Clyde Griffiths

Clyde Griffiths is the protagonist in Theodore Dreiser's classic novel An American Tragedy. The character is based on real-life murderer Chester Gillette. Clyde is a young man from a sheltered religious upbringing in Kansas City. His drive and ambition for money and love culminates in a tragic ending.

Throughout his childhood, Clyde is embarrassed by his family's poverty and their religious fanaticism. The opportunity arises for Clyde to become a bellboy at an established hotel. This is where Clyde's obsession with advancing himself through society first takes root. Through the friendships which he makes at the hotel, Clyde meets Hortense Briggs, an attractive, manipulative girl who takes advantage of Clyde's naivety.

After the fatal accident in Kansas City, Clyde encounters his wealthy uncle from Lycurgus, NY. His uncle offers him a job at his factory and Clyde moves to the wealthy New York town. Initially, his arrogant cousin Gilbert provides a foil to Clyde's humble character. (The two characters are constantly compared because of their physical similarity.) However, Gilbert is the product of his father's wealth and Clyde the product of his father's failure.

Clyde's interactions with the two women who eventually lead to his demise provide the main body of the novel. Clyde's previous relationship with Hortense is shown in the way he capriciously treats Roberta Alden (based on Gillette's victim, Grace Brown), the naive girl he mistakenly impregnates. He murders Roberta, whom he had previously loved, for the wealthier, more beautiful Sondra Finchley.

When Roberta's body is discovered, Clyde attempts to deny his involvement, despite the fact that her death was not entirely his fault. His lies force an indictment in court where he is eventually found guilty as the evidence piles up around him. The final chapters of the book evoke much torn emotion as Clyde spends his final days in prison before being executed. Clyde internally acknowledges his guilt and the reader still feels sympathy for the poor, dead Roberta. Yet at the same time Clyde's calmness, as he approaches his death, shows an unseen bravery. The tragic ending shows Clyde as a victim of the harsh American society, so fixated on success, which he spends his whole life trying to ascend.