Many researchers have analyzed this novel, but only a few works touched the symbolic meanings of newspaper in Sister Carrie. And of these researches related to the symbolic meanings of newspaper are not thorough and enough. They only show that newspaper has symbolic meanings but they seldom explain these symbolic meanings in detail. One scholar criticizing journalism in Sister Carrie is Mark Canada, who argues that newspaper fails its readers and fiction is the way to truth. In this paper, first I will argue that newspaper reports are not always reliable and accurate. Second I will demonstrate that newspaper is a reflection of social status. I will support this point by the example of Carrie and other celebrities in the book. Then I will prove that newspaper is a representative of the past and the newspaper readers are conservative and out of date just like papers. Evidences are collected by analyzing Hanson, Hurstwood, Carrie and Mrs. Hurstwood. And the last part is conclusion.

2.The Critique of Journalism in Sister Carrie

    Journalism began to flourish in the 19th century and Dreiser had worked as a journalist for years. Newspaper, Dreiser wrote, “by their general familiarity and intimacy with everything which was going on in the world, seemed to me to be the nearest and quickest approach to all this of which I was dreaming” (1991: 43). In this novel we can find newspaper almost everywhere--streets, trains, homes and hotels. Although newspaper is so important in daily life, many people criticize journalism for its negative effects. Dreiser himself had worked for newspaper for years, he criticized newspaper in his biography. Calder reviews that “Though Dreiser had become accustomed to the kind of ‘sanitizing’ that the editors and publishers inflicted on his manuscripts to make them palatable to the conservative reading public of the early 1999s, he was never happy about the process” (1993: 62). And Mark Canada mentions that “Many American realist fiction writers--including Mark Twain, W. D. Howells, Stephen Crane, Dreiser, and even Henry James had, in fact, worked for newspapers or magazines; however, with the exception of Crane, all eventually not only abandoned journalism, but also singled it out for caustic criticism. What went wrong” (2010: 227)?

2.1 Some Reports on the Newspaper Lacking in Accuracy

Newspaper provides readers much information but some news is incomplete or inaccurate. When Hurstwood steals money and runs to Montreal, he feels the injustice in society. “All the newspapers noted but one thing, his taking the money. How and wherefore were but indifferently dealt with” (Dreiser, 2013: 302). Hurstwood feels disappointed and unfair that newspaper only reports one-sided news. Being reported on the paper, Hurstwood leaves an impression of an escaped criminal on other people. This is the reason why the air is awkward when Hurstwood comes across his acquaintance from Chicago.

When Hurstwood decides to work on the trolley lines in Brooklyn where there is a strike of workers. Carrie is worried about his safety because the paper reports that there were four people hurt yesterday. Hurstwood returns, “but you can’t go by what the papers say” (Dreiser, 2013: 429). He might simply want to ease her worry, but the description here also shows that the news on the paper is not always reliable.

Therefore, newspaper seems to have failed its readers for their inaccurate news. More reliable information is delivered through oral communication or letter writing.

2.2 Hypocrisy in Sister Carrie

Newspaper reports the news that happened in the past and the information is not always accurate and reliable. Except for the fake reports, there are many hypocritical and insincere people. Although Hurstwood falls in love with Carrie and is tired of his wife, he still keeps his marriage as a secret to Carrie and tries to please his wife when they have a quarrel. Hurstwood and Mrs. Hurstwood quarrel about the trip to Waukesha one morning. In the evening he wants to make peace with his wife and tries to ease the atmosphere. He tries to break the ice by sharing the news on the paper. When he comes to a piece of interesting news, “he stirred and chuckled to himself. He wished that he might enlist his wife’s attention and read it to her” (Dreiser, 2013: 226). Newspaper becomes his tool to cover his hypocrisy and nervousness. Although he makes efforts to please his wife, his heart has already flown to Carrie. Hurstwood loves Carrie but he also cares about his reputation. “He fears that the breakdown of his marriage and the scandal will ruin his good reputation and make him lose his managerial position” (Ma Rui, 2013: 28). “If she raises a row now I’ll lose this thing. They won’t have me around if my name gets in the paper” (Dreiser, 2013: 245). His disloyalty to the marriage and oppression from his wife result in his stealing and tragic life in New York. 《嘉莉妹妹》中报纸的象征意义(2):http://www.chuibin.com/yingyu/lunwen_205495.html