The image of the protagonist portrayed in Theodore Dreiser's novel, Sister Carrie, is only a half-truth. Examining Sister Carrie's character, she is easily seen as passive, weak, and full of superficial desires, yet in this profoundly inert nature lies the seed for the greater expression of an artistic soul. However, this realization is only brought about by the archetypically erudite eyes of Ames (the intelligent but secretive engineer); bringing out the powerful and intimate beauty that Carrie possesses, to which without a photograph the reader would remain forever blind. However, as Ames brings out the riches of Carrie's humanity, he outlines yet another ideal, the artist's ideal, which lies far removed from the comfort Carrie craves, and consequently forever tethers her happiness to the heights of his desire: something he has never overcome. Consequently, as Carrie progresses toward decadence, she falls further into alienation and loneliness and, through Ames, into even greater passivity. The novel presents Carrie's associations with her two lovers, Drouet and Hurstwood, firmly and in detail, citing her interactions with them as the basis for her character. The idea then develops that she is a weak and passive woman, driven only by the desire to achieve an opulent life, where “self-interest” is “her guiding characteristic” (p2). In other words, a personality that borders on the pathetic. What little individuality and uniqueness she displays as a young woman looking for work in the vast and unforgiving city quickly succumbs to the elegant wealth and passion of the two men. This requires no effort on the part of Drouet, who with his beautiful clothes and his words, immediately impresses "her a dark world... in the middle of the paper... a mouth", or above all to witness it on stage and see our longing reflected back to us by this timid little form, reading Carrie's solitary rise would be more enjoyable (p116, p384). If we were granted even a glimpse of this lovely figure with her sad eyes, we would reach a deeper understanding, but as it is, we must rely on Ames' vision to perceive a deeper poetic quality in her. Fittingly, we leave Sister Carrie at the end of the novel, once again elevated to a higher place in life, but no closer to that than ever before, condemned by the narrator to the static life of her “rocking chair by the window.” ”, where “dreaming you will desire, alone. In your rocking chair, by your window you will dream of a happiness you will never feel” (p400). Works Cited Dreiser, Theodore, and EL Sister Carrie. Bantam Classics, 1982. Print.