美国现实主义文学拓荒者、20世纪美国杰出的现实主义作家西奥多·德莱塞(Theodore Dreiser),出生于美国印第安纳州特莱哈特镇一个劳动者的家庭。父亲约翰·德莱塞是一位贫困的德国移民,笃信天主教,早年为逃避兵役来到美国谋生,西奥多是他的第九个孩子。由于家境贫寒,人口众多,西奥多从小就参加劳动,与父母兄姐一起度着艰难的日子。德莱塞在贫困的环境中,度过了童年和少年时代,他随家庭频繁地迁居奔 Theodore Dreiser, a realist pioneer of American realism and a distinguished realist of the 20th century in the United States, was born in a family of laborers in the town of Trehart, Indiana. His father, John Dreiser, was a poor German immigrant who believed in Catholicism. He had come to the United States to escape from military service in his early years. Theodore was his ninth child. Due to his poor family and large population, Theodore took part in labor as a child and lived a difficult life together with his parents and sisters. Dreiser spent his childhood and teenage years in a poverty-stricken environment. He moved frequently with his family.