In the shadow of the giant : the impact of the industrial city on identity in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American literature

Abstract

The Industrial Era in America ushered in a time of unprecedented economic growth, yet unfortunately, the industrial-consumer culture created by this growth fostered a devaluation of the American individual during this time in history. This study looks at four novels written during this era--Steven Crane's Maggie, Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Sherwood Anderson's Poor White, and John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer--and discusses the ways in which the authors of these books highlight the devaluation of people in the Industrial Era through their depictions of urban life in these novels. In Maggie, Crane uses an impressionistic portrayal of New York City to reveal deep social contrasts that affect the value its inhabitants place on themselves and others around them. Dreiser's Sister Carrie shows how industrialism during the late nineteenth century spawned a crazed consumerism in American culture that encouraged people to ground their senses of significance in their social status and buying power. The growth of Bidwell, Ohio, into an industrial city in Anderson's Poor White illustrates the sense of confusion and displacement people experienced during industrialism, a confusion that came as a result of being alienated from things in which they once found their value and significance. Finally, in Manhattan Transfer, Dos Passos likens the industrial city to an unyielding machine and, by way of this analogy, shows the way in which the industrial city robbed people of individual significance by demanding conformity to the industrial system.