Sister Carrie, as a masterpiece by Theodore Dreiser, has been criticized for its awkward style, bad grammar, and proverbial slovenliness since its publication in 1900. However, these unfavorable comments do not lessen the novel’s importance and Dreiser’s role as a major writer in American literature. Despite his stylistic flaws, or some “controversial” opinions as Donald Pizer mentions in his “Preface” to Sister Carrie (ix), Dreiser has won for himself as an important literary figure, a pioneer who writes straightforwardly in the novel his keen observation of American society. Three of the main characters in the novel, Carrie Meeber, Charlie Drouet, and George Hurstwood, all drift and are drawn more by their desire and vanity at heart. As far as Carrie is concerned, whenever she makes a choice, she reveals more the hard fact that she doesn’t really have much option in the decision she makes. In the following study, I shall focus on Carrie and try to elaborate upon the themes of the novel and analyze how Dreiser displays his artistic craftsmanship to portray vanity and desire as the underlying forces that constitute Carrie’s city adventures in Chicago and New York.