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and accomplishment of the final draft passed thirty-one years. Dreiser’s serious attitude towards writing is very instructive, which is distinct from unfaithfulness in literary circles around the globe today. According to some American critics, Dreiser was very sympathetic, instead of being sarcastic, while portraying one of the protagonists Solon Barnes, a bank cashier who is the “bulwark” of traditional moral norms; this is among distinctions of this book and pointing out this is meaningful. It’s not difficult to comprehend why the writer is not sarcastic if we understand that the fall of a “family”, a “bulwark” of traditional standards in the wave of market economy is actually another featured American tragedy; and moreover, this tragedy is highly likely to occur in any urban and rural areas under shock of this wave in nations around the world.
During the Cold War in the 1950s, over ten years of attack beleaguering Dreiser naturally affected commentary on The Bulwark, with both criticism and praises. In this thesis, it plans to study on family ethics view of Dreiser, based on the text analysis of The Bulwark.

The Feasibility and Significance of the Research 研究的可行性和意义

Since the middle period of last century, researches on Dreiser’s masterpieces gradually increased domestically and abroad, especially for his famous Sister Carrie, and An American Tragedy, etc.; however there are not many researchers studying on The Bulwark, not mentioned his family ethic view. Dreiser’s works reflected the change of American traditional morals; especially in The Bulwark, the views of Dreiser on family ethics are the main theme of this novel. Due to the above reasons, this thesis therefore is with great significance.
Firstly, this thesis will fully explore the changes of the family ethical relations in The Bulwark. The value of family ethical relations in American society was born with the birth of America; its contents have certain update as well with the development of American society. As a kind of faith, a kind of spirit, it has deeply rooted in the hearts of America people, and has become typical culture motif in American society. A martial relation is the chief family ethical relations. The ideal martial relationship should be based on the sincere feelings. However, in The Bulwark by Theodore Dreiser, apart from the happy marriage between Solon and Benecia, the work showcases the materialized spousal ethical relationship under the influence of consumerism culture. The materialization of spousal relationship as well as the amount of money is the only criteria to measure both side of the marriage, which caused the fragile of marriage. Parent-child relationship is also named inter-generational ethical relation. In the family ethical relations, the relationship between parents and children is the most important part. The parents bring up the children and care for the children, and they also want to be loved and respected by children. Nevertheless, for the influence of consumerism culture, both parents and children gradually measure each other with material criteria, such a utilitarianism value makes the parents and children face more conflicts. The inter-generational ethical relation is alienated. In The Bulwark, the relationship between Solon and children was distorted, and children deny the intrinsic value of their father, disrespect their