An American Tragedy

Clyde Griffiths starts the novel as a poor child of itinerant preachers and ends up as a notorious killer who dies by execution. Theodore Dreiser uses Clyde’s pursuit of The American Dream to structure the novel. Dreiser describes Clyde as a handsome man. His appearance is the only commodity that Clyde has to escape his parents’ poverty. Clyde’s lack of confidence, betrayed in his hesitant, nervous manner, hampers his goal of getting ahead financially and romantically. Clyde is also materialistic—a characteristic that is both exacerbated and thwarted by his poverty. Entering the world of work through his job at the Green-Davidson teaches Clyde that his appearance can get him the things that he wants. The Green-Davidson is a workplace with a kickback culture, so Clyde also learns that one needs money to make money and that the appearance of hard work is more important than actually working hard.

The next turning point for Clyde is the car accident, which arrests his ascent up the service ladder. Clyde recovers when a friend reminds him of how important looking at ease is to success. Clyde approaches Samuel Griffiths with this attitude, allowing him to secure a job. Although Samuel and Gilbert push Clyde back into the “basement world” (81) with the job in the shrinking room, Clyde’s appearance—his similarity to Gilbert—saves him again.