1、浅析了不起的盖茨比与美国梦 An Analysis of The Great Gatsby and the American Dream浅析了不起的盖茨比与美国梦摘 要弗斯各特菲茨杰拉德,作为爵士时代美国梦的代言人,被公认为是美国文学史上最重要的小说家之一。他以自己敏锐独特的视角,讲述着那个时代所发生的一切。其代表作了不起的盖茨比,更是很好地向人们展示了二十年代美国社会的浮华与喧嚣,以及深藏其后的衰败和空虚,探究了当时的美国人对于以财富和享乐为特征的虚幻美国梦的狂热追求。文中主人公盖茨比不惜一切代价追求自己所谓的“美国梦”,而这一切就像是美丽的泡沫,转眼间都化成了泡影。无情的现实最终打破了虚幻
2、的美好。本文通过对其写作背景、文中人物、社会现实等方面的分析,阐述美国梦破灭的根源及社会意义,从而揭示美国梦破灭的必然性及美国梦破灭的社会意义,使读者从中吸取经验教训,为构建伟大的“中国梦”引起深刻的哲思。关键词:了不起的盖茨比;美国梦;破灭AbstractF. Scott Fitzgerald, as the spokesman for the Jazz Age of the American Dream, has been recognized as one of the most important novelists in the history of American literat
3、ure. He tells us about what happened in that era from his unique perspective. His masterpiece shows the vanity and noisy of American society in the twenties and the subsequent decline and deep emptiness. Americans at that time are eager to pursue the visional American Dream characterized by wealth a
4、nd enjoyment. In this paper, the protagonist Gatsby could do everything to pursue his so-called “American Dream”. And all this is like a beautiful bubble suddenly crumbled. Merciless reality eventually broke the unreal. Based on the analysis of the writing background, characters in the novel and the
5、 social reality, this thesis discusses the causing factors and the social significance of the disillusionment of American Dream in order to reveal the inevitability of the disillusionment of American Dream, so that the readers draw lessons from it for building the great Chinese Dream.Key Words: The
6、Great Gatsby; American Dream; disillusionment Contents1. Introduction F. Scott Fitzgerald is an outstanding writer in American literary world in twentieth century twenty, and he is regarded as a representative figure of the Lost Generation writers. His work The Great Gatsby vividly reproduced the so
7、cial life of the Jazz Age and it also reflected the social peoples tragic fate to disclose the hidden spiritual crisis under the surface of the vanity and noisy, revealing the disillusionment of the American Dream. Americans have a dream of making a great success and a self-realization in their live
8、s and this is called the American Dream which is deeply ingrained in the national consciousness from generation to generation from the beginning of American civilization. Fitzgerald reveals that the American Dream is shattered inevitably in the modern American society after World War I through his w
9、ork The Great Gatsby.Disillusionment of American Dream not only has its profound social and historical reasons, and is also closely related with the character of Gatsbys self destructive factors. Through the analysis, it can be seen that the dream of Gatsby who is an innocent man has its historical
10、origin and essence and that the moral declines in American society represented by Tom and Daisy who are indifferent and merciless. These fundamentally determine the disillusionment of American Dream. It is easily for individuals to understand the essence of the American Dream distorted through analy
11、zing the causes and social significance of bursting on the American Dream. So it is significant for Chinese new generation to draw experience and lessons from it so that they could make a positive contribution to building the Chinese Dream. 1.1 Writing Background The decade of 1920s of America had a
12、 sharply defined uniqueness than most recognized periods. World War I had left all European belligerents weak and numbed spiritually. America, however, not having been involved in the war for long, remained just as forceful as before. It all profited from the war, changed from a debtor nation into a
13、 creditor and became the worlds economic power of the United States. An economic boom marked the first few post-war years. A majority of Americans thought that they were in one of the most brilliant era in human history. So materialism spread rapidly all over the country, and people became more gree
14、dy and self absorption. The American Dream turned to be a dream of money, and wealth became the symbol of success. However the gap between the wealth and the poor was still painfully obvious in society. The rich were in luxury but the poor were in despair and hunger struggling in pain. This kind of
15、social situation caused a lot of distorted values and outlook on life, the ideological and moral decline.The American economy was prosperous; much variation appeared in spirits and values in the 1920s, which has influence on young man. They went for material and they were hedonism; therefore, they b
16、ought luxury things, took part in extravagant parties and looked down upon others who are poor. The pursuit for material fulfillment and sensual enjoyment became the dominance of young peoples life.Fitzgerald described that the social and moral values were totally depraved in America in 1920s, expre
17、ssing that people were extremely cynical, greed and blind to pursue pleasure, which was deeply presented in The Great Gatsby. This is another factor resulting in the disillusionment of American Dream.1.2 The Main Content The Great Gatsby is written about a love story between the young Gatsby and Dai
18、sy who comes from the upper class society. It narrates that Gatsby falls in love with Daisy. The final dream of Gatsby is getting Daisys love. But Gatsby is a poor man and does not have a high status in society. During the war, poor young soldier Gatsby falls in love with the beautiful girl Daisy. B
19、ut she is greedy, so she resolutely refuses his offer of marriage. When Gatsby becomes veterans, he knows Daisy has married to a rich man. But her married life is not happy because Tom has a mistress. At this point Gatsby is still full of affection for her. In order to regain Daisys love, Gatsby mak
20、es money strenuously through smuggling and other illegal business. Just a few years, he becomes a millionaire. Then Gatsby specially purchases mansion near Daisys home. He spends much money in his daily life and invites people nearby to come to his extravagant parties and banquets to enjoy themselve
21、s. By this way, Gatsby is not pleasing the upper class, just for drawing attention of Daisy. When Gatsby makes a fortune in other means, he firmly believes that he can give Daisy everything she wants. He has confidence that he can take back Daisys love and he knows what Daisy wants. She takes much n
22、otice of him indeed and she really has the thought to be loved with him again. She comes back to him, dating with him again. So Gatsby and Daisy go back to their old days. When Daisys husband Tom discovers the secret, he feels very angry and also hates Gatsby. While Daisy also faces with difficult c
23、hoices between Gatsby and Tom. Daisy has drunk, and she is not awake. She happens to drive the car hitting down his husbands lover. In order to protect his beloved woman,Gatsby bears the liability for the accident. But he never thought that Daisy has determined to abandon him at this time. Tom puts
24、the blame on Gatsby, so the mistresss husband kills Gatsby. At the funeral of Gatsby, his former friends and guests dont show up. Daisy doesnt attend it either, even does not send a bouquet of flowers to him. She doesnt feel very sad about Gatsbys death and just leaves him behind and goes to another
25、 city with her husband to spend holiday. Through Gatsbys tragic love story, the author criticizes people who come from the upper class society like Daisy and Tom and is deeply sympathetic to Gatsby. Gatsby can give up everything just to get Daisys love. On the surface, Gatsbys love for Daisy is pure
26、 and affectionate, while Daisy is getting close to money and status in depth look. With the deepening of the plot, the disillusionment of American Dream of young generations is delivered by the disillusionment of Gatsbys dream of pursuing his love. 2. The American Dream in The Great Gatsby 2.1 The D
27、efinition of the American Dream The American Dream is a special product of the American civilizations. The formation of it begins at the starting point of the American civilization when the first European Puritan settlers came to the new world in the early seventeenth century. Therefore, there are t
28、hree essential qualities in the American Dream as follows.Firstly, the American Dream adopts a positive attitude towards material success and considers it as all vital expression of self-fulfillment. When it comes to the theme of the American Dream, material success is what one most likely first tal
29、k about.That explains the reason why material success is what one most likely first thinks of when it comes to the topic of the American Dream. Secondly, the American Dream is also known to support the idea that the person who has high moral standards will have a chance to achieve material success.
30、Accordingly, spiritual development is necessary for material success in the logic of the American Dream. Finally, the American Dream also includes remarkable feature of optimism. We can see this quality from Gatsby; he never loses his faith and attains his life goal with his ability. He is confident
31、 that he can provide a better life for Daisy.The American Dream is the dream which life should be richer and better for everyone according to their abilities or achievements. It encourages individuals to work through efforts, courage, creativity and determination to move towards prosperity, rather t
32、han depend on any other forces. In one time, it did help some individuals to fight for success. There are two sides of a coin. It has different meanings in different ages. As time went by, the American Dream went to the opposite side. So from this point of view, the essay aims to discuss the disillusionment of the so-called American Dream and the theme of The Great Gatsby. It is significant to understand how the American Dream gets enriched and developed with the advancement of the nation. Firstly, the American Dream is an ideal. It expresses human wishes for a democratic, liber
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