Let us change the course of events in the novel An American Tragedy by Theodor Dreiser.
The penniless, hardworking Roberta Alden is just as beautiful and attractive as the wealthy, pampered and elegant Sondra Finchley.
When Clyde Griffith took Roberta on a row boat out on not the Big Bittern Lake but a river where there were dangerous rapids, he had every intention to get rid of her.
But Roberta sang “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily, merrily life is but a dream” and chatted so charmingly
that Clyde changed his mind. He made stop at the bank of the river
and took Roberta for a short walk.
Soon they were on their way back to the city, as loving a couple as ever.
They lived happily ever after. In consequence, the novel An American Tragedy is no more.