The Disillusionment of American Dream
浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中的主要人物性格
作为美国著名作家菲茨杰拉德最成功的小说，《了不起的盖茨比》已成为美国现代文学史上的一部经典佳作。
这部小说反映了美国梦的衰败，深刻地揭示了美国梦的实质。
在小说中，菲茨杰拉德精心挑选了不同的人物，例如杰伊·盖茨比，尼克·卡罗威和黛西·布坎南，来代表其在社会中的不同地位，通过他们的生活来反映美国社会的矛盾。
本文通过详尽分析这三个主要角色，比较讨论他们的命运，并且探讨他们性格内部的矛盾，从而来揭示第一次世界大战后美国社会的衰败以及人物不同性格的形成原因，特别是盖茨比的不幸命运的根源。
关键词 《了不起的盖茨比》主要人物 性格分析Title Analysis of the Personality of the Major Characters in The Great GatsbyAbstractThe Great Gatsby is the finest novel written by the famous American writer, Fitzgerald. It is considered by many to be one of the classics of modern American literature. The novel mirrors the decline of the American dream and deeply reveals the essence of it. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald selects skillfully different people such as Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchanan to represent their different statuses in society and eventually to reflect the contradictions of the American world by their lives. This essay will focus on the discussion of the three major characters, by analyzing the three major characters in detail, discussing their fate by comparison and talking about the internal conflict of their personality, to have a further understanding of the corruption of the American society after the First World War and the cause of their different personality especially the misery fate of Gatsby.Keywords The Great Gatsby major characters analysis of personality2006届英语专业毕业论文第 1 页共 1 页Contents1A Brief Introduction to The Great Gatsby (1)2Tragic Jay Gatsby (2)3 Vanity and Selfish Daisy Buchanan (4)4 Neutral Nick Carraway (6)Conclusion (8)Acknowledgements (9)References (10)1 A Brief Introduction to The Great GatsbyFrancis Scott Fitzgerald was considered as one of the most well known writers in America at an era that he named “the Jazz Age”. During the twenty years of his writing, he published about one hundred short stories and four long novels including This side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, Tender is the Night and The Great Gatsby. In addition, before he died, he left an uncompleted novel, The Last Tycoon. “His books have been considered by as many a symbol for the ‘Jazz Age,’ a time of extraordinary wealth and promise, but Fitzgerald’s novels are much more than that, presenting the truth behind the twenties and creating an atmosphere, which has earned a permanent place in American literature. Fitzgerald’s novels work on many different levels, giving us unforgettable characters and events on one, as well as referring to the problems of American wealth and spirituality on another.”(Millett, 2005) Written in 1925, The Great Gatsby is one of the greatest literary works of this period and one of the classics in American literature, which reveals the moral emptiness and hypocrisy under the prosperity of the Jazz Age. When the book was published, it became famous among the public, because the author criticizes the thought of extreme individualism in the contemporary American society. “This thought is like drugs in the society; poisonous and irresistible. It urges the growth of selfishness of human being.”(Wu Jianguo, 2002:188) Fitzgerald uses his pen to reveal the life and the ideas of people after the First World War and introduces one kind of valuable spirit. The American dream of happiness and individualism has fallen into the mere pursuit of wealth. Many experiences in Fitzgerald’s early life appear in this famous novel. It is proved to be the most successful and mature one of Fitzgerald's novels. In it, Fitzgerald presents the rise and fall of Jay Gatsby, skillfully choosing a first-person narrator, Nick Carraway’s perspective. The famous poet, T.S.Eliot points out that The Great Gatsby has been the first progress made in the American novel since Henry James.2 Tragic Jay GatsbyJay Gatsby, a typical upstart after the First World War, is a sensitive young man who idolizes wealth and luxury. He falls in love with Daisy, a beautiful and charming woman, when he stations at a military camp near her home, but later she marries another man. The protagonist orders his life around for the desire to be reunited with Daisy. His search for the American dream leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved and eventually, to his death. He is attracted by Daisy’s grace and charm, but blinds her shortcomings. Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, without the realization that his dreams are unworthy. “He gives Daisy an idealistic perfection that she cannot possess in reality.”(Rubinstein, 1998:305) He takes it for granted that he would win Daisy back if he becomes rich. Therefore he “became rich through bootlegging and other criminal activities.”(Hu Yintong, 1995:369)) He holds his opulent parties weekly to draw Daisy’s attention. He tries his best to gain the favor of her by arranging such fabulous entertainment.To some extent, Gatsby is naive and stupid for he never sees Daisy in her true colors just as he never sees the green light clearly. Though he never stops loving and has taken the house in West Egg to be near her, he never realizes that he can’t come back to the old warm world. It is easy to find that throughout his courtship of Daisy, Gatsby is always in a position of less power and lower social status. Because Gatsby has idolized her, Daisy will necessarily not live up to his expectation. The reader may find out the contradiction in Gatsby’s personality after reading the novel. On one hand, Gatsby is innocent and naive in his heart for he sticks to his goal and dedicates himself to achieve his destination, but he never realizes that it is actually unreal. He shows his loyalty to his beloved and dares no effort to make his dream come into true. However, on the other hand, he owns money by all means including illegal ones and he is indifferent to the death of Myrtle Wilson, the superficial wife of a garage man called George Wilson. Just as the novel mentions, “he spoke as if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that mattered.” (Fitzgerald, 2001: 192) Gatsby is nimble and ambitious in making money, which shows the “sagacity” of modern people, but towards love he gives us the impression of “a naive young man.”The reader may wonder what makes Gatsby great? Gatsby is great because of his loyalty to love. He has the desire to repeat the past, and the desire for money. For Gatsby, Daisy is the soul of his dreams. He believes he can regain Daisy. Although he has the wealth that can match with the leisured class, he does not have their manners. His tragedy lies in his possession of a naive sense. Nick, the novel’s narrator, considers that his greatness lies in the talent for self-invention, the ability to transform his dreams into reality, and his persistent love. His life is dedicated to the recovery and renewal of an early love with Daisy, whose “voice is full of money.”(Fitzgerald, 2001: 11) He believes in Daisy and manages to protect her. But he does not know Daisy has betrayed him when he wants to ensure the safety of her. Daisy has already forgotten him when he lies in the tomb lonely.To some degree, George Wilson is comparable to Gatsby for both of them are dreamers and both are ruined by their pure love for women. He commits suicide after shooting Gatsby dead, just as Marcus Cunliffe comments “ Gatsby is dead-killed by a demented creature that does not realize that the Buchanan’s are to blame for misfortunes”.(Cunliffe, 1998:29) To some degree, Gatsby is doomed to die. Tang Jianqing, the famous translator of The Great Gatsby, points out that “Gatsby’s heart will be broken even if the bewildered garage man does not murder him. He knows Daisy will not give him a call though he takes the risk to wait for Daisy’s phone.”(Tang Jianqing, 1998:4) It is true that Tom and Daisy not only destroy Gatsby but also spoil his belief and soul.Therefore, Gatsby’s tragedy does not lie in his death, but in the death of his dream of utopia. It is his lack of reason and judgment that leads him to death. When introducing the origination of Gatsby’s name, Fitzgerald writes: “The true was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a Son of God–a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty”. (Fitzgerald, 2001:131) This sets the tone of Gatsby’s tragic life. He has not been aware of the different social statuses between his and Tom’s. In general, Jay Gatsby is one of the best among characters in the novel. Even though he is a bootlegger and all his money is illegally made he still has more conscience than many others. Gatsby wants people to be happy, and if they are happy he will be happy, too. He holds luxury parties for people to attend and enjoy themselves. He also does hisbest to make Nick feel easy in his garden. Gatsby shows a certain amount of kindness to almost everyone he meets. His parties are open to anyone who wants to attend no matter what his social class is. He does his best to be kind to almost everyone. From this aspect, he is a very decent person indeed.All in all, Gatsby is only a dreamiest in his whole life. His loyalty to his love and ideal and the contradictions of his dreams lead to the disillusionment of his American dream. His death, in a sense, serves as a warning, but it also ennobles him.3Vanity and Selfish Daisy BuchananAs a beautiful and charming girl in the upper class, Daisy is quiet active in all kinds of social activities and she once had her true love. In any way, Daisy is undeniably beautiful. In her first appearance, her face is depicted to be sad and lovely. It is safe to say Daisy once really loved Gatsby since she even “packing her bag one winter night to go to New York and say good-by to a soldier who was gong overseas.”(Fitzgerald, 2001:101) Her mother prevents her in time and after that she keeps quiet until the next autumn. To some extent, her mother not only prevents Daisy’s stupid idea but also changes her opinions about the real meaning of life. After that, Daisy becomes a representative of the upper class. At that time, the most important thing for a lady was to find a rich husband with decent status, so Daisy makes good use of her beauty to deal with a lot of young men. Her vanity is completely disclosed when she contacts with those men. She has bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth and her best feature seems to be her voice. It’s charming. Daisy knows how to use it, too. She always murmurs in low, fantastic way to get people to come closer and pay more attention to her. Proving her charm to men is everything in her life. Then she quickly gets rid of another man to marry Tom just because Tom is richer.After the marriage, Daisy is sardonic and somewhat cynical and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity. Tom has a shady affair with Myrtle Wilson, so she is not happy although she lives a comfortable life. However, she has to endure and pretend to know nothing about it because she knows that having a husband of high status is much more important than having a man’s love.Fitzgerald attempts to describe Daisy as being a little naive or foolish. Daisy even hopes that her daughter becomes a beautiful fool. She says, “I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world.”(Fitzgerald: 2001, 23) Daisy’s remark is somewhat sardonic: It seems that she criticizes the social values of her era, but she does not seem to challenge them. Instead, she describes her own satisfaction with life and seems to imply that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic. Daisy herself often acts in that way. She conforms to the social standard of American feminity in the 1920s, so she is the product of a social environment .To a great extent, women’s intelligence is not important at all. At Gatsby’s party, she focuses on the actress and the director, who are totally unaffiliated with reality. Daisy’s blind eye on reality is disclosed here.Compared with Gatsby, Daisy, Nick’s cousin and Gatsby’s lover, is superficial, shallow, and self-centered for she sees everything from the perspective of her own happiness. For Fitzgerald, women like Daisy represent the deepest seductive power of the American dream as well as its greatest dangers. Daisy’s lack of responsibility is revealed at the end of the story. When she drives over Myrtle and she doesn't even stop, which shows what Fitzgerald wants to reveal in the whole book—the rich have no concept of responsibility in reality. She is a little bit too careless. In fact, her carelessness leads to the death of Myrtle Wilson. She proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby, and allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself is the murderer.Finally, Daisy and Tom move away rather than attend Gatsby’s funeral, leaving no address. Daisy is indifferent to the death of Gatsby. As a matter of fact, she is the real murderer of Myrtle Wilson. After the accident, she and Tom conspire together and follows her husband’s suggestion to let Gatsby take the responsibility.Why Daisy is unwilling to leave Tom and come together with Gatsby after he becomes rich? In fact, there are also some contradictions in her personality. On one hand, she is moved by Gatsby’s loyalty and stubbornness, which is fully embodied in the reunion between Gatsby and her. In addition, she is also attracted by Gatsby’s wealth and disappointed at Tom’s infidelity. On the Other hand, she dose not have the power to leave her husband and her family when Tom confronts Gatsby. She can’t lose the comfortable and luxury life with Tom. “This life is boring but gives her a feeling of safety.”(QianQing,1994:303) During the First World War, Gatsby is only an inferior officer. Therefore, though Daisy loves him, she is unwilling to marry him. After Gatsby leaves to fight in the war, she marries Buchanan, a young man from an aristocratic family who promises her a wealthy lifestyle. Gatsby gathers great fortune and becomes the new rich, but Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan who is the “the very rich” and the traditional aristocrat. Though Daisy is unsatisfied with Tom’s behavior and never forgets Gatsby, the wealth makes Daisy and him invulnerable. So in the end, Mr. Gatsby’s dream still has not come true and Daisy does not break up with Tom to go with Gatsby.As a representative lady of the upper class at the particular time, Daisy enjoys vanity, selfishness and sophistication that a young woman often has at her time. It’s her vanity and selfishness that cause the death of Gatsby.4 Neutral Nick CarrawayThere is a sharp contrast between Gatsby and Nick. Critics point out that the former is passionate and active, while the latter is sober and reflective. They seem to represent two sides of Fitzgerald’s personality. At the very beginning of the story, Nick is introduced directly, but Gatsby remains a distant and unknown character for a good while.Generally speaking, Nick is a conservative dreamer with independent character. He comes to the East from the Midwest to pursue a happier life like Gatsby but he is greatly affected by the traditional morals, so he has his own rules rather than lose himself among the dishonest people. “They are judged by how well they stand up to his own virtues.”(Opticalcrane, 2005) Just as he says at the beginning of the book, “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments.” (Fitzgerald, 2001:1) Nick represents the lower classes of the society who also strives for the American dream. In fact, he is not very sober at the beginning. He admires his wealthy neighbor and the opulent parties without the realization of the emptiness of the values beneath such luxury life. However, unlike Gatsby, he gradually becomes reflective and objective especially after he is adversely affected by the events of that summer-- the death of a woman he meets briefly and indirectly, who is having an affair with his cousin’s husband and whose death leads to the death of his next-door neighbor.After witnessing the tragedy of Gatsby, he wakes from his unreal dream in time and ends his romantic relationship with Jordan Baker peacefully. This is a turning point of his mind.Nick is the best narrator of the novel; Firstly, he is Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s neighbor, and secondly he is tolerant and open-minded so he can give objective comments on events and people. Even so, there is also a powerful conflict existing in his personality that he does not resolve until the end of the book. On one hand, Nick is attracted to the wealthy New York where life pace is fast. On the other hand, he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging. Such inner conflict is symbolized throughout the book by Nick’s romantic affair with Jordan Baker. He is attracted by her vivacity and sophistication just as he is repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people. Nick realizes that life in New York is a “quality of distortion”(Fitzgerald, 2001: 236) especially after he stages a small funeral for Gatsby. This life covers horrible moral emptiness that makes him lose his equilibrium, so he returns to Minnesota to look for a quieter life with more traditional moral values. This decision shows that Nick is more mature and sensible than Gatsby for he recognizes that such life does not belong to him. Nick is unlike the other characters of the book and he is not one of the careless people. He has a conscience, he is not selfish, and he has managed to stage a small funeral for Gatsby. His down to earth character shows how superficial Daisy and Tom are. Fitzgerald describes Nick Caraway to be an independent character with his own belief, not a narrator who represents the author’s voice.ConclusionTo sum up, The Great Gatsby is an elegy of the corruption of the American Dream .The novel clearly shows that there is no way from money to love, from material to spirit. The author criticizes the American society in 1920s. Fitzgerald uses the characters to show the destruction of morals in society. The characters in this novel, many of them lose their morals in order to find their ideal place in the society. They hold their beliefs for the hope of being acceptable. Myrtle believes she can change her true social class to be accepted by Tom’s; Jay Gatsby bases his whole life on buying love of Daisy with wealth. However, they all become the victims of their dreams. Fitzgerald also shows how many people in America during this time were confused and lived meaningless life. Nick, Gatsby and Daisy are all westerners. “The East is associated with the fast-paced lifestyle, decadent parties, crumbling moral values, and the pursuit of wealth, while the West and the Midwest are associated with more traditional moral values. In this moment, nick realizes for the first time that though his story is set on the East Coast, the western character of his acquaintances-‘some deficiency in common’ is the source of the story’s tensions and attitudes.”(Brian Phillips, 2003:120) To some extent, their different personalities are caused by their attitudes towards money. Nick keeps his own judgments and he neither attaches so much importance to love as Gatsby nor money as Daisy. That is why he can deal with the relationship properly with Jordan Baker. Gatsby puts love in the first position and making money is just a means to get Daisy’s love. While Daisy loves money and the luxury life more than Gatsby so she marries money. What she wants is the comfortable life so she has to forebear Tom’s fault. In fact, Gatsby and Daisy are destroyed by the decayed social and moral values of the society. Therefore, it is not only the tragedy of love between Daisy and Gatsby but also the tragedy of the American dream.AcknowledgementsThanks everyone for giving me the help to complete my essay, especially my tutor Wu Lianghong, who has given many valuable suggestions and shows great patience to revise my essay. I highly appreciate her seriousness towards my work.Moreover, I am grateful to my classmates who provide me some necessary information. It is their help that encourages me to overcome any difficulties I met in the passed three months.References[1]Cunliffe, Marcus. 美国的文学[M]. 北京:中国对外翻译出版公司, 1998.[2] Fitzgerald, Scott Francis. The Great Gatsby[M]. 青岛:青岛出版社, 2001.[3] Millett, Frederick.C. Analysis: theGreatGatsby[M/CD]. Millettf [June2005]March.2006.</~millettf/gatsby.html>[4] Opticalcrane. Nick-Analysis of Major Characters[M/CD]. Essay [August 4, 2005]23May. 2006 </essay.php? t=27006>[5] Phillips, Brian. Study guide to The Great Gatsby[R]. 天津:天津科技翻译出版公司,2003.[6]Rubinstein, Annette T.美国文学源流[M]. 北京:外语教育与研究出版社, 1998.[7]胡荫桐、刘树森. 美国文学教程[M].天津:南开大学出版社, 1995 .[8] 钱青. 美国文学名著精选[M]. 北京:商务印书馆,1994.[9] 唐建清, 巫宁坤. 了不起的盖茨比[M].南京:译林出版社, 1998.[10] 吴建国. 菲茨杰拉德研究[C].上海:上海外语教育出版社, 2002.。
The Disillusionment of American Dream in The Great Gatsby
The Disillusionment of American Dream in The Great GatsbyNi Fan(College of International Studies,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou310058,China)Abstract:Focusing on Gatsby’s dream in The Great Gatsby,I attempt to analyze the reason for the disillusionment of American Dream at the historical time of the1920s.From the micro perspective,Gatsby has four times of disillusionment altogether.The first one was from his birth to his leaving home,the second disillusionment came after his under Dan Cody’s patron for several years,ended by Cody’s sudden death leaving Gatsby no money actually inherited.His third disillusionment was the frustration of his love for Daisy as Daisy married to Tom Buchanan.Finally,his fourth disillusion brought him away altogether with his death,after the car accident committed by Daisy and Gatsby was mistakenly regarded as the murderer.In a macro perspective, Gatsby’s death in the novel symbolizes the disillusionment of American Dream in the Jazz Age.Key words:The Great Gatsby;American Dream;Disillusionment中图分类号：I106文献标识码：A文章编号：1009-5039(2016)18-0160-041Introduction1.1The Definition and Core of American DreamIn1931,“The American Dream”was coined as a new term inEpic of America by James Truslow Adams(1878-1949)the U.S. writer and historian.In the book,he states that it is the values of“being able to grow to the fullest development of men and women, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly being erected in old⁃er civilizations,unrepressed by social orders which have been erected for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human of any and every class.”(T.J.Adams:9)The core of“American Dream”is the aspiration and effort to make one’s own financial success,claiming that one would better serve god by achieving material well-being.The Americans have laid great emphasis on physical labor and admiration for those self-made people who have greatly influenced the American young gen⁃erations after generations,such as Benjamin Franklin,a prototypi⁃cal American success.The1920s,a period better known as the“Jazz Age”or the “Rolling Twenties”was summarized with great truth in The Great Gatsby,F.Scott Fitzgerald’s best-known masterpiece.The book vividly tells of a story in that period as a commentary on the Ameri⁃can myth of success,and an exposure of several appearance-reali⁃ty contrasts.1.2The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby,though has not been sold quite well,which was a surprise comparing to his early works,has been much dis⁃cussed by the critics.However,the audiences it has won are much more seriously appreciative,and the book has been generally re⁃garded as Scott’s most successful work.The book takes on the first-person narrative that is partially involved in the events.Nick Caraway the narrator is a man came from the mid-west to the East seeking for a new life.At first he was fascinated by the excitement and vitality of New York,but after his sojourn the whole picture has proved to be dark and tortuous.The male protagonist in the story was a young millionaire whose name was widely known as Jay Gatsby and whose identity re⁃mained a mystery.Nick Carraway,the narrator,happened to live next door.In Gatsby’s huge,extravagant house,parties were given every night.Everybody far and near came and enjoyed his generous reception despite the fact that virtually nobody knew Gatsby.All these facts have made Gatsby even more mysterious.2The Disillusionment of Gatsby’s DreamAfter Nick’s acquaintance with Gatsby,we can learn that Gatsby was by no means a poor farm boy who was ambitious enough to climb up the social ladders that eventually got involved in illegal business.Rather,he was noble-minded,strong-willed and worth a success.The pursuit of Gatsby’s dream followed a rising-and-fall pat⁃tern from generating to seemingly fulfillment,then to disillusion⁃ment,of which the whole process can be divided into four times of disillusionment.2.1The first Disillusionment of James Gatz’s DreamIn Nick’s observation,creating a dream seemed to be the flair of Gatz the little boy.Born with the instinct for aspiration,he was keen on making his own way to success and in his self-recognition: He was a son of God—A phrase which,if it means just that—and he must be about His Father’s Business,the service ofa vast,vulgar and meretricious beauty.(F.Scott Fitzgerald,1925:81)Though James Gatz,the boy of North Dakota has been work⁃ing on his dream all the time,using the“SCHEDULE”just like Benjamin Franklin and the book“Hopalong Cassidy”.He has also listed some“GENERAL RESOLVES”to restrict himself from be⁃ing lazy.Just as his father said,he was destined to make a success, for he always had such resolves and he has been always improving his mind.Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsi⁃ness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious em⁃brace.For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagina⁃收稿日期：2016-08-10修回日期：2016-08-20作者简介：倪帆，女，安徽舒城人，浙江大学硕士研究生在读二年级，主要研究方向为英美文学、跨文化交际。
(完整版)论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的破灭 英文
The Disillusion of American Dream in The Great Gatsby The American Dream is the dream of a land in which life should be richer and better for everyone, providing them with opportunities according to their abilities or achievements。
It encourages people to work through efforts， courage， creativity and determination to move towards prosperity, rather than rely on any other forces. In one time， it did help some people to fight for success. But as time flew， the American dream went to the other side。
So in this case， the essay aims to discuss the disillusion of the so—called American Dream—- also the theme of The Great Gatsby， with the analysis of the tragedy of its main character-- Gatsby。
In the novel, Gatsby’s American Dream is not material possession. He only comes into riches so that he can fulfill his true dream———— to reunite with Daisy。
英语毕业论文开题报告The Disillusion of American Dream in The Great Gatsby
The Disillusion of American Dream in TheGreat GatsbyThesis Title:The Disillusion of American Dream in The Great GatsbyThesis statement (Introduction):The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, is one of the greatest literary documents of this period as well as a masterpiece related with irony and pathos to the “American Dream.” It is a picture of the unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Many critics have made a lot of studies on it and wrote numerous critical essays. The English famous poet and critic T.S. Eliot who has never had a hasty and extravagant critic, read The Great Gatsby three times and praised the novel was “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James.”(Donaldson, 1984:268) H. L. Mencken, a most influential critic of that time, declared this novel to be “no more than a glorified anecdote.” In 1983, The Great Gatsby was translated into Chinese by Professor Wu Kunning, after that many Chinese scholars began study on The Great Gatsby, analyzing its artistic forms, its theme and its symbols. To Zhang Lilong, “The Great Gatsby is actually a recall and summary of the process of evolvement of the American dream historical and realistic perspectives.”(Zhang Lilong, 1998:108-109) Others analyses Gatsby’s tragedy. Wang Y ujuan argues that “the dream of Gatsby is also the dream of all Americans. The defeat of Gatsby is also the loss of the generation.”(Wang Yujuan, 1998:28)From all researches both domestic and abroad, we can see that The Great Gatsby is a great novel that everyone can have different interpretation from different aspects. However, a few researches have studied about what ruined Gatsby’s dream and why his dream inevitably failed. Therefore, this paper will reveal the roots and causes of the failure of Gatsby’s dream.1.The significance of your research:Scott. Fitzgerald is a prominent novelist in the American literature, owned the title of the spokesman of the Jazz Age and the laurel of poet. He is also one of the most representative writers in the “Lost Generation” The Great Gatsby stands for his masterpiece. The Great Gatsby has assumed a meaning more than a Mere romantic love story. Actually, Gatsby ’s pursuit of his dream and his final tragedy exemplify to a great extent the end of the illusory American dream.The novel shows a vivid picture of the 1920s when America entered the short but unprecedentedly prosperous period, and when many people thought America was the land of freedom and dreamed an “American dream which was actually a beautiful mirage. However, in the process of pursuing their dream people abandoned a lot of social values they treasured in the past and regarded money as the only tool of judging human success. This is also the point that this thesis intends to express. Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. Theme discussion in the paper is done through analyzing the symbolism used in the novel, which aims for better understanding of the connotation of the novel. Also this paper tries to analyze the characteristic of Gatsby. His ignorance makes his failure at first. All of this can inspire us a lot.2.Methodology:Through consulting a large number of material, understand "lost generation" of the socialbackground and the author's life experience, carefully read the two works, deeply analyzed the two the character of the hero is the similarities and differences, to find the real reason for the American dream lost.3.Possible difficulties and solutionsMy viewpoint presented in this dissertation would be superficial and incomplete, for my own literary culturation and knowledge about this book are limited. I have tried my best to solve these problems via looking up in the library ,surfing the internet and asking help from my tutor.4.Potential conclusions:Fitzgerald expressed his sadness to the Lost Generation by describing a series of tragedies successfully in The Great Gatsby which reflects the social reality of that age. The hero, Gatsby, is an individual living in that period, who lives a poor life in youth. In Gatsby’s eyes, the world is material without real and love. The distorted pursuit of material and social success is doomed to failure. Gatsby tries to change the world of material into the ideal world of their fantasy. With his great efforts, he gains wealth, proving his success. But, the dream they are chasing is vast, naive, and impractical. It is a fairy tale which never comes true in the greedy society. Facing the relentless reality, both Gatsby and his dream are just buried in this heartless land. His personal experience is the realization of the American dream.The Great Gatsby shows all of the American experience in the 1920s, criticizes the society that money ranks first and people only care themselves. Through an interpretive analysis of the social background of the American 1920s and characters of the heroes, we have concluded that there are three roots of Gatsby’s failure. First, because Gatsby’s dream, as the American dream, contain some limitations and contradictory aspects, it cannot survive in the rigid reality. Secondly, we can see Gatsby’s self-destructive potentials——innocence and naivety from his idealism or romanticism. Finally, compared with Gatsby, there are too much selfish and immoral people and behaviors in this unequal society. Ga tsby’s innocence and naivety is doomed to failure in the corrupted American society. Therefore, Gatsby’s tragedy is inevitable in that age, and Gatsby’s tragedy also indicates the disillusionment of the American dream.One of the reasons why it is still popular now although it has been over eighty years since it was first published is the spirit of Gatsby which inspires the young generation to pursue their dreams. In order to make his dream come true, Gatsby is so brave, tough and persistent. No matter what difficulties he faces, he never gives up to chase his dream. Dream is one of the most important things in our life, which guides the way of life. When we meet some barriers on our study or work, Gatsby’s passion stimulates us to surpass ourselves. It pushes us to make the dream come true. On the other hand, Gatsby’s tragedy also gives us some revelations. Dream should be established on reality. Once our dream is far from the actuality, it cannot come true yet. Therefore, before drawing a blueprint for our future, we must clear what we want to do and what we can do.5.Previous preparations:The title of my report is the Disillusion of the American Dream in F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Francis Scott Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers in the twentieth century and he is also the representative of "the Jazz Age". Defined by Fitzgerald,” Jazz Age" refers to the years from 1919 to 1929. This was a period during which economy was booming and the values of people were changing greatly. With the economic prosperity, moral decay has become more and more seriously day by day. The disillusion of theAmerican dream is an often written theme in the American literature. A person who works hard can become successful; this is what the American Dream is centered around. However, the American Dream changed as people became lust for money, high social position. The dream is now completely lost and can never be restored. The Great Gatsby written by Fitzgerald is one of the representative works that reflects this theme. It seems that it is just a love tragedy happening in that social background. Actually once taking a further understanding on the content of the novel, we can realize that various aspects of the society in those years have been described in the novel. In my paper, I hope give people a thorough understanding about the disillusion of the American dream through the Great Gatsby and aim to use the reflection to warn people today and to guide people in walking on a right way on our today's society. I think we should realize that the blind worship to love is dangerous and harmful. In literary work, it makes Gatsby lose his life; in real life, it makes many people lose their beliefs, moralities and spirit.So, how to write this paper? Firstly, I will makes a brief introduction to Fitzgerald’s literary works, the rationale of this study, the summary of the story and the literature review on this novel. Then I will introduce the background, the origin, the evolution ,the disillusion of American dream and the relationship between the American culture and the American Dream. After that I will expose the disillusion of the American dream reflected in The Great Gatsby and analysis some characters in the novel, such as Gatsby, Tom, Daisy who are owning the American Dream and make great efforts to achieve their dreams. Then I will analysis some symbols in the novel which are related to the American Dream such as time, Valley of Ashes, Dr. Eckleburg’s eyes, Gatsby’s parties, automobile and some colors. Then I will talk about the relationship between the money and love in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby believes he can win Daisy back by the possession he owns. But he obtains nothing from his money and his dream is totally lost. At last I will expose of the essence of the American Dream was nothing but an idea materialistic wealth and objective pleasure and analysis the realistic significance in today's society. Firstly, I will makes a brief introduction to Fitzgerald’s literary works, th e rationale of this study, the summary of the story and the literature review on this novel. Then I will introduce the background, the origin, the evolution ,the disillusion of American dream and the relationship between the American culture and the American Dream. After that I will expose the disillusion of the American dream reflected in The Great Gatsby and analysis some characters in the novel, such as Gatsby, Tom, Daisy who are owning the American Dream and make great efforts to achieve their dreams. Then I will analysis some symbols in the novel which are related to the American Dream such as time, Valley of Ashes, Dr. Eckleburg’s eyes, Gatsby’s parties, automobile and some colors. Then I will talk about the relationship between the money and love in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby believes he can win Daisy back by the possession he owns. But he obtains nothing from his money and his dream is totally lost. At last I will expose of the essence of the American Dream was nothing but an idea materialistic wealth and objective pleasure and analysis the realistic significance in today's society.6.Outline of the PaperThe Art of Symbolism in The Great GatsbyIntroduction1,Fitzgerald and the Great Gatsby1.1 Fitzgerald’s life and his works.1.2 social and historical context of the Great Gatsby.2,Various symbols employed in the Great Gatsby2.1 color symbols.2.1.1 white.2.1.2 Green.2.1.3 Yellow.2.1.4 Blue.2.2 climate and locale symbol.2.3 Object symbol.2.3.1 The valley of Ashes.2.3.2 The eyes of Dr.T.J.Ecktelrury.2.4 Character symbol.2.4.1 Gatsby.2.4.2 Daisy.3,The Disillusion of the American dream.3.1 What is American dream.3.2 The disillusion of Gasby’s dream. Conclusion。
开题报告
英语学术论文写作期末作业专业: 英语学生姓名: 赵勤文班级: 11级4班指导教师: 郭秀娟开题日期: 2014年6月8日成绩:Contents1. Introduction1.1 Brief Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald1.2 Introduction to The Great Gatsby1.3 The Purpous of the Thesis2. American Dream2.1 The History of the American Dream2.2 The Temptation of American Dream2.3 The Distortion of American Dream3. The American Dream and its Disillusionment in The Great Gatsby3.1 Gatsby’s American Dream and Its Disillusionment3.2 Tom and Daisy’s American Dream and Its Disillusionment4. The Comparison of the American Dream and Chinese Ethos4.1 The Changes of Chinese Ethos since the Reform and Opening Policy4.2 The Comparison of American Dream and Chinese Ethos' change5. ConclusionAbstractF. Scott Fitzgerald is recognized as a spokesman for the“jazz age” in the 1920 s. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925 which is universally recognized as Fitzgerald’s best novel. In a long time, it is considered to be the best endorsement of “blatant 20 s” it sketched the era characteristic of extremely delicate and even can become the special historical encyclopedia. The Great Gatsby was describes the story of a man named Gatsby. He wants to find his first lover Daisy, and rebuild their ideal love. After he made a windfall on trafficking, he began his “plan” -- to buy back Daisy's love. He fondly thought that as long as he has money he can do what he wants, such as to redeem the lost love. However, he was wrong. Because Daisy, the woman he loved, has became the corrupt things of modern society. In pursuit of Daisy, Gatsby ran out his love and talents and finally kill off his life. His dream is disillusioned thoroughly. This paper is basis on origin and connotation of the American dream. First of all, I’ll analyze the main characters’ different American dream and their disillusionment in The Great Gatsby. Secondly, I’ll give an analysisof the Chinese society ethos and t he change of people’s value since the reform and open policy. Then have a comparison with the American dream. At the same time, motivate people pay more attention to the ascension of their spiritual life as the pursuit of their material life in modern society.Key words: American dream; disillusionment; The Great Gatsby; value orientation摘要斯科特·菲茨杰拉德被公认为20世纪20年代爵士乐时代的发言人。
《了不起的盖茨比》所反映的社会意义
On the Social Significance Reflected in The Great Gatsby 《了不起的盖茨比》所反映的社会意义摘要弗朗西斯·斯科特·基·菲茨杰拉德，美国小说家和短篇故事作家。
他是爵士时代的发言人，同时也被认为是二十世纪最伟大的作家。
二十世纪二十年代是当代美国社会初步形成的年代。
第一次世界大战造就了新的一代人，爵士乐时代也由此拉开序幕。
1925年《了不起的盖茨比》问世，这部小说无论是在思想上还是艺术手法上都是一部杰出的作品，奠定了弗朗西斯·斯科特·基·菲茨杰拉德在美国最伟大的小说家的地位。
这部小说为我们描绘了一幅爵士乐时代的生动画面，展现了当时整个美国社会的缩影。
爵士时代指的是二十世纪二十年代，开始于1919年结束于1929年的十年期间。
这一时期，美国经历了深刻的文化与社会变革，新的发明与生产技术大大改变了人们的生活方式，许多人搬离乡村，妇女们获得了投票权。
成千上万的人们活在一个富裕，奢侈，空虚赚钱的生活中，疯狂的追求个人的成功与享乐。
在《了不起的盖茨比》这部作品中，作者刻画了美国所谓的“爵士乐时代”追求金钱和享乐的潮流，并以冷静的笔触反思了社会现实和浮华表面下蕴藏的精神危机和美国梦的破灭。
本文通过分析这部作品揭示了小说中美国梦的破灭所反映的社会意义。
关键词：社会意义；美国梦的破灭；爵士乐时代AbstractF. Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist and author of short stories. He was regarded as one of the greatest writers in twentieth century and was considered the spokesman of Jazz Age. The outline of contemporary America clearly formed in 1920s. A new generation and a new time—the Jazz Age was created in World War I. The Great Gatsby was written by Fitzgerald and first published in 1925. This novel is his best work in both thought and art and become one of the greatest American novelists. As an epitome of the whole American society, the novel showed us a vivid picture of Jazz Age. The time beginning from 1919 to the end of 1929 has a nickname which is called the Jazz Age. It is a time of profound cultural and social changes. In these ten years, many new inventions and techniques greatly changed the way people lived. Lots of people moved from countryside and women won the right to vote. Millions of people lived a rich, extravagant, frivolous money-making life, pursued individual “success” and personal enjoyment frantically. In The Great Gatsby, the writer—Fitzgerald describes the American tide of seeking wealth and enjoyment in Jazz Age, and makes introspection on the spirit crisis reflected from the reality and ostentation and the disillusionment of American Dream. This study aims at exploring the social significance embodied in the disillusionment of the American Dream.Key Words: Social significance; disillusionment of American Dream; the Jazz AgeContents摘要 (I)Abstract ........................................................................................................................ I I1. Introduction (1)2. An Analysis of the Novel (2)2.1 An Introduction of F. Scott Fitzgerald (2)2.2 The Social Background of the Novel (4)2.3 A Brief Introduction to the Plot (5)3. A Detailed Analysis on American Dream (6)3.1 The Definition of the American Dream (7)3.2 The Evolution of the American Dream (7)3.3 The Disillusionment of the American Dream (9)4. The Social Significance of the Novel (10)5. Conclusion (11)Bibliography (13)Acknowledgments (14)1. IntroductionF. Scott Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in 1925. Even today it is generally considered one of the best novels in twentieth century.It is a love story between a man and a woman. The hero—Gatsby was a bounder by selling wine and attending other unlawful activities to earn money in the 1920s. The fiction shows the break of the American Dream by describing the disillusionment of Gatsby’s dream and it indicated the tragedy of American society at that time. The background of the whole story is set on Long Island in New York City in 1922. In the novel, Gatsby’s great passion for Daisy was described clearly by the author. The American Dream makes every person believe that as long as he works hard, a poor man can get a lot of opportunities and become a millionaire on this wonderful land. (Gao, 2008) This kind of spirit encourages American people to make their dreams come true. However, when Gatsby’s life ended tragically and Daisy did not feel ashamed and sad and went to another city with his husband—Tom, which indicated Gatsby’s American Dream was shattered. In the novel, Gatsby’s passionate love for Daisy is earthy and enthusiastic, and he is willing to do anything for Daisy. Daisy fell in love with Gatsby when she learned that Gatsby was a young junior military officer. Unfortunately, she broke off with Gatsby quickly because Gatsby was born in a poor family. When Gatsby became a millionaire, Daisy fell in love with him at once. When Gatsby died, she did not attend to Gatsby’s funeral and went out of the city to have a journey with her husband. Gatsby’s American Dream was that he could become richer than Tom, Daisy’s husband who was wealthy enough and he could provide anything to Daisy. In their competition, Tom won Daisy’s love finally. Actually, Gatsby’s American Dream can not come true because there is a huge gape between Gatsby and Daisy in many respects. Daisy was born in a fortunate family, living in a wealthy life all the time. It is difficult for Gatsby to live an affluent life and become one of theupper echelons of society figures, because Gatsby came from a poor family in North Dakota. He also can not afford the extravagant life of Daisy. As a love story,The Great Gatsby aims to criticize the present context of society at that time. In fact, it is a story of the disillusionment of American Dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess, in which lies this novel’s social meaning.2. An Analysis of the NovelAs one of the greatest novelists in the American literature of the 1920s, F. Scott Fitzgerald was called the spokesman of Jazz Age. As his masterpiece,The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and the background of the novel is in a long island and New York City of 1920s.2.1 An Introduction of F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott Fitzgerald was a great Irish-American Jazz Age novelist, short story writer and was widely considered as the famous representatives of the lost generation. He was given birth in Saint Paul during World War I. Fitzgerald was named after his ancestor Francis Scott Key, but was commonly known as “Scott”.He crafted five novels and dozens of short stories about youth, despair, and age. The figures are vivid and authentic in his novels. His heroes—handsome, confident, and his heroines are typically beautiful, intricate, and alluring.Fitzgerald spent several years with his father in New York, and then, he went to school in Saint Paul Minnesota from 1908-1911. In the following two years, he had to go to a boarding school of New Jersey because he was weak at his studies. Despite being a mediocre student there, he managed to enter in Princeton and became a member of this school in 1913. Then, he became friends with Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bishop there. He burdened with academic difficulties and apathy plagued in the University throughout his three-year career. So Fitzgerald left the school to enroll in the United States Army when American was involved in World War I. Fitzgerald became a second lieutenant, and was stationed at Camp Sheridan. There he met Zelda Sayre，the “top girl”, in Fitzgerald’s words, of Montgomery, Alabama.Fitzgerald realized that he was unable to provide what Zelda really want, so he decided to make money by working at an advertising firm and writing short stories. And Zelda’s overpowering desire for wealth, fun, and leisure led to delay their weeding until he could prove a success. This Side of Paradise was published in 1920, which caused a great literary sensation. Fitzgerald earned enough money to convince Zelda that he could support her. Then, Scott and Zelda were married in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral.The 1920s proved the most influential decade of Fitzgerald’s development. His second novel—The Beautiful and Damned, which represents an impressive development beyond his previous immature, was published in 1922. The Great Gatsby, which was considered as his masterpiece, was published in 1925. Fitzgerald made several famous journeys to Europe, especially Paris and the French Riviera. He became friends with people who were the members of the American expatriate community in Paris; His wife’s intense personality had great effect on Fitzgerald’s writings. Sometimes, he even quoted several segments of his wife’s personal diaries in his own works. Zelda has ever mentioned this in 1922, saying that “In fact, Mr. Fitzgerald—I believe that is how he spells his name—seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home”(Zelda Fitzgerald: The Collected Writings, 1922: 338). Fitzgerald began to work on his fourth novel during the late 1920s. However, he was sidetracked by financial difficulties that necessitated him began to wrote commercial short stories. And the schizophrenia struck Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald in 1930. Her emotional health remained frangible for the rest of her life. She was hospitalized in Maryland of Baltimore in 1932. Tender Is the Night was published in 1934, which was regarded as one of Fitzgerald’s finest works by critics. Fitzgerald suffered two heart attacks in late 1940. After the first heart attack, the doctor told him not to do physical exertion and to live in a first floor apartment. Then, he followed doctor’s recommendation and moved in an apartment with his lover.Fitzgerald died at the age of forty-four due to the second heart attack in 1940. Few people attended his simple and small funeral. However, Dorothy Parker, who was one of the attendants cried and murmured, “The poor son of a bitch”, a line from JayGatsby’s funeral in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. His wife—Zelda died in a fire at a mental institution in North Carolina, in 1948.2.2 The Social Background of the NovelIn the twentieth century, Americans’ life changed greatly since the emergence of a large part of great writers in the history of American literature. They are representatives of “the Lost Generation” in that age. At the same time, there are many famous works wrote by them to express their minds and feelings, such as the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and T.S. Eliot.America has entered a new era of the unprecedented economic prosperity after the World I, because the World War I has a great impact on that period of America. A lot of people attending the war believed that defending the country is their duty and they hoped their country to be a better place to live in. During the war, America earns a large sum of money by selling munitions and becomes the richest country. American Dream becomes the main purpose of Americans. They believe that their dreams can be realized by hard work.World War I witnessed a new generation and a new time, the Jazz Age. With F. Scott Fitzgerald’s own words, “This is a miracle era, an era of art harvest, an era of big spenders, but also full of sarcasm era”. (李雪顺，2001: 165) It is a time of profound cultural and social changes and many new inventions and techniques greatly widen people’s horizon, changed the way people lived directly. Some new products were made by intelligent people. Along with society’s progress, scientific development, people’s living standard had the very big enhancement.With the economic prosperity, American people began use money and wealth to measure a person. Society had been disoriented by changing values. At the same time, since traditional moral standards were breaking down and confront challenges and the new moral system is not formed yet, the United States faced with the collapse of moral system in the 1920s. Therefore, a car slowly became a symbol of status and wealth at this time. Millions of people lived a rich, extravagant, frivolous money-making life, pursed individual “success”, personal freedom and enjoyment frantically. During this period, social polarization is serious, the society presentstremendous spiritual crisis hidden behind the prosperous.Therefore, the writers who are the representatives of “the Lost Generation”began to publish a large amount of works to express the present situation of the America society. In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby to express his attitudes towards the America society and openly criticized the distorted American Dream.2.3 A Brief Introduction to the PlotThe Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and was published in 1925.F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the great representative writers of the lost generation and the spokesman of Jazz Age. Though this work did not receive many positive responses from critics and readers until 1950s, it has important values and a great impact on America society.This novel describes a love story between a man and a woman in New York City and long island. The hero is called Gatsby who was born in a poor family. However, he became a wealthy man by some illegal ways. In fact, he is the representative of pursing the illusory American Dream. In that social context, people believe that everyone has the equal rights and opportunities, as long as he works hard, he can gets whatever he wants, like money, status, love. However, we know that his hopes were destroyed at last, which is also a symbol of the American Dream. So, we can say that he is the representative of collapse of American Dream. Gatsby’s dream is devastated by its object’s invalidity, just as the American Dream in the 1920s is destroyed by the meaningless pursuit of wealth and entertainment.The Great Gatsby is a love story about a young man named Gatsby and the beautiful girl called Daisy. During the war, Gatsby was in love with the nice girl called Daisy, who was always addicted to wealth and entertainment. He loved Daisy very much, but Daisy still firmly refused his proposal and left him.After the war, Gatsby learned that Daisy had married a wealth man—Tom. However, Daisy was not happy because her husband—Tom had a mistress whose name was called Myrtle. At this time, Gatsby has a deep affection and love for Daisy. Therefore, he earned money strenuously, in order to regain the love of Daisy. Just in afew years, Gatsby had made a fortune by smuggling and other illegal trade. Then, he bought a luxury house because it was only a bay away from Daisy’s and he always held fabulous parties at his house so that he could have chances to approach her. In order to catch Daisy’s attention, Gatsby often held luxurious parties. Nick, a man who was Daisy’s second cousin came to New York to do business met Daisy and he was Gatsby’s neighbor. He also was invited to Gatsby’s house and Gatsby wanted Nick to help him to invite Daisy to his party and without telling her that he would be also there. After an initially awkward reunion, they reestablish their connection and fell in love with each other again. After a short time, Daisy’s husband—Tom discovered Gatsby was involved with his wife, he realized Gatsby was in love with Daisy. He hated Gatsby seriously and regarded Gatsby as a social inferior. At the same time, Daisy confronted the tough choices between Gatsby and Tom. She drank wine and drove a car outside. Unfortunately, Tom’s mistress—Myrtle was killed by Daisy’s car. However, in order to protect Daisy, Gatsby took all the blame directly. But he did not know that Daisy had decided to abandon him with Tom and they would go out of the city to have a honey journey.The next day when Nick got back home, he discovered that Gatsby had been killed, shot by George, Myrtle’s husband. Gatsby’s funeral was prepared by Nick and no one came except Gatsby’s father and another man who was a former guest at Gatsby’s party. However, Daisy and Tom traveled outside happily. The Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick who is a central figure of the novel. He is not only in the story, but also he is out of the story. He reflects the sound of the novel and he also expresses the author’s voice.3. A Detailed Analysis on American DreamSince 1776, Americans are convinced that everyone can be successful and live a happy life through their own efforts. They acquired opportunities and equal rights to get their achievements by their courage. This ideology is carved in people’s mind as a belief from generation to generation. In The Great Gatsby, the hero Gatsby is one ofthe representatives of pursuing the American Dream. But we know that his dream is illusory and meaningless. However, the American Dream is very popular in that age. Then, let us explore the American Dream in details.3.1 The Definition of the American DreamAs a term, the “American Dream”was originally developed by an American writer James Truslow Adams in his book—The Epic of America written in 1931. He defined American Dream as “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (James Truslow Adams, 1931: 265)He also wrote: “The American Dream that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and a woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the sample human being of any and every class.” (ibid)We can understand some meanings from James Truslow Adams’ words. He gave us a definite interpretation about the American Dream. He made us believe that the true spirit of the American Dream lies in the fullest development. It describes an attitude of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes. However, slowly as time goes by, the true spirit of the American Dream has been distorted.3.2 The Evolution of the American DreamThe American Dream was influenced by the first group of immigrants. The first settlers who are the vulnerable persons from Europe became the founding father of the American Father in 18th century. A few of the European immigrants are Puritans of the England and insolvents of the Germany. These people in Europe got many kinds of harsh sufferings. They want to get away, to be rich and to take their values and philosophies into practice.The puritans wanted to escape the religious persecution and rebuild the religious,so they moved to the North American continent to make their dream came true in the New World. Therefore, their arrival had a great influence on the America society at that moment. These people believe that the America is a wonderful place and represented a new life of democracy, equality and freedom. People could acquire spiritual and material happiness finally. For those settlers of bankrupts, they were not so religiously inclined; they believed that America was a fairyland and a land of possibilities. If they got the land, they can be rich and get a happiness life rapidly. In fact, at that time, everyone can get large tracts of land to support all the expenses of them.The first thirteen colonies came into being and the first settlers was given the religious and material hopes. The United States gave the world a wonderful vision when it was first established as a nation.The American Dream began to sprout up quietly when American gained independence as a nation from the colonies of Britain in the mid-18th century. From that moment, In Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of the Independence of 1776, there is a famous sentence goes like this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”As the Founding Fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin is the archetype of American Dream. Without noble birth and top education, Benjamin Franklin taught himself almost everything and succeeded in many aspects such as literature, science, philosophy and politics. Benjamin Franklin pioneered the spirit of self-help in America. (Jim Powell, 1997: 329) He not only achieved his success through hard work and persistence, but also won both wealth and respect from others. (Yao, 2002: 156) Everyone was given the opportunity in this country, no matter what social class he lived in, what circumstance he was born, can be successful and made his dream come true through his own efforts.Many gold mines were discovered in the western of the United States of the late 18th century and the early 19th century. A lot of lucky ones taped into the gold mines and became fortunate overnight. And many people have flocked to the EasternSeaboard and the thirteen colonies. To avoid overcrowding, the settlers began to move the West to pursue their American Dream. Along with the expansion to the West, the American Dream had changed a lot. After the Civil War, the American Dream becomes more popular and more concrete. During the 18th and 19th century, when the industrial revolution was coming, the American Dream was transformed into self-confidence, the pursuit of happiness and success, including career, love and wealth. Lots of persons have great achievements in the field of work and became the role models of diligence and wisdom. During this period, a lot of commercial geniuses have a common feature—all of them were born in a poor family and succeed by their own efforts finally. Then, the United States experienced a period of rapid economic expansion. After the World War I, the America became the most developed country in the world. More and more people swarm there and seek their own the America Dream. In the twentieth century, the American Dream becomes the main aim of Americans. But the nature of the American Dream has changed. The young generation disgusted the changeless conservatism and turned to purse money and pleasure as their new lifestyle. Success occupied an important position in society, people tried to realize their own dreams as much as possible because this kind of success was an important condition to measure the social status and the significance of life. There emerged a state of material well-being but lacking in spiritual life. So the author F. Scott Fitzgerald produced Jay Gatsby, a poor young man who earned money through some illegal ways to attract Daisy to get her love. Jay Gatsby embodies many positive and negative aspects of this dream. The author created this character as the representative of the American Dream to express his own minds and confusion under that social context.3.3 The Disillusionment of the American DreamAmericans are convinced that everyone can be successful and live a happy life through their own efforts. They have equal rights and opportunities to get their achievements. However, with the development of the American society, the disappearance of equal opportunity became one of the reasons which lead to the disillusionment of the American Dream.There is another reason that leads to this result of the American Dream. The contradiction between the aristocrats of the eastern and the upstarts of the western is serious.The last reason is that the material aspects of the dream do not keep up with and even obliterated the early spiritual ideals.For all the declaration of democratic principles, for all progress and prosperity, there are still poverty, discrimination and exploitation. And as for values and morality, there are also hypocrisy, corruption and suppression. Everyone began to dispute for money and profits insanely. So who can make their dream come true? The Americans attain their pursuit of the material by hook or by crook and make the wealth as a sign of the life. They equate the pursuit of material with the pursuit of the dream. The disillusionment of the American Dream is inevitable result.4. The Social Significance of the NovelEarly in 1920s when the capitalism of the American developed to a stage of the monopoly, the industry developed rapidly. The development of the economy has been a polarization of society and the young Americans experienced the prosperity of the Jazz Age and felt confused about the social context. They had an empty feeling of spirit. Then, they began to drink wine and spent money like water to seek the pleasure of the life.In the novel, Gatsby was the hero and the representative of the American Dream made by the author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby was born in a poor family with no money and status. However, Daisy was born in a rich family. At first, it is a blow for Gatsby for the huge gap between their social status and wealth when he fell in love with Daisy. He used his whole life to love Daisy and began to attend many illicit activities to earn money. The purpose of these behaviors was that he could retain Daisy’s love. He made every possible effort to realize his dream. The American Dream has deviated from its original way obviously in Gatsby’s pursuit of the wealth and status. When he earned much money, he held parties and invited many personseveryday to attract Daisy. In fact, Gatsby did not get others’respect in the novel. When Daisy drove a car and killed her husband’s mistress, Gatsby helped her, took all the blame and lost his life finally. However, she did not have any shameful and grateful feelings for Gatsby’s behavior. In the end, Daisy went to other city with her husband to spend their holiday happily. Gatsby’s dream falling down represents the disillusionment of the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald describes a progress of a man’s American Dream from beginning to the end, which is similar to the hero--Gatsby. So Fitzgerald expresses his own feelings sincerely in the novel. But the difference between Fitzgerald and Gatsby is that the author realized his American Dream was broken, Gatsby did not realized it at all. Gatsby did not know that he built an illusionary dream and this dream can not realize forever. The sharp contrast between the ideal and the reality will inevitably result in the breakup of the dream. Gatsby’s whole life is a tragedy because he lived in the past and made an illusionary dream of the future. Although it is the American success story that hard working allows a man to become wealthy, the history of the American was mocked seriously by the author in the novel. The American Dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. The novel describes the social phenomenon of money first in the 1920s.5. ConclusionIn the novel, the author describes the hero—Gatsby’s whole life. When he was young, he fell in love with the beautiful girl—Daisy and he took her as his dream. He could do everything for her and gave up his nature to earn money as much as he could. Unfortunately, when he sacrificed his live for Daisy, he still did not get Daisy’s love. The author use Gatsby’s dream to symbolize the American Dream at that time. So his dream fallen down means the disillusionment of the American Dream. Gatsby lived in the past and made an illusionary dream of his life. His dream is illusory and unworthy and it is not the right time for him to use an inappropriate manner of self-display. When his native nature confronted with the ruthless and indifferent society, thedisillusionment of the American dream is inevitable. For Gatsby, there will be no place to escape but he has to die in the end. However, the novel gives people some enlightenment in their life. It makes people believe that there will be a harvest if you work hard enough. Gatsby was influenced greatly by the dream of Franklin and Carnegie. He made a work schedule and wrote some proverbs to encourage himself. He showed a fighting spirit for young people in modern society.Bibliography[1] Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America[M]. Boston: Little, Brown, andcompany, 1931.[2] Francis Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby[M]. Beijing: Beijing University Press1982.[3] Jim Powell. Benjamin Franklin: The Man Who Invented the American Dream.1997, 47(4).[4] 常耀信. 美国文学简史[M]. 天津: 南开大学出版社, 2008:220-221.[5] 高慧. Doom of American Dream—The Social Meaning of The Great Gatsby [J].2008, (24).[6] 李雪顺. 了不起的盖茨比和它的色彩象征[J]. 重庆: 涪陵师范学院学报,2001.[7] 毛信德. 美国小说史纲. 北京: 北京出版社, 1988.[8] 史志康. 美国文学背景概观. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 1998.[9] 吴建国. 菲茨杰拉德研究. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2008(24): 220.[10] 姚文俊. 盖茨比—美国梦在“爵士乐时代”的化身[J]. 佳木斯大学社会科学学报, 2002(20).[11] 周新平. 论盖茨比悲剧的必然性[J]. 湖北: 黄冈师范学院学报, 2002.。
An Analysis of the Disillusion of American Dream in The Great Gatsby
An Analysis of the Disillusion of American Dream inThe Great Gatsby论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的幻灭摘要弗朗西斯•司各特•菲茨杰拉尔德是美国“爵士时代”的代言人, 他在其代表作《了不起的盖茨比》中以细腻的笔触表现了二十世纪二十年代美国的风貌, 用主人公盖茨比的悲剧人生隐喻了“美国梦”的虚幻及其不可企及性，揭示了“美国梦”破灭的必然规律。
文中主人公盖茨比是为追求美国梦而最终牺牲自己的典例，他渴望以自己的信念和勇气来获取物质以及爱情上的收获。
然而他的梦想只是一种虚幻的渴望，而不是建立在现实基础之上的追求，结果导致了他梦想的破灭。
论文从作者和小说人物分析着手，通过对《了不起的盖茨比》的写作背景、作者自身的经历、故事的主要内容、小说主人公盖茨比之梦的破灭等多方面的分析和解剖, 深刻地揭示了“美国梦”的发展与破灭。
关键词:《了不起的盖茨比》；美国梦；破灭；爵士时代AbstractFrancis • Scott Fitzgerald is the spokesman of “the Jazz Age” in the United States. In his masterwork, The Great Gatsby, he uses delicate brushwork to show the style of American society in the 1920s. Hero Gatsby’s tragic life, as a metaphor for the illusion and entertainment of the “American Dream”, reveals the inexorable law of the disillusion of “American dream”.The hero in The Great Gatsby reveals a typical example of those who is eager to pursue the American Dream but finally ended by sacrificing themselves. Though he dreams of achieving material wealth and love through his courage and hard working, all the factors from outside world and his character led to the disillusion of his dream. This profoundly reveals the development and di sillusion of “The American Dream” by dissecting writing background of The Great Gatsby, the author’s own experiences, the main content of the story, novel leading character Gatsby’s shattered dream and other side.Key Words：The Great Gatsby; the American dream; disillusion; Jazz AgeIIContents摘要 (I)Abstract........................................................................................................................错误！未定义书签。
了不起的盖茨比中黛西的“美国梦”象征
Analysis of Daisy in The Great Gatsby as the symbolization of theAmerican DreamClass Number: 2012213101Student Number: 2012212505Chinese Name:张诗雨摘要：《了不起的盖茨》比作为迷失一代的代表作，是描写“美国梦”最为成功的作品之一。
本文通过比较黛西的人物形象以及20世纪初期美国“爵士”时代“美国梦”的特点，最终得出黛西正是当时“美国梦”的象征。
Abstract:The great Gatsby as the Representative of the lost generation, is one of the most successful works that describe the "American Dream". Through the comparison of Daisy's characters and early 20th century American "Jazz Age" American Dream "characteristics, we can finally conclude that Daisy is emblematic of the" American Dream ".1.IntroductionFrancis Scott Fitzgerald, an outstanding novelist in 20th century literary, is called the representative writer of "Lost Generation" and is undoubtedly his masterpiece. Yet the exact role which Daisy plays in Gatsby's American Dream is still subject to argument. People discuss Daisy from different theories such as feminism and Commodification.However, personally, we can consider Daisy as the symbolization of Gatsby’s distorted “American dream”. Daisy will not applaud to Gatsby’s efforts but only worship his extravagance and vanity, just like the degeneration of the American dream which does not emphasize the pursuit of dreams and simply praise those who look glamorous success. The impractical dream leads to an eager for quick success and instant benefit, and characters are extremely devious in his efforts to achieve his heart's desire. However, when they realize that their so-called dream has already been out of their original intention, what they get is glossy shell without any substantive content. This essay compares the dual personality of Daisy and the disillusionment of the American dream to unscramble and understand the root of Gatsby's tragedy is the misinterpretation of dream.2.The Disillusion of American Dream2.1 The origin of American dreamThe idea of the American dream is evoked earlier then the foundation of America by European immigrants who had all sorts of hopes and aspirations for what was a new and largely unexplored continent. Considering themselves as “people elected by the God”, they tend to be hardworking, thrifty and successful. This religious faith provided not only tremendous spiritual energy for the exploiture of the New England colonies, but also profound influence on the national awareness and culture of the whole America. In the evolution of American dream, there rose up models of success,who was nobody at the beginning and somebody at last, who strengthened the belief of the American dream in people's hearts rather than minds, who seemed to prove where there was a dream there was a way. Among whom Benjamin Franklin was the typical successful well-known self-made men. In the end of the novel we know that Gatsby took Franklin as his model and followed exactly what he did.2.2 The distortion of Gatsby’s American dreamGatsby was born in poor family, but since he was a child he held his big American dream that through his own personal strive to change his destiny, to gain wealth, success and live a happy life. He made a detailed routine according to the behavior of Franklin to help his own self-improvement. From the schedule, a juvenile who was pursuing his dream is fighting against all the difficulties with his effort and strong will. Just like Franklin’s list of thirteen virtues, several of the “General Determinations” listed on the list of Gatsby’s schedule are very similar such as no more smoking，reading one improving book or magazine per week, be better to parents ,saving $5 .00 to $3 .00 per week. He didn't realize and feel upset about how much trouble facing him then.If he follows his routine he can actually achieve his goals by his own. But when Gatsby is eighteen years old, with no aim for life and the starvation of the success, he took the shortcut which changed his life. Dan Cody, as Gatsby’s first educator, initiates the desire for American Dream in the young Gatsby’s heart and is also a live idol of the American dream in Gatsby’s world. Then Gatsby is employed by him and later inherits a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars from him. And Gatsby use the money to sell bootleg liquor and extort in the stock market. After years of diligent work, Gatsby at last achieves the financial success and owns both wealth and power. But in the end, Gatsby is shot dead.Gatsby lives in the 1920s Jazz Age when the old standard has gone, and most of the people in that age are money-worshippers. They no longer want to follow the Puritanism doctrines and the preaching in the Bible. They are drinking and gambling, attempting all ways to purchase pleasure. According to Fitzgerald, the “Jazz Age” means sex, then dancing and then music.3.The Dual personality of DaisyYouth and beauty is the symbol of daisy, she is glorious with charming appearance, beautiful eyes and attractive voice. Her voice is often intoxicated and Daisy became lady in Gatsby's heart even becomes his passionate holy goddess. In the eyes of most people, Daisy is also a passionate and vibrant woman with a magic charm. For example when having dine with Nick, Daisy consider Nick as a rose, although Nick always nonsense, but Daisy is always full of enthusiasm when Nick speaks. Superficially, Daisy is gentle, romantic, passionate, but under the appearance she is bored and empty cold. She is indifferent even to her child, daughter like her a doll, wants to play at any time to fetch it. Even when the car hits Myrtle, Daisy does not stop her car but accelerate forward, not a bit of regret afterwards. This just shows consistent boredom and be cynical about life reflects Daisy an egoist.In Daisy's artificial world, there was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras that set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestive of life in new tunes. All night the saxophones wailed the hopeless comment of the Beale Street Blues while a hundred pairs of golden and silver slippers shuffled the shining dust. At the gray tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low, sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor (Fitzgerald, 1950: 143).Through this twilight universe, Daisy was a representation of the old aristocracy, which possessed grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance. However, it seemed to lack in heart. Daisy was so used to money's ability to ease her mind that she never worried about hurting others. Just because of her cold-heartedness, fickleness and selfishness, Daisy led a dull life day and night. Obviously, by marrying the wealthy husband Tom, Daisy could lead an easy life free from time-consuming duties, responsibilities, or activities. She had nothing else to do all the day excepted just sitting there motionlessly to keep her graceful position as hostess and wasted the time of her own will.4.Daisy is the symbolization of the American DreamFrom what is written above, we can come to the conclusion that Daisy is the emblem of the status and wealth and also the specific embodiment of his American Dream. In the novel, Daisy is a woman who was born in a rich family, living a luxurious life of the upper class while Gatsby is a son of a farmer without any fortune or background. Except for the first "nice" girl he had ever known, Gatsby had come in contact with such people in various unrevealed capacities, but always with indiscernible barbed wire between. Though the author doesn't express “indiscernible barbed wire” explicitly, we can conclude from the novel that it is the gap between the rich and the poor, the upper class and the common, not only the gap of fortune but also sense of nobility. Drawing lessons from the past and to break this "indiscernible barbed wire," Gatsby plays some tricks. Though he finally gets his dreaming Daisy he loses his valuable treasure.Daisy’s characters, to some extends, identify the upper class’s features such as pure appearance and hollow hearts attractive outside and vanity inside. In The Great Gatsby，the most impressive was not Daisy's face, but her voice. Although Nick who heard it said that Daisy's murmur was only to make people lean toward her, this irrelevant criticism made it no less charming. Her voice was mentioned more than a dozen times in the novel.When Daisy began to ask Nick questions in her low, thrilling voice, Nick felt it was the kind of voice that made the ear follow up and down, as if each speech was an arrangement of notes that would never be played again:"Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered `Listen', promised that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour" (Fitzgerald, 1950: 14-15).When Daisy spoke, Nick felt "her voice glowing and singing, compelled me forward breathlessly." "As if Tom's absence quickened something within her, Daisy learned forward again, her voice glowing and singing." (Fitzgerald, 1950: 19) This "singing voice" alluded to nothing but for seduction and fatal to the sailors on the sea. She lured Gatsby just like the “American dream” to the young people who have dreams.5.ConclusionThe Great Gatsby, a masterpiece by F. Scott Fitzgerald, attracted so much attention that various critical studies have been made upon it from different angles. Most critics pay much attention to the exploration of the tragic life of male characters and the destruction of the American Dream. Only a few essays have analyzed on the women in the text. Women characters in this novel are always neglected or mentioned in passing. In this thesis, attention is principally focused on the perspective of women.This essay compares the dual personality of Daisy and the disillusionment of the American dream to unscramble and understand the root of Gatsby's tragedy is the misinterpretation of dream.By rereading of the text, we find The Great Gatsby is undoubtedly a great novel that can arouse a resonant feeling for it is not simply an unfulfilled romance of a man named Gatsby, but a story of wonder, power and devotion, dream and history.6.Literature reviewi.Anderson, Richard. "Gatsby's Long Shadow: Influence and Endurance." New Essays on TheGreat Gatsby.(ed.) Matthew J. Broccoli. London: Cambridge University Press, 1986.ii.Berman, Ronald. The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald's World of Ideas, Tuscaloosa Andondon: The University of Alabama Press, 1984.iii.Bloom, ed. with intro. F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. New York: Chelsea House 1991. prehensive Research and Study Guide. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000.。
The Disillusionment of the American Dream in Martin Eden
The Disillusionment of the American Dream in"Martin Eden"Martin Eden is one of the world's most famous autobiographical novels and also an outstanding work in critical realism literary. Jack London, who compiled this great work, tendedto describe life of the lower class people in the United States and revealed the evils of capitalist society. He was born in a poor family and suffered a lot during his lifetime, which also was the spring of his inspiration for writing this book. He is also known as the pioneer of commercial writers.Having finished reading this book, I get the task to figure out how the American dream disillusioned according to its content. First of all, we have to work out what the phrase "American Dream" means. I searched a lot of information about it and divided it into three regards below. Also, it has wide influence not only in USA, but also around the whole world. More and more Americans choose to follow the American Dream's leading since it was launched in every American's mind. Even many foreigners come to America, a holy land of the world in their mind, to work hard to live better and make their dreams come true. Then why so ideal American Dream disillusioned gradually? I will explain it from these three regards.The first is about equality. As the statement in < United States Declaration of Independence >, which was announced in 1776, "All men are born equal" , while there was no reflection inMartin's life. He had no prominent family background and worked as a sailor for a living, which was thought as obscurity by the upper class. Because of his humble origin, Martin's hard work in writing career didn't get recognized all the time. Most of Martin's work was about poor people's life, which experienced by himself. However, that was impossible for him to get popularity in that society controlled by the capitalist class's nature of greed and hypocrisy. It was not only a special example for Martin, but also the common phenomenon in that society.The second is about pursuit. At that time, people tended to pursue substance more thanspirit's. Ruth expected Martin to have an admirable life like hers so that she forced Martin into her life pattern. Martin worked a lot and became successful eventually. But after his success, he wasin a loss and found no interests in life because his disappointment for that complex society boomed day by day. Not until the day Martin killed himself did he liberated from disappointment. There were still other people like Martin at their peak of life, possessing enviable wealth but poor mental situation. They could not figure out who they are on earth and didn't know what they should do then in the rest of their life. That was just the disadvantage of the lopsided pursuit between substance and spirit.The third is about the way to attain value of life. People who come from the upper class had no worry about their future because they can get so called success easily. While the lower class had to work for a lifetime to pursue life of the upper class, which usually ended in failure. Martin was ashamed of his poor origin to be a sailor when come across Ruth, the noble girl of an upper class family. He remarked himself that he possessed the ability to write. Then he tried a lot, studying hard, doing research on various dictionaries and literary works.He kept five hours' sleep time per day, even no eating within forty hours. However, his works were refused again and again by presses. The whole society ignored people's hard work like Martin. They took it for granted that the lower class had no right to enjoy comfort and honor. Whichever the way people like Martin chose to be better, they could not realize their dream for the whole society's prevention.Above all, I draw some conclusions of American Dream's disillusionment. In that society controlled by monopoly capitalism, there was no equality, no balanced pursuit and no correct way to attain value of life. All these were not obedient to American dream's promise once a time. Allof these disappointed the Americans a lot. They destroyed people's belief for working hard for better tomorrow. The book Martin Eden vividly showed the process of American Dream's disillusionment. Everyone argued for better life in substance and the whole society sank into chaos. People got more and more crazy about material enjoyment, ignoring spiritual enjoyment. People turned from poor situation to the wealthy in substance, also from energetic to boring in spirit. Since we witnessed the disillusionment of American Dream, we can take the lesson of it. We should keep in mind that the monopoly capitalism is evil and there is no tolerance for it. It also gives us a reference to build a better society.。
_美国梦_的追寻与幻灭_安德森的_鸡蛋_主题评析
一、简述“美国梦”每个具有独特文化传统的民族和国家的文学都有着自己独特的主题。
对于美国文学来说，一个经久不息的主旋律就是“美国梦”（ＡｍｅｒｉｃａｎＤｒｅａｍ）。
所谓“美国梦”，或曰“美国理想”，是资产阶级制造的神话，是对平等、自由、进取和成功的理想主义信念，是对机会均等、人人都有成功希望和创造奇迹可能性的乐观自信。
这种深潜于美国人意识深处的美丽梦想有着悠久的历史渊源。
美国“迷惘的一代”（ｔｈｅＬｏｓｔＧｅｎｅｒａｔｉｏｎ）的代言人司各特・菲兹杰拉德在他的著名长篇小说《了不起的盖茨比》（１９２５）里说，当荷兰水手眺望着“那新世界一片清新碧绿的地方”时，“美国梦”便诞生了。
人们幻想着在新世界重建伊甸园，创造新的黄金时代。
从此，玫瑰色的“美国梦”便悄然飘入了神圣的文学殿堂，也飘进了千百万人的心中。
一代又一代的美国人读着成功故事，一代又一代的美国人做着成功梦，笃信心中那颗美丽的种子必定会绽放出绚丽的花朵。
正如纳撒尼尔・韦斯特的小说《难圆发财梦》（１９３４）中的惠普尔（漫画式的柯立芝总统）所说：“美国是一片充满机遇的土地。
这个国家特别袒护那些诚实、勤奋的人们，是绝不会让他们失败的。
这不是看法问题，而是信念问题。
如果有一天美国人失去了这种信念，这个国家也就不存在了”。
直至十九世纪中后期，美国文学，特别是以惠特曼为代表的浪漫主义文学及以霍雷肖・阿尔杰为代表的通俗文“美国梦”的追寻与幻灭———安德森的《鸡蛋》主题评析朱亚兰（阿坝师专外语系，四川汶川６２３０００）【摘要】“美国梦”的幻灭是二十世纪美国文学的主题。
舍伍德・安德森最优秀的短篇小说《鸡蛋》就是深刻地表现这一主题的力作。
小说以诙谐的笔调，通过一个孩子的不懂事的眼光向人们展示了美国中西部一个普通家庭的既悲惨又滑稽的处境，从而深刻地揭露了“美国梦”的虚妄及其对年轻一代的毒害。
【关键词】“美国梦”；《鸡蛋》；主题；虚妄；追寻；幻灭【中图分类号】Ｉ１０６．４【文章编号】Ａ【文献标识码】１００８－４１４２（２００６）０５－００８９－０３ＯｎｔｈｅＰｕｒｓｕｉｔａｎｄＤｉｓｉｌｌｕｓｉｏｎｍｅｎｔｏｆ＂ＡｍｅｒｉｃａｎＤｒｅａｍｓ＂———ＲｅｖｉｅｗｉｎｇｔｈｅＴｈｅｍｅｏｆＴｈｅＥｇｇｓｂｙＡｎｄｅｒｓｏｎＺＨＵＹａ－ｌａｎ（ＦｏｒｅｉｇｎＬａｎｇｕａｇｅＤｅｐａｒｔ．ｏｆＡｂａＴｅａｃｈｅｒｓＣｏｌｌｅｇｅ，ＷｅｎｃｈｕａｎＳｉｃｈｕａｎ６２３０００，Ｃｈｉｎａ）【Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ】Ｔｈｅｄｉｓｉｌｌｕｓｉｏｎｍｅｎｔｏｆ＂Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎｄｒｅａｍｓ＂ｉｓｔｈｅｔｈｅｍｅｉｎｔｈｅ２０ｔｈｃｅｎｔｕｒｙＡｍｅｒｉｃａｎｌｉｔｅｒａｔｕｒｅ．ＴｈｅｓｈｏｒｔｓｔｏｒｙＴｈｅＥｇｇｓｂｙＳｈｅｒｗｏｏｄＡｎｄｅｒｓｏｎｉｓａｍａｓｔｅｒｐｉｅｃｅｉｎｄｉｇｇｉｎｇｉｎｔｏｔｈｉｓｔｈｅｍｅ．Ｗｉｔｈａｊｏｃｏｓｅｔｏｎｅ，ｔｈｉｓｓｈｏｒｔｓｔｏｒｙｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｓａｍｉｓｅｒａｂｌｅａｎｄｆｕｎｎｙｐｒｅｄｉｃａｍｅｎｔｏｆａｎｏｒｄｉｎａｒｙｆａｍｉｌｙｉｎＡｍｅｒｉｃａｎＭｉｄｗｅｓｔｔｈｒｏｕｇｈｔｈｅｅｙｅｏｆａｎａｒｔｌｅｓｓｋｉｄ，ａｎｄｈｅｎｃｅｄｉｓｃｌｏｓｅｓｔｈｅｆａｌｌａｃｙｏｆＡｍｅｒｉｃａｎｄｒｅａｍｓａｎｄｔｈｅｉｒｃｏｎｔａｍｉｎａｔｉｏｎｏｆｔｈｅＡｍｅｒｉｃａｎｙｏｕｎｇｗｉｔｈｇｒｅａｔｐｒｏｆｕｎｄｉｔｙ．【Ｋｅｙｗｏｒｄｓ】Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎｄｒｅａｍｓ；ｔｈｅＥｇｇｓ；ｔｈｅｍｅ；ｆａｌｌａｃｙ；ｐｕｒｓｕｉｔ；ｄｉｓｉｌｌｕｓｉｏｎｍｅｎｔ【收稿日期】２００６—０５—２９【作者简介】朱亚兰（１９７０－），女，四川内江人，阿坝师专外语系副教授，主要研究方向：美国文学。
The Disillusion of American Dream Reflected in The Great Gatsby
The Disillusion of American Dream Reflectedin The Great GatsbyContentsAbstract (1)Key words (1)I. Introduction (2)1.1 Introduction to Fitzgerald (2)1.2 Description of the Novel (3)II. Literature Reviews (5)2.1 Analysis the Main Characters in The Great Gatsby (5)2.1.1Jay Gatsby (5)2.1.2 Daisy (6)2.1.3 Nick (7)2.2 Artistic Skills—Symbols (7)2.2.1 The Green Light (7)2.2.2 The Valley of Ashes (8)2.2.3 The Eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg (8)2.2.4 Geography (8)III. The Decline of the American Dream (9)3.1 The Disillusion of the American Dream (9)3.2 The Reasons of the Tragedy (11)IV. Conclusion (13)4.1 Theme Analysis (13)4.2 A Mirror of America in the 1920's (15)References (17)摘要：《了不起的盖茨比》以独特的艺术手法及深刻的社会背景轰动了当时的整个美国，代表着菲茨杰拉得文学的最高成就，集中反映了二十世纪二十年代的美国梦及其幻灭的过程, 给我们展现了美国西部大开发时代的社会面貌，也反映了作者对美国梦的深刻理解。
小说通过栩栩如生的个性鲜明的人物，及大量的象征手法的应用来烘托小说的背景。
论文 了不起的盖茨比
四川师范大学文理学院本科毕业论文An Analysis of Disillusionment of American Dream in The Great Gatsby论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的破灭学生姓名张燕院系名称外国语学院专业名称英语（师范）班级 2008级 1班学号 200814025224指导教师陈雪瑶（讲师）答辩时间 2012-4-15论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的破灭学生：张燕指导教师：陈雪瑶讲师摘要：美国著名作家菲兹杰拉德被称为“美国梦的代言人”，在他的小说中，我们难以区分是他的生活如一部小说还是他的小说就是他的一段真实的生活的写照，因为他已完全融入其中。
尤其是《了不起的盖茨比》，文中主人公盖茨比是为追求美国梦而最终牺牲了自己的典例，他渴望以自己的信念和勇气来获取物质以及爱情上的收获，然而由于他的梦想是一种对虚幻的渴望而不是建立在现实的基础之上的追求，最终导致了他美国梦的破灭，文中通过时间发展及不同人物个性特征向我们阐述了这一梦想破灭的各种原因。
关键词：美国梦；破灭；原因An Analysis of Disillusionment of American Dream inThe Great GatsbyAbstract：F. Scott Fitzgerald, is widely considered as the literary spokesman of the “American Dream”. His novels include many aspects of his unique experiences in that period of time. It is not easy to distinguish his novel and the real life, which has already involved him physically and mentally in it. Especially in his masterpiece,The Great Gatsby,which was published in 1925. In the novel, the hero revealed a typical example of those who were eager to pursue the American Dream but finally ended by sacrificing themselves. Though he dreamed of achieving material wealth and love through his courage and hard working, all the factors from outside world and the indelibility of his dream led to the disillusionment of it. Through the development of the story and characteristics of heroes, Fitzgerald elaborated a vivid picture of the disillusionment of American Dream.Key words: American dream; disillusionment; reasonContentsIntroduction (1)Part I The Introduction of F.Scott.Fitzgerald (2)1.1The Life Expericence of Fitzgerald (2)1.1.1 Fitzgerald’s Background (2)1.1.2 Fitzgerald’s Marriage (2)1.2 Literary Works of Fitzgerald (3)PartII American Dream and its Disillusionment (4)2.1 The American Dream (4)2.1.1 The Definition of American Dream (4)2.1.2 The Essence of American Dream (5)2.2 Disillusionment of American Dream Reflected in the Novel (5)2.2.1 Gatsby’s American Dream (5)2.2.2 Nick Carraway’s American Dream (7)2.2.3 Tom, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker’s American Dream (7)Part III The Cause of Disillusionment of American Dream (9)3.1 The Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties (9)3.2 Social Environment and People factors (9)Conclusion (11)Bibliography (12)IntroductionF. Scott Fitzgerald was born in a not rich family, so he wanted to earn lots of money to become rich to enjoy high quality life. The tempo of his life slackened as his life was shredded by Zelda’s insanity and his own self-destructive alcoholism. Through years of emotional and physical collapse he struggled to repair his life by writing for Hollywood-producing at the same time a series of stories that exposed his humiliation there. He became one of the greatest writers in American literature and wrote many works in his lifetime to manifest the life reality of that time. He was a spokesman for the so-called Jazz Age.The Great Gatsby is regarded as his masterpiece. First published on April 10, 1925, the story is set in Long Island's North Shore and New York City during the summer of 1922. The novel tells of Gatsby, an idealist, who tries to recapture his lost love but in vain and is finally destroyed by the influence of the wealthy people around him .The story deals with the failure of the American dream as personified in the rich and beautiful woman Daisy who belongs to corrupt society. The Great Gatsby evokes a haunting mood of a glamorous, wild time that seemingly will never come again. It is about the loss of an ideal and the disillusionment that comes with the failure is embodied fully in the personal tragedy of a young man (Gatsby) whose “incorruptible dream” is “smashed into pieces by the relentless reality” (Fitzgerald, 8).Gatsby’s failure to realize his ideal symbolizes the disillusionment of his American Dream. Also, Gatsby’s intensity of dream represents a state of commitment which takes him in search of his personal grail; Gatsby’s failure magnifies to a great extent the end of the American Dream.Part I The Introduction of F.Scott.Fitzgerald1.1The Life Expericence of FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald is one of the most outstanding American authors in the twenties, and The Great Gatsby is his best work.1.1.1 Fitzgerald’s BackgroundF. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 into a St, Paul middle-class family. After an unsuccessful undergraduate career at Princeton, he entered the Army as a second Lieutenant and while in training camp he met the beautiful girl who was to become his wife. He married Zelda Sayre as his literary career got off to a meteoric start in 1920. Through the 1920s when money seemed plentiful and postwar morality encouraged a reckless pursuit of happiness, he and Zelda traveled in Europe and New York, acting out the glamorous life-style he wrote of in his most popular magazine fiction. He was a spokesman for the so-called Jazz Age, setting a personal as well as literary example for a generation whose first commandment was: Do what you will. The speed of his life slackened as his life was shredded by Zelda’s insanity and his own self-destructive alcoholism. He fell from favor as a writer when the indulgent decade of his triumph went down under the impact of a worldwide Depression in the 1930s.1.1.2 Fitzgerald’s MarriageIt is absolutely the tough teenage years and marriage life that made Fitzgerald experience the difficulties and frustrations of the life. So we should discover some reflections of the story from the author’s life.The relationship between Fitzgerald and Zelda went so dramatic that even himself once said, “ Sometimes I don’t know whether Zelda and I are real or whether we are characters in one of my novels”（Fitzgerald, 1）.Zelda was the daughter of a judge in Montgomery, Alabama, a beautiful society girl. Though she told Fitzgerald that she loved him so much, but her too expensive life left him unable to support her. They have experienced breaking up but finally got engaged again with the support of Fitzgerald’s succ ess. It was also at this time that Fitzgerald wrote many of his short stories which helped to pay for their extravagant lifestyle. But when the misfortune came, in 1930s when Zelda became increasingly troubled by mental illness. Their life became harder. It was his marriage and his onerous life of making money to support her that affected his writing tremendously. Fitzgerald was tormented virtually all his life by the fact that he could not concentrate on his working and the improvement of his art in general.1.2 Literary Works of FitzgeraldThe Roaring Twenties was a period of literary creativity, and works of several notable authors appeared during the period. Such as Earnest Hemingway, Erich Maria Remarque and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Etc. Literary works in that period of time mirror people’s experiences and attitude of the1920s. We could see it from the following examples: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque recounts the horrors of WWI and also the deep detachment from German civilian life felt by many men returning from the front.This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is about a group of expatriate Americans in Europe during the 1920s. All in all writers and their works in those years were haunted with complicated sensations which have shown us all the difficulties and frustrations in their life.PartⅡAmerican Dream and its Disillusionment2.1 The American DreamBefore we take a look to the causes and effects of the disillusionment of American dream, let’s first try to understand the definition and content of American Dream.2.1.1 The Definition of American DreamIn different social and historical backgrounds, the concepts of American Dream are different, and for different people, they have different understandings of American Dream and the ways to pursue their American Dream are also various. The definition of the so-called American Dream can be distinguished in broad sense and narrow sense. For the former, American Dream is the equality, freedom and democracy in the land of the United States. The later one means, everyone in America ,if only work hard and never give up, he could achieve his dream and could live a better life in this piece of land, that is to say, people should make their efforts ,such as diligence, courage and determination to realize dreams rather than depend on the help from others.This term that American Dream was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states, “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” This ideology is based itself on the principle that one should be responsible for oneself, and taking every opportunity to gain success by courage and hard working.2.1.2 The Essence of American DreamAs for the American Dream, it is a belief that a better life could be achieved through hard work and strives. There are several elements lie in the American Dream: the US has provided equal opportunities for everyone; the success based on own talents and efforts, not the background and extraction; everyone was born equally; and everyone has his own right to achieve success.“For any American no matter what his origin was, could succeed in changing their social positions and making their dreams come true through their own efforts, and getting new, free and better life.”（Zhao Hongwei, 2）This is the basic often of "American dream". It is the idea that the American way of life offers the equal possibility of unlimited economic, social, etc. One can always work their way up from the rags to riches just like Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the US.In brief, the main content of American culture was emphasis on individuals' value, optimistic, pursuing of democracy and freedom, the promotion of deportation and competition and the need of realism and practicality. There was a common truth that everyone who lived in that period actually had an American Dream and eager to achieve it and everyone has an American Dream which is to have a good opportunity to realize personal dream.2.2 Disillusionment of American Dream Reflected in the NovelIn this novel, we could discover so many characteristics of the disillusionment of American dream. All of them have been reflected from the words and actions of heroes and heroines2.2.1 Gatsby’s American DreamAs for the great Gatsby, his American Dream is to have much money and then win Daisy, who is in love with Gatsby five years ago but now is the wife of rich Tom. Gatsby thinks that only if he has much money, at least has more money than Tom, should he win Daisy’s love. So it is reasonable for him to pursue material wealth in order to win the love of Daisy.Gatsby’s attempt to achieve his American Dream which is to recapture the love of Daisy Buchanan whom he had known five years before the action of the novel begins, when he is a young and poor officer in the United States army and Daisy is a young unmarried woman, who used to live a luxuriant life with much money and great fame. And the only way should Gatsby make his American Dream come true is to get a lot of money which is much difficulty for a normal soldier to earn. He does all the things Daisy asks him to do. And nobody can do this out of reason. In order to win Daisy, Gatsby dare to have illegal trade of alcohol to make a fortune, because he clearly knows that he must offer Daisy a better life which is luxuriant if he wants to win Daisy. Through his great effort, he gets much money authentically although it is from illegal business.Gatsby's success in fortune is great, his strong will of love and achieving life goal is also great; he becomes the big name of the society, and becomes the upper class's deputy. Everyone is glad to come to his party, everyone admires his property, and everyone wants to be his friend, even Daisy has taken much notice of him and falls in love with him again. Gatsby is also great when he loses his life in order to protect Daisy from the accident.However, “the falling of his American Dream, that Daisy goes together with her husband to another city happily while Gatsby is murdered mistakenly, improves that all his great characterize means nothing. In other words, Gatsby’s final American Dream, which is to win Daisy, is totally a failure.”（杨慧群, 3）Furthermore, when Gatsby died, no one turns up for his funeral, though hundreds of people have eaten at his place. It is a sad comment on human nature that when a man dies, he is alone, absolutely alone. The only things that accompany him are his good deeds especially those done spontaneously and without expectations. And the saddest thing is that Daisy, doesn’t feel any regret or sorrow for Gatsby’s death, has gone traveling with his husband Tom. There is nothing left for Gatsby. All the things of his life have gone with his death, including his wealth and love. From the above analysis of Gatsby’s American Dream, there is a conclusion that whatever it is broken or not, Gatsby’s American Dream is to get as much money as he can even through every illegal means, and then he can have the economical strength to achieve his final goal——win the love of Daisy.Gatsby spends his whole life in attaining money and status so that he can reach a certain position in life and then he can win Daisy back. That is what motivates him to move to West Egg, and makes money by any means necessary, holds extravagant parties in every weekend, does everything what Daisy requires him to do and so on. There is a position in life that he yearns for and will do all that it takes to achieve it, and the final goal for his American Dream is to get Daisy’s love. It is doomed to be a failure if Gatsby wants to be in love with Daisy,and live with her forever.2.2.2 Nick Carraway’s American DreamIn this novel, we see disorientation in achieving the American Dream in Gatsby, while in Nick Carraway, the narrator, we see a far more rational mind in dealing with this. Nick Carraway was made in the book the representative of the traditional moral codes of America. He comes from the Midwest and wants to make money in the Long Island. For he is also attracted by the beauty, the wealth, and the sophistication of “the wasteland”, so at any rate, he is another dream seeker. However as witnessing Gatsby’s tragedy, he realizes what has gone wrong with American dream from the beginning to the end. Thanks to the traditional moral conducts that rooted in him and his following his father’s advice on toleration, he never get lost. Finally, he got the essential emptiness of American dream and achieves the penetration of Tom and Daisy’s corruption, grossness, and cowardice. Nick does not make quick j udgment, and thus is able to gain access to “many curious natures” The world of Gatsby is inhabited in main by three groups of people and Nick has contact with them all. So the function of Nick in this book can never be ignored. He is there to make the readers understand the roles in this book from an objective point of view and then get better comprehension of Gatsby’s idealized love and the reality of the society. Both Nick and Gatsby in this novel emerge as moral symbol: Gatsby as the embodiment of spiritual desolation or waste, Nick as a hope for moral and spiritual growth.2.2.3 Tom, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker’s American DreamIn this book, Tom, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker represent the corruption of American dream. Comparing with Gatsby, they were born with wealth and status but devoid of purpose. Daisy’s lament is especially indicative of this: “What will we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?”(Fitzgerald, 1).Daisy Buchanan, is the dream and cause of his wasted dream. As a representative of those women who are not expected to be well educated, to work, and have developed a kind of parasitic dependency. Daisy is, however, physically attractive, romantic, and sentimental,but emotionally frigid, having a destructive influence on the man with whom she is associated. All her charm is just a gesture of life rather than a quality of living.Tom Buchanan, the husband of Daisy, is ruler and representative of the moral wasteland that has replaced American idealism. All his bulky gestures tell us that in the moral wasteland, idealism is a source of weakness rather than strength; he devoted to nothing but the impulse of his own flesh and the demands of his own ego, completely regardless of any concept of either a moral code or a personal loyalty.For Tom and Daisy Buchanan, it is nothing worries about any potential crisis around them, for they have no moral responsibility at all. Whenever what happens, they will shield themselves with their upper class social status and retreat into their money or leave other people to clean up the mess they’ve made.Jordan Baker, at any rate, is no less a creature of the moral wasteland than is Daisy or Tom Buchanan. As a “lovely” girl who dresses i n “white” and always seem to be “cool” and apathetic, Jordan Baker is an opportunist in her own way. Being a 23-year-old women’s golf champion becomes involved with Nick during the course of the summer of 1922. She looks like “incurably dishonest” however, though Nick finds Jordan haughty and careless, he finds himself being attracted by her anyway. On the other sides, Jordan once “loved” Nick, for she had sensed the honesty and moral firmness in Nick’s heart, and realized that only when staying with a man like Nike can she be free from the mess and continues to be on her own way. But in the end Jordan gets engaged to another man after not seeing Nick for a short time, leaving Nick angry and letting him realizes the same irresponsible exploitation in Jordan as that he sees in Tom and Daisy. Jordan’s action seems to intentionally echo Daisy’s leaving Gatsby to marry Tom five years ago.Part III The Cause of Disillusionment of American Dream3.1 The Jazz Age and the Roaring TwentiesThe spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity, a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. New technologies, especially automobiles, moving pictures and radio proliferated modernity to a large part of the population. Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality in both daily life and architecture. At the same time, jazz and dancing rose in popularity, in opposition to the mood of the specter of World War I. As such, the period is also often referred to as the Jazz Age. The Jazz Age, was, in the words of Malcolm Cowley, “not so much a historical period as a legend of glitter, of recklessness, and of talent in such pr ofusion that it was sown broadcast like wild oats.” It was a legend of “American adolescence before pain set in.” Fitzgerald became “the angel of the twenties” and his writings those of a man inside that legendary period.3.2 Social Environment and People factorsAnother reason for the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American dream may be people factors. Gatsby’s love for Daisy was to the point of obsession, it was really touching, but he chose the wrong object to pay for their own love, Daisy was a secular, hedonistic money worshiper. She could never work hand in hand with Gatsby. And she would not pay a high price for the ideal, and make enormous sacrifices. Her life was of no true love, but cannot be without money. Gatsby’s tragedy is that he has not been able to understand Daisy’s motives, can not understand that she belonged to the complexity of the world. He only saw the world’s surface, bright and elegant, but did not see it hidden in the cold and heartless. In order to protect their rights and status, people in this world has taken hypocritical means.In short, he loved the wrong person and did not wake up until he died. What always existed between him and Daisy was an unbridgeable gap between social status. He’s life wassuch a tragedy which rooted in his blind pursuit of life and love and fantasy, as well as the lack of knowledge about the upper middle class society, where all the lofty spirit are gone. He started from scratch, but society was swallowed by the dark coldness. He would not take in any case struggle to Daisy and will not become part of high society forever.Gatsby’s failure, to some extent, has indicated the failure of the American Dream, his struggle is the embodiment of American spirit, the failure of him is the declaration of recession in the American spirit. His tragedy arose because he built his ideal on the illusion than reality, his desires to succeed, but when he realized the dream of money he fell into the spirit of the post-crisis. He preferred to escape in stead of facing it bravely. The competition between Tom and Gatsby was not only a battle between rivals in love, but also a battle between representatives of the two different social classes. So his failure is inevitable. The former lovers, Nick and Jordan, were the spectators of the whole story, they have witnessed this dirty and evil history. The height of material prosperity has brought desolation and twisted soul, which hidden under the appearance of carnival fun.The whole community is suffering from this mental illness --- a no way out of the loss and suffering. Therefore, the disillusionment of American dream has become a necessity.ConclusionAfter collecting information and completing this essay, we can understand better the appearance, development and disillusionment of Gatsby’s love and dream. Now we can not only feel empathetic about Gatsby’s intricate and pessimistic life, but also see the inhumanity and cruelty of society.Through this novel, Fitzgerald shows the collapse and disillusionment of pe ople’s dream, no matter what kind of concepts it has, money, social status or simply of happiness. The most catastrophic collapse, however, is the American dream itself. Here, heroes and heroines in this book including Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, Nick and Jordan together serve as metaphors by Fitzgerald to reveal the paradox of American dream: when materialism is elevated into having spiritual values, it can only confuse its disciples. He also pointed that, for the reality of life can not compare to idealistic dream, as well as the ideals are usually far too perfect to be paralleled in reality. Then the collapse of American dream is unavoidable.However, this novel is not only a criticism of the corruption of money on American dream. It is also an appealing for abandoning materialism and returning to traditional moral values. What’s more, Nick Carraway, the narrator, provides a successful foil for the degradation of the American dream. He is the voice of morality and humanity in this novel and the only one who regist er the human loss and measures the disparity between Gatsby’s unrealistic dream and the reality upon which it was based.All in all, this novel, The Great Gatsby, can be absolutely termed as the masterpiece of Fitzgerald. From it we can get some hidden information about the author himself. Fitzgerald said that sometimes he doesn’t know whether he and his wife are real or they are just characters in his novel. This novel, actually, ensured Fitzgerald’s position as a serious and talented writer. In more recent years Tony Tanner claimed it to be “the most perfectly crafted work of fiction to have come out of American.”BibliographyB enson, Will. The Great Gatsby and the obscene word. College Literature, 2005.Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby. Penguin Classics, 1994.Harbison, John. Where Is the Old, Warm World?,From the Great Gatsby. HAL LEONARD PUB CO, 2001.Lauter, Paul, Richard, Yarborough, Jackson, Bryer, Charles, Molesworth & King-Kok,Cheung. The Heath Anthology of American Literature:Volume D:Modern Period (1910-1945). Heinle, 2005.Malcolm, Cowley. What is the Meaning of the Jazz Age. New York University Press, 1986Miller, James E. F. Scott Fitzgerald----His Art and Technique. New York University Press, 1964.TruslowAdams, James. The Epic of America. New York University Press, 1931Burnam, T. A Re-Examination of The Great Gatsby. College English,1952.Wang Qiong. The Narrative Technique in “The Great Gatsby” from the Point View of Narration. Journal of Huzhou Teachers College, 1996.Wu Dingbai. An Outline of American Literature. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.Yang Qishen. Selected Readings in American Literature, Volume 2. Shanghai:Shanghai Translation Press, 1987.Zhao Hongwei. The definition of American Dream 2003, Shanghai Language Education Press, 1998.杨慧群.菲兹杰拉德的小说了不起的盖茨比浅析.江苏广播电视大学学报, 2002.Dai Yawa. On disillusionment of American Dream from the Great Gatsby.:1010/Teacher/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=1345, 2007.。
TheDisillusionme...
The Disillusionment of “the AmericanDream”——On The Great GatsbyThe D D isillusionm e e nt of “the A A merican Dre a a m”——On The G G reat GatsbyAbstract弗·司司各特·菲茨杰拉德是二十世世纪二十年代美国文坛上杰出出的作家，素有“爵士时代””的代言人和桂冠诗人的称号号。
他那充满名利及浪漫，忧忧郁而又短暂的一生不仅为其其作品提供了最生动的创作素素材，而且也成为美国战后整整个“迷惘的一代”悲惨命运运的缩影。
菲茨杰拉德的作品品为人们生动的再现了爵士时时代的生活气息和社会风貌。
小说《了不起的盖茨比》被被公认为是他最优秀的作品。
评论界普遍将它看作是一部部关于二十世纪二十年代年代代美国社会现实的小说。
小说说展示了菲茨杰拉德对爵士时时代生活中的失意感和矛盾的的情绪。
在《了不起的盖茨比比》中展示的金色世界里，流流淌的主题是爵士时代道德废废墟和颓废以及个人责任感的的缺乏。
生活在这种氛围里的的盖茨比，他的命运不可避免免地打上了社会意识的烙印。
本论文从人物分析着手，，从社会、历史、以及作者自自身的经历和世界观等多方面面探讨导致主人公盖茨比梦毁毁人亡的根源所在。
本文分分成四个部分，引论部分主要要介绍了菲茨杰拉德的个人生生平背景以及小说创作时所处处的社会历史背景。
第二二部分探讨了美国梦对菲茨杰杰拉德的影响。
这部小说一自自被认为是一部半自转型的小小说，因此，从社会的角度来来探讨作者的个人经历和强调调其与小说之间的联系是很重重要的。
第三部分分析析了盖茨比美国梦破灭的原因因，主要包括两方面:自身原原因和社会原因。
盖茨比在实实现了金钱的梦想之后，希-望能够和黛西重温过去，而而他的以黛西为实体的梦想实实际上是不存在的。
天真和盲盲口的性格也决定了盖茨比的的失败。
他认为只要有足够的的钱就能赢回黛西，但是他缺缺乏批判的眼光，没有认识到到黛西和汤姆所属的社会根本本就是不接受他的。
美国梦(american dream)外文翻译学位论文
美国梦美国梦（American Dream）源于英国对美国的殖民时期，发展于19世纪，是一种相信只要在美国经过努力不懈的奋斗便能获得更好生活的理想，亦即人们必须透过自己的工作勤奋、勇气、创意、和决心迈向繁荣，而非依赖于特定的社会阶级和他人的援助。
通常这代表了人们在经济上的成功或是企业家的精神。
1931年James Truslow Adams 在其作品《“美国梦”的定义》中这样写到：“不论社会阶层还是出身背景，每个人都应该有机会凭借其能力和取得的成就获得更好、更富裕、更充实的生活。
”“美国梦”这一信念根植于《独立宣言》。
该宣言称，“人人生来平等”, “造物主赋予他们某些不可剥夺的权利,包括“生命安全、自由和追求幸福的权利。
”1.我们继续奋力向前划，逆水行舟，不停地倒退，回到往昔。
2.“每逢你想要对别人品头论足的时候，”他对我说，“要记住，世上并非所有的人，都有你那样的优越条件。
”3.个人决心：不要浪费时间去Shafter家或者（名字，字迹不清）不再吸烟或嚼烟每隔一天洗澡每周读一本有益的书或杂志每周存5块3块钱对父母好.小说人物尼克（旁白）：来自中西部，耶鲁大学毕业，保险销售员，一战退伍老兵，住在西卵，是盖茨比的隔壁邻居。
杰伊盖茨比(原名詹姆士盖兹)——一个年轻的、神秘的百万富翁后来被揭穿是个私酒走私者,原来住在北达科塔州,有着不为人知的从商经历。
当他还是一战中一名年轻小军官的时候就已经认识了黛西，并且深深地爱上了她。
Daisy-年轻而充满女性魅力和吸引力，但是十分肤浅。
尼克的第二个表妹,曾经搬走了,与盖茨比分手后成为富家子弟汤姆布坎农的妻子。
通常人们认为黛西这一角色的灵感来自菲茨杰拉德年轻时与芝加哥Ginevra王的女继承人的浪漫情史。
汤姆布坎农-生活在东卵的百万富翁, 黛西的丈夫。
布坎南和威廉·米切尔有着相似处,Chicagoan Ginevra嫁给了国王。
布坎南和米切尔对马球有兴趣”。
Disillusionment of Willy Loman’s American Dream
2532019年14期总第454期ENGLISH ON CAMPUSDisillusionment of Willy Loman’s American Dream文/郑清颖【摘要】《推销员之死》是亚瑟·米勒所写的一部著名剧作，曾获得过许多重要奖项，如普利策奖和托尼奖。
它揭示了一个小人物——威利·洛曼美国梦的幻灭。
导致他美国梦幻灭的因素有很多，当时的社会背景、他的家庭以及他个人都应该对此承担责任。
本文将分析导致威利·洛曼美国梦幻灭的原因。
【关键词】推销员之死；幻灭；威利·洛曼；美国梦【Abstract】Death of a Salesman, a famous play written by Arthur Miller, won many important awards, such asPulitzer Prize and Tony Award. It revealed the disillusionment of Willy Loman’s American dream. However, there are many factors contributing to his failure. The society, himself and his family should take responsible for that. This paper will analyze the reasons leading to the disillusionment of Willy Loman’s American dream.【Key words】Death of a Salesman; disillusionment; Willy Loman; American dream 【作者简介】郑清颖(1998-)，女，福建福州人，华东师范大学本科生，研究方向：英语。
《伟大的盖茨比》英文读后感
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The Disillusionment of American Dream【Abstract】Fitzgerald is one of the most famous American writers in the 20th century. His masterpiece The Great Gatsby reflects the spirit of the era and the disillusionment of the American Dream. The paper makes an analysis of the theme in The Great Gatsby.【Keywords】The American Dream. The Jazz Age1 IntroductionF. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most well known American modern novelists. His masterpiece is The Great Gatsby. Because of The Great Gatsby，Fitzgerald received high praise from T. S. Eliot，the famous literary critics. Eliot regards it as ‘‘the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James’’.2 The Theme on the Surface LevelAt the first glance，the twisted love seems to be the themes the novel.Starting with Daisy，she marries Tom just because he has a lot of money. In fact，during that time，Daisy loves Gatsby，while Gatsby is very poor. What she cares about is the comfortable life，and money is the foundation of acomfortable life. Therefore，she chooses Tom as her husband，but not Gatsby. Afterwards，Gatsby obtains large amount of money，and Daisy is impressed by his wealth，which makes Daisy want to leave Tom and stay with Gatsby. From this episode，readers can see that what dominates her life is money，not love.Tom doesn’t love Daisy and Mertle at all. He marries Daisy just because her beautiful face and decent social status can match him；he has an affair with Mertle just for sexual desires，but not love at all.Mertle’s husband is a poor man，and her life is not as good as she wants. When wealthy Tom appears，his money impresses her. Therefore，they have the affairs. For her husband，she even looks upon him because he is poor，so she doesn’t care about him at all. What she loves most is money.In the novel，Gatsby is the only person who understands love. He loves Daisy and takes Daisy and his love for her as the loftiest thing in his life. He keeps pursuing her all the way. Tragically，Daisy is not as perfect as he thinks. There are too many fatal character flaws in Daisy. Though Gatsby is still twisted with love，his attitudes towards love are much loftier than others. He is the only character in the novel who regardslove as a belief.3 The Theme on the Deep LevelThe main theme of the novel encompasses a much larger scope，less romantic scope. “Although the whole story happened in the summer of 1922 and it is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island，New York，The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on the 1920s’American as a whole，in particular the disintegration of the American Dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. （Bruccoli，1998）The Great Gatsby is about what happened to American Dream in the 1920s；a period when the dream has corrupted by the avaricious money，and then the dream becomes devoid and hollow.Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy，while what Daisy cares about is money. In order to get Daisy’s love，Gatsby put his energy to get money and become the rich. Daisy is the symbol of wealth. “Her voice is full of money”. （Fitzgerald，2000）After Gatsby falling love in with Daisy，his pure American Dream is corrupted. Before falling in love with Daisy，Gatsby’s American Dream is pure. He writes these words on hisnotebook：“No wasting shatters，No more smoking or chewing，Read one improving book or magazine per week，Save $ 3.00 per week，Be better to parents.”（Fitzgerald，2000）After falling in love with Daisy，he begins to focus on money and material success.In this American-Dream-comes-true story，Gatsby does many illegal things to make fortune，leg booting and gambling. His real goal in life disappears，and he begins to pursuit an empty goal. He is corrupted by the empty rich society.Everyone has his dream and aim in life. Dream is the motivation for the realizing of the dream；however，when people focus on money or material success，he will lose his real goal and himself in life. Gatsby is the representative. So when Gatsby becomes extremely rich，we can say he realizes his American Dream，but the good days do not last for a long time.In fact，Gatsby is the product of that society. People around him give great influences on him. For the most people in the novel，money is everything. To a degree，Gatsby is great comparing with those materialistic，because not only does Gatsby pursuit the material success，but also he pursuits the spiritual success. ‘‘There are two discernible dreams inthe novel?--the dream of material success and the dream of spiritual success.”（Whitley，1985）Though Gatsby’s dream of spiritual success is not realized，it can’t deny Gatsby’s greatness in a certain degree，because at least he has tried his best to realize it. The more important point of the novel still relies on his pursuit of the material success，the disillusionment of his American Dream.4 ConclusionIn this novel，Fitzgerald pinpoints the “American Dream”，and Gatsby is the representative person whose American Dream is disillusioned in that era.References：[1]Bruccoli，Mattew.，Fitzgerald. A to Z：The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. Facts on File，Inc.1998.[2]Fahey，William. F. S. Fitzgerald and American Dream. New York University Press. 1973.[3]Fitzgerald， F. S.，The Great Gatsby. Hunt Barnard Printing Ltd. 2000.[4]Gidley，Machale. F.S. Fitzgerald’s Works. The Random House Group Limited. 1976.[5]Hoffman，Frederic. The Great Gatsby： a study. Addison Wesley Longman. 1962.[6]Miller，James. F.S. Fitzgerald：His Art and His Techniques. New York University Press. 1967.[7]Whitley，John. F.S. Fitzgerald：The Great Gatsby. The Amelot Press Ltd. 1985.作者简介：郑艺（1980～），女，讲师，吉林市人，东北电力大学外国语学院。