Sister Carrie, the first novel of American writer Theodore Dreiser, is regarded as a naturalistic works in the literary field. This paper aims to analyze the novel from the perspective of existentialism, arguing that if the novel is seen from Hurstwood’ s point of view, after the loss of his job, he can not adapt to the environment and commits suicide, it is a naturalistic works;if it is seen from Carrie’ s viewpoint, it is necessary to explain it in two aspects as follows:on the one hand, she has to live with Drouet and Hurstwood respectively in order to make a living in the big city, and she is the embodiment of the Darwinian concept of “the survival of the fittest”, it is a naturalistic works;on the other hand, however, if viewed from the plot development, she fulfills her “American Dream”—material success and a star in Broadway by means of her talent, confidence, aspiration, good luck, youth, beauty, definite goals, sense of competition, pursuit of equality between man and woman and hard work de-spite Drouet’ s and Hurstwood’ s aid to some extent, it is not a naturalistic works.%美国作家西奥多·德莱赛的第一部长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》一向被文学界划分为自然主义作品。文章从存在主义视角解读该作品，认为如果从赫斯特伍德的视角来分析，在失去工作之后，他不能适应残酷的社会环境，最后自杀身亡，这部小说是自然主义作品；如果从嘉莉的视角来看，则要从两方面来分析：为了在大城市生存她不得不先后与德鲁埃、赫斯特伍德同居，是达尔文“适者生存”理论的化身，从这个视角来看，此部作品也算是自然主义作品，但是如果从故事情节发展来看，嘉莉积极进取，凭靠明确的目标、表演天赋、机灵、自信、勤奋好学、竞争意识、要求男女平等的现代女性意识而脱颖而出，实现了其美国梦———物质上的成功，成为百老汇一颗耀眼的明星，该小说则不属于自然主义作品。嘉莉“美国梦”的实现固然与两位男人德鲁埃和赫斯特伍德的帮助分不开，更重要的却是她有明确的目标、自信、好学、努力。
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