英语专业毕业论文美国梦资料.docx

英语专业毕业论文美国梦资料.docx

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英语专业毕业论文美国梦资料

ForrestGumpandAmericanDream

by

ChenZheye

AThesis

SubmittedinPartialFulfillment

oftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofBachelorofArts

intheSchoolofForeignLanguages

ShanghaiJianqiaoCollege

May,2013

ForrestGumpandAmericanDream

ABSTRACT

ForrestGumpwonthe67thAnnualAcademyin1995.Itisnotjustamovie.Ithasbecomeaculturalphenomenon.ThemovieistheprevailingsocialperspectiveoflowIQandinvolvesanumberofhistoricalfiguresandhistoricalevents.ItevokesreflectiononhistoryandtheheartsofcollectionoftheAmericanDream.Fromthe“stupid”behaviorofForrestGump,peoplecanseethevirtuesofkindness,trustworthiness,seriousness;honesty,courage,loyalty,andmanyothervirtuesandbehaviorsthatAmericansareadvocatingnow.ThespiritofForrestGump’sindependentpersonality,hisfreespirit,strengthofcharacterandarealisticattitudetowardslife,etc.isaperfectinterpretationofthecoreofAmericanculturalvaluesofindividualism.Inthispaper,throughtheanalysisofthemaincharactersofForrestGump,thepaperwantstoresolveaconcretemanifestationoftheAmericandream.TheAmericanDreamisaconcentratedexpressionofAmericanvalues.ItisrootedintheearlydevelopmentofPuritanismafterthefoundingoftheWestwardMovement,disillusionmentintheperiodofgreatdevelopmentofmonopolycapitalism.AmericanDreambydifferenthistoricalevents,atdifferenttimes,hasdifferentcontentandperformance.Thispaperanalyzestheorigin,developmentoftheAmericanswhoarepursuingtheAmericandream.AlsoitanalyzestheexpressionoftheAmericanDreamanditspositivesignificance.

Keywords:

Americandream,development,influence,ForrestGump,success

《阿甘正传》与美国梦

摘要

摘得1995年第67届奥斯卡六项大奖的《阿甘正传》已不仅仅是一部影片，它已成为一种文化现象。

影片以一个智商低下的人的视角去看当时的社会，涉及多个历史人物和历史事件，目的是唤起人们对历史的反思和心中珍藏的美国梦。

在很多人眼里近乎“愚笨”的阿甘的行为中，人们看到了一种久违的善良、守信、认真；诚实、勇敢、忠诚等诸多美国人所崇尚的美德。

阿甘独立的人格、自由的精神、坚强的性格和现实的人生态度等的精神是美国文化价值的核心一个人主义的完美演绎。

本文通过分析《阿甘正传》主要人物，来解析其在美国梦中的具体表现。

美国梦是美国价值观的集中体现。

它根植于早期的清教主义，发展于建国后的西进运动，幻灭于垄断资本主义大发展时期。

在不同时期，美国梦受到不同的历史事件的影响，有着不同的内容和表现。

本文分析了美国梦的起源，发展以及美国人对于美国梦的肯定及追求，表达了美国梦对美国人的影响和积极意义。

关键词：

美国梦，发展，影响，《阿甘正传》，成功

TableofContents

1Introduction

ThereasonwhyIchosethistopicisIamveryinterestedinAmericanDreamandIlikeForrestGumpverymuch.Wecanlearnalotfromhim.IhopemypaperaboutAmericanDreamandForrestGumpwillgiveotherpeoplereferentialsignificanceandlaythefoundationasmyfuturein-depthstudyandresearchofAmericanculture.

Inthispaper,Idivideditintothreeparts.ThefirstisthedefinitionofAmericanDreamthataslongasyouhaveadreamandstrongwillanddetermination,youwillbesuccessfulintheUnitedState.TheAmericanDreamisanideal,intheUnitedStates,itcanbethroughthetirelesseffortsofindividualsandworkinghard,thensucceed,ratherthanrelyonaparticularsocialclassandtheassistanceofothers.Theterm"AmericanDream"wasfirstwrittenbyAmericanhistorianAdams（Adams,1878-1949）,inthebookAmericanHistoricalDictionary,UnitedStatesmapin1931,andAmericanhistoryanthology（TheEpicofAmerica）.

Thesecondpartistheintroductionofthefilmwhichtellsadisabledman’soutstandinglife.ForrestGumpisanAmericanfilmadaptationofthenovelofthesamename,theauthorofthenovelisWinstonGroom,thefilmwonthe1995AcademyAwardforBestPicture,BestMaleOscarprotagonistAward,theOscarforBestDirectortotallysixawards.ForrestGumpmoldincarnationofvirtue,honest,trustworthy,serious,andbraveandattentiontofeelings.Inthemovie,ForrestGumpisaverypureimage,describedthemoviefrombeginningtoendisawarmthandgoodattitudetoperformance.Heisloyal,sointheVietnamWar,hewasoutofdangeralonewhenhestillranbacktothejungletolookforhiscomrades.Heistrustworthiness,hepromisedhiscomradesBubbatotalbuyashrimpboat,butBubbadied,intheeyesofothersincredible,herealizedhislastwish,andalsowonahugewealthforthem.Heispersistent,soheranaJennyleftthreeyearsacrosstheentireUnitedStates,hasbeenkept,hetoldyou,hejustwantedtorun,whichdonotneedpeaceandfreedom,oranyhigh-soundingstuffasareason.

ThethirdpartistheconcretemanifestationoftheAmericandreaminForrestGump.HeisthebestinterpretationoftheAmericanDream.

2LiteratureReview

ThankstothepublicationoftheMOVIEREVIEW（Luo,2006）,fromthestudy,weknowForrestGumpalmostinvolvedallthemajoreventsfromwarto1980s.Onbehalfofthemainline,thefilmfocusedonrenderingtheblackmovement,theVietnamWar.Lookingback60years,peopleoftensaidthatisagenerationfilledwithviolence,sex,drugsanditiscalled“BeatGeneration”.

Ju（2011）describedthereasonwhydirectorputsuchastupidguyinthatturbulentsocietyispeopleadvocatednaturalregressionaftertheColdWar.Theyoungpeopleofthatera,experiencedandwitnessedtheunrest1960sand1970s,theypreferredtothinkmorerationally.

FromZhong’s（2012）research,runmeanseverythingforForrestGump.Theauthorthinkstherearetwomeaning.Firstly,itisasymbolofgeographicmobilityandsocialmobility.Secondly,itisasymboloftheculturalexpansionofcapitalismandtheSpiritofCapitalismGreedgrab.

InviewofWang（2009）,thespiritoffreedom,independenceandequalityaretheirmainculture.Americansadvocatingself-independence,highlightequality,confidence,thesearemainindividualisticcultureconstitutionwhichhavebeendeeplyintegratedintobloodofAmericans.TheseAmericanspiritsarenottradition,butfaith.

OnZheng’s（2011）pointofview,thefastpaceoflife,theAmericansocietychangeslong-terninthem,theydon’tliketostayinarut,theybelievethemselvesandrelyonitsowndetermination.ItisAmericanuniqueAmericanlocalculture;Americandreamisnotadream,butapursuitofanideal,aphilosophyoflifeintheUnitedStates.Theso-calledAmericandreamistheAmericanspursuitofbettersociety;itisenrichmentofAmericanculture.

Theresultofstudy（Huang&Chen&Xie,2009）haverevealedthemeaningofAmericandream.Intheseauthors’mind,Americandreamconsistsofseveralelements:

theUnitedStatesprovideseveryonethechanceofsuccess;successdependsontheirtalentsandeffortsratherthanfamilyandbackground;everyonehasequalrights;everyonehasfaithfreedom.Theseelementsareinextricablylinkedwiththehistory,andhistoricalbackgroundmustcombinethelook.

Jing（2010）thinksthatundertheinfluenceof“counter-culture”,traditionalAmericandreamchanged.ThetraditionalAmericandreamemphasizedonthematerialsavings,focusingonthedesireandpursuitofwealth.However,inthe1960s“counter-culture”movement,theyexpressedtheirdoubtabouttraditionalvaluesofthecapitalistindustrialsocietyandaffluencerevolt;theythinkmoreofspiritualsatisfaction,andpersonalfulfillment.

TheauthorcalledLuo（2012）thinksthatForrestGumptaughttogivepeoplethekeytosuccessis:

yourowndecisionwhetheryouarebeingthewisemanorafool.Becausehedoesnotthinkheisafool,andhecandowhateverhewantstodo.ThisistheachievementsofacareerintheUnitedStates,thesuccessofcrux.Americansarealwaysthinkingaboutgoalsforthefuture.

AccordingtothestudyofJournalofSuzhouUniversity（Ai&Yang,2010）,nomatterinthepastornow,oneofthemainreasonswhypeopleimmigratedtotheUnitedStatesisthroughyourownefforts,forceandunremittingstrugglewillbeabletogetabetterlifeandachieveyourownideal,thatpeoplehavetoworkthroughtheirowndiligence,courage,creativityanddeterminationintheUnitedStates.

3TheIntroductionofAmericanDream

3.1TheDefinitionofAmericanDream

TheAmericanDreamisanideal,intheUnitedStates,itcanbethroughthetirelesseffortsofindividualsandworkinghard,thensucceed,ratherthanrelyonaparticularsocialclassandtheassistanceofothers.

Somepeopleeversaid:

“IfyouhaveadreamwhichisnotAmericanDreamthatmeansyourdreamisnotenough.”SowhatisAmericandream?

WhyallthepeoplenomatterwheretheycomefromallhaveAmericandreamintheirdeephearts.

Inbrief,AmericandreamisatrustthatthroughyourPersistentofhardwork,youwillhaveabetterlifethanbefore.Therefore,AmericanDreamisAmericanpeopleseekabettersociety;AmericanDreamisamicrocosmofAmericanculture.

Americagivesalltheimmigrantsfromallovertheworldequalchancestomakegreateffortstoachievetheirgoalsinthisland.Everyonehasequalrights;everyonehasthefreedomofconscience.“Youwillbesuccessfulifyoutryhard.”isthecoreimplicationofAmericanDream.

3.2TheOriginofAmericanDream

Theterm"AmericanDream"wasfirstwrittenbyAmericanhistorianAdams（JamesTruslowAdams,1878-1949）,inthebookAmericanHistoricalDictionary,UnitedStatesmapin1931,andAmericanhistoryanthology（TheEpicofAmerica）.

Accordingtolegend,Adamswasparticularlyfondofthephrase“AmericanDream”.Atthattime,theUnitedStatesisintheGreatDepression,inordertoinspiretheconfidenceoftheAmericannationals,AdamswantedtosendtensofthousandsofAmericanswhocannotsupportthemselvesatthattime.AmericanDreamisfirstoccurredin1620.HenryVIII,KingofEngland,becausethePopedoesnotagreewithhisdivorcewithhiswife,sothekingbrokeofftherelationshipwiththePope.

Thereisnoreform.ThiscausedthedissatisfactionofsomeCatholics,theyhopeto“pure”statereligion.ThePuritansbelievedthatasuccessonthejoborcareerisasignofGod'sselect.ThemoralprinciplesofPuritanishardwork