not have anyone, except Vesta, to consult to. Her brothers and sisters are far away and they seem not to care for her and their father. Meanwhile, her relationship with Lester finally breaks off. She moves to a small cottage near Chicago with Vesta and Lester moves to commercial center of

the town. By this separation, Lester gets his share from the wealth of his father and now becomes a director of the company. The little town of Sanwood is a pleasant place for Jennie and her daughter. Although Jennie is so depressed by the fact that she must be separated from Lester, the man whom she loves very much, she feels all right. This is because she knows that fate has determined her to belike that.

Having separated from Jennie, Lester feels sorry that for what he has done to her. He still loves her and feels that nobody can replace Jennie in his heart. But his acquaintance with Letty Pace becomes closer and closer. They finally agree to get married. The news of their marriage has terribly shocked Jennie. But what can she do? She is very weak an helpless that she just stays calm and reposed. Her suffering is unbearable in addition to Vesta’s sickness. She is panic now because Vesta is the only person she depends on now. The doctors try to help Vesta but finally they fail. Vesta finally dies. Jennie is so desperate and helpless. Lester, despite his glamour and happiness as a millionaire, still thinks of Jennie. He can not forget her although he now has a wife who loves him. Upon the news of Vesta’s death, he comes to Jennie and soothes her. H e suggests her to ask her younger brother, William, to come and stay with her. But she does not know his address now. Finally they come to a conclusion that Jennie will adopt a child to accompany her in her old life. She then adopts a girl and then a boy of four.

Due to his busy days, drinking alcohol, traveling in luxurious ease and taking no physical exercises, Lester becomes fat, slow moving and easily ill. His kidness, liver, spleen and pancreas are easily attacked by diseases. He now becomes seriously ill and lays on bad weakly. The doctors are pessimistic about curing his illness.

Lester has someone send letters to his wife who is now in Europe. He also asks his lawyer to fetch Jennie to come to him. Jennie is shocked to hear Lester’s illness. She immediately comes to Lester’s place. She soothes him, serves him and sits beside him faithfully. Finally, Lester dies without his wife in his side but Jennie.

grandmother. The father or her child, George Sylvester Brander, has died and they never got married. That is why Gerhardt feels upset about this.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bracebridge has a friend, Mr. Kane, who owns a big company is very rich. He has two sons, Robert and Lester. The latter is visiting Mrs. Bracebridge’s house and meets Jennie. He is astonished to see Jennie who is so beautiful and attractive. He falls in love with Jennie for the first sight. Jennie actually likes him but she cannot show her feeling, since she is only a servant and has a daughter. Lester tries to seduce Jennie and promises to help her financially because he knows that Jennie is poor. First, Jennie refuses his love since she is afraid if the same problem will happen to her again. But Jennie is a great trouble because accidentally her father has an accident. She has to accept Lester’s offer to help her and agrees to go New York with Lester for a couple of weeks.

Lester loves Jennie very much but he does not want to marry her since she is not a rich woman. Moreover, his family is very strict with their tradition. So, it is impossible for Lester to marry her because of this social level. They only live together in Chicago by renting an apartment, without being married. Lester’s parents seem not to approve of this unmarried couple. Moreover, the high-class society in Chicago feels that it is not good for a successful businessman like Lester to live with a woman without getting married. But Lester does not care all this criticism. He enjoys his way of life and he is very happy with Jennie beside him. Meanwhile, Jennie herself never mentions to Lester about her daughter, Vesta, because from the first time Lester says that he does not like children. She puts Vesta in the boarding

house, but finally Lester knows that Jennie has a daughter. He gets angry because Jennie never tells him about it. But, later on, he agrees to let Vesta live with them.

Lester is still doubtful if he should marry Jennie or not. This is due to his father’s will which states that his father will give or bequeath him one-fourth of the wealth if he leaves Jennie or gives him ten thousand dollars a year for three years only if he marries her. Lester seems to ignore all these things. He does not care all of them. The important one is getting align with Jennie without being married. Jennie herself does not feel secure in her life because she is not Lester’s wife. But at least her family can be saved financially.

One time, Lester’s sister comes to visit Lester and finds out that Lester lives with a lower-class woman in the same house without being married. She despises Jennie as a concubine (she is a concubine!). Jennie feels embarrassed and writes a letter to Lester while he is away. She says that she is going to leave Lester for the sake of his happiness. Lester comes home before Jennie leaves the house and he forbids her to leave him because he loves her very much. He suggests her to move to South Hyde and rent a big house for them. They rent a big house which consists of eleven rooms. They have wealthy neighbors now. Meanwhile, most of her brothers and sisters move to another town get jobs because their mother has died. Now, her father Gerhardt lives by himself. Jennie asks her father to live with her. First, he refuses to live with her since he is suspicious about her marriage. But she says that she is a married woman now. Lester himself says that they are married. Gerhardt then moves to Jennie’s house. Meanwhile, Mrs. Kane, Lester’s mother dies. Robert, his only brother is handling the company now because his father believes that Robert

is more faithful and reliable than Lester, especially in handling the company. Lester seems not to care about this wealth because what he needs in his life is peacefulness. What his father has told him about the will comes true. His father dies and the wealth of the Kane is divided equally among the members of the family, except Lester Kane. His father’s will state that he will bequeath one fourth of the wealth to Lester on the condition as has been stated above. Lester is very upset to hear this, but he does not care. He comes home to Jennie and asks her to go abroad.

Lester and Jennie go to Europe and North Africa. In Europe they meet Letty Pace, not a widow under the name of Mrs. Gerhardt. She was Lester’s lover when they were in Cincinati. Letty is now in Europe as a very wealthy widow. She still loves Lester and Lester also still loves her. Their meeting in Europe makes them intimate again. She tells Lester that she is going to America and lives there. Lester is very happy to hear it, although he still loves Jennie and tells everybody that Jennie is his wife. Actually, Letty is an appropriate wife for him because they have the same level in the society, unlike Jennie who is from the lower class society. It is by chance that Letty and Lester and Jennie will be in the same ship to America. This will intimate their ‘friendship’ as ever.

After Lester and Jennie arrive in Chicago, Lester tries to invest his some of money in the small company in northern Indiana which build wagons and carriages. But he later realizes that he will not be able to compete with his brother’s big company. He then invests his money in the real-estate business in Chicago. But again, he fails as does not grow Southward but Northward. His real-estate is in south of Chicago. Letty Pace persuades him to leave Jennie in order to inherit hundred

millions of dollars from his late father. She also induces Lester to marry her because she knows that he still loves her. They can combine their wealth to create a bright future for Lester and her self. Lester seems to agree to what Letty Pace has proposed to him. But he still needs time to tell his plan to Jennie. Moreover, he is still doubtful about leaving Jennie or not. Meanwhile, Robert, Lester’s brother, feels that it is time to make a decision about his father’s will because the three year period as promised in the will has nearly come to an end. He then sends his lawyer to Jennie to ask her opinion about the will. She is rather shocked when the lawyer her that it depends on her whether she will leave Lester alone or not. Is she leave Lester, she will be given thousands of dollars in the form of trust for her whole life. She never thinks of money. What she is thinking is that she loves him very much, but she must leave him in order to give Lester a chance to be a rich man. Moreover, she also realizes that Letty will be an appropriate wife for Lester because they have the same level in the high-class society. Lester had better marry Letty in order to get rich and powerful in business.

In the mean time, Gerhardt is sick because he is very old now. Jennie loves her father very much and she takes care of him seriously. Vesta also loves her grandfather very much. But they both know that Gerhardt is too weak and old to stand the illness. The doctor himself says that he is not able to help Gerhardt who finally dies. Jennie is so sad because she now does not have anyone, except Vesta, to consult to. Her brothers and sisters are far away and they seem not to care for her and their father. Meanwhile, her relationship with Lester finally breaks off. She moves to a small cottage near Chicago with Vesta and Lester moves to commercial center of

the town. By this separation, Lester gets his share from the wealth of his father and now becomes a director of the company. The little town of Sanwood is a pleasant place for Jennie and her daughter. Although Jennie is so depressed by the fact that she must be separated from Lester, the man whom she loves very much, she feels all right. This is because she knows that fate has determined her to belike that.

Having separated from Jennie, Lester feels sorry that for what he has done to her. He still loves her and feels that nobody can replace Jennie in his heart. But his acquaintance with Letty Pace becomes closer and closer. They finally agree to get married. The news of their marriage has terribly shocked Jennie. But what can she do? She is very weak an helpless that she just stays calm and reposed. Her suffering is unbearable in addition to Vesta’s sickness. She is panic now because Vesta is the only person she depends on now. The doctors try to help Vesta but finally they fail. Vesta finally dies. Jennie is so desperate and helpless. Lester, despite his glamour and happiness as a millionaire, still thinks of Jennie. He can not forget her although he now has a wife who loves him. Upon the news of Vesta’s death, he comes to Jennie and soothes her. H e suggests her to ask her younger brother, William, to come and stay with her. But she does not know his address now. Finally they come to a conclusion that Jennie will adopt a child to accompany her in her old life. She then adopts a girl and then a boy of four.

Due to his busy days, drinking alcohol, traveling in luxurious ease and taking no physical exercises, Lester becomes fat, slow moving and easily ill. His kidness, liver, spleen and pancreas are easily attacked by diseases. He now becomes seriously ill and lays on bad weakly. The doctors are pessimistic about curing his illness.

Lester has someone send letters to his wife who is now in Europe. He also asks his lawyer to fetch Jennie to come to him. Jennie is shocked to hear Lester’s illness. She immediately comes to Lester’s place. She soothes him, serves him and sits beside him faithfully. Finally, Lester dies without his wife in his side but Jennie.