Sister Carrie 1

This book reminds me of two words, consumerism and materialistic. From the very first page, we already know the type of person Sister Carrie is. She is materialistic, and that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have nice things, but Sister Carrie may be a little more caught up in that idea than she should be. Right off the bat, the narrator makes sure to bring attention to Sister Carrie’s fake purse. She is so caught up with trying to have the best of everything that she buys a knock-off purse so that people think she has money. 

Sister Carrie isn’t the only person in this book who puts money above everything. Sister Carrie’s sister and brother-in-law are also very materialistic. At first, they seems like a conservative people who are looking out for Sister Carrie. Minnie tries to suggest they do free things for entertainment, and her husband makes sure Sister Carrie budgets her money for car fair when she goes to work. We find out later that the only reason Sister Carrie is staying with them is so she can help supplement their income. They want money out of her, they do not simply want the comfort of family.

This book is about consumerism. It shows how much people want to have nice possessions, and how they will do anything to be able to buy those possessions. Sister Carries works all day at a job that she doesn’t like, and by the time she pays her sister and buys food and whatnot, she has barely any money left to buy any of the nice things she wants. Her sister lures Sister Carrie in under the pretense that she is visiting a loving sister only to realize, her sister just needs her to help foot the bills.