Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser clearly illustrates the development and regression of its two main characters, Carrie Meeber and George Hurstwood. Carrie is an ordinary girl who rises from a low-paid wage earner to a high-paid actress, and Hurstwood, a member of the upper middle class in the late nineteenth century who falls from his comfortable lifestyle to a life on the streets.
             In the beginning, the author introduces Carrie, making it clear that she is the protagonist of the novel. He doesn't really give any background information about her, however the reader is informed that she is eighteen and is traveling on a train to Chicago to reside with her sister and brother- in- law. Carrie has no money, and when she moves to Chicago, she finds a low paying job at a shoe factory but is forced to pay rent at her sister's leaving her with little to nothing. With the help of Charlie Drouet, charming, flashy salesman that she met on the train, she was able to accommodate sufficient funds to get by for a while.
             Meanwhile, George Hurstwood is introduced later down in the novel. Initially he is the manager of Fitzgerald and Moy's, a saloon in Chicago and he is a wealthy, important man. He is married with two children. Apparently his marriage is suffering and he makes matters even worse after he falls in love with Carrie when he meets her through Drouet- knowing that Drouet and Carrie are supposed to be a professed couple.
             As the novel progresses, and Carrie and Hurstwood become more serious, Carrie's life seems to be succeeding while Hurstwood is degenerating. Carrie is offered a role in a play through connections with Drouet. Her stunning performance then opens a new door of opportunity for her. But her affair with Hurstwood is somehow setting her back. When Hurstwood's wife discovers that he is having an affair, she files for divorce leaving him with nothing because everything they owned was written in his wife&ap...