View of the Great Gatsby
《了不起的盖茨比》英语读后感4篇
《了不起的盖茨比》英语读后感4篇《了不起的盖茨比》英语读后感4篇引导语：在赏读完一本名著以后，相信大家有很多值得分享的东西吧，让我们好好写份读后感，把你的收获感想写下来吧。
可是读后感怎么写才合适呢？以下是小编为大家收集的《了不起的盖茨比》英语读后感，仅供参考，大家一起来看看吧。
《了不起的`盖茨比》英语读后感篇1Recently read "the great gatsby, a story of hegemony set up dawn. The north American continent, is hundred years ago, the economic development of the train sped forward; Friction machines roar, but also too much to hide a moment of the heart. The book, that history is a little mark.Investigate its likelihood is a person's tragedy, is the tragedy of the society as a whole, may not be important. Wine party smallpox, extravagant luxury residence, colorful gorgeous clothes, just for the sake of his heart love Daisy. Think first, young and beautiful, sketched a period of time; Flies away and alternative fate lane person, in the heart of love is someone else's confidante. The deep love, the injury the farthest, cut; Not reality, immersed in the beautiful dream, but blurred the forward field of vision. Weakness of gunfire, all the dreams and beautiful, vulnerable to burst, scattered in the wind, without trace.Gatsby, his great, because he was the degree of potential energy, but because of his pursuit of the good feelings. He hasn't done anything wrong, but also had to the empty rooms. A dream, how to do, easy, but also how to away, difficult to achieve. In an age of people pursuit of material, to be backed by real emotions. Buckish, stained with money, odour, lost a condition is a pure heart. Leave a piece of pure land, at that time, doomed tooblivion the audacity of commitments.Finally wrote: "we continue to strive to move forward, stream, after being constantly push, until the return to the days of the old one."Heart can not help a Chu. Accustomed to another potential, accustomed to the intrigue, people, really happy? Blundering world, difficult times, disguise the Buddhism, purports to recall the mood like that is like water. This, is the only thing we can do?"Day after day, excitement consumed by gradually." Reality, kill too much like real unreal image. Those beautiful like a castle in the air, and hollow crowd away already. In between dreams and reality, we go from here?Gatsby is the choice of the former. Even if the cruel reality, fate, his image is still great; Pure love is hard to stop, right and wrong about his, also make them in a glorious situation across the sphere of a bygone era. Quietly away, few people look at the light. Through one hundred, is the ray of light, to the left a dark era deserves stay have story.Even if you, in the reality, still mark a dream back without regrets. That is worth pity era, these moving words, bring us infinite daydream.《了不起的盖茨比》英语读后感篇2"The great gatsby is a harbor of" American dream "in the literature writer Fitzgerald's works, Fitzgerald said his own extraordinary, with his parents is different also, don't even think of themselves as the son of parents, he has come from the self Platonic idea.In this article, the hero that gatsby is a unique thought of the people, he also have Platonic love. He put himself as the son of god, he thought he should be god's career service, his pursuit ofa "vast, secular, ostentation of beauty", obviously he imagine himself become Christ's character. Seventeen, he decided to change name, from the original James gates to jay gatsby, jay gatsby is said to be English Jesus, God ` s boy pronunciation variation. But the irony is that, from the moment he changed his name, he began to pursue the so-called beauty and kindness, also began his tragic life. He saw Daisy buchanan as he pursues the incarnation of beauty. When he saw her, he knew that she had put his ideal and his life together. He knew his heart to heart with god, must be single-minded, never heart side wu chi. When he kissed her for the first time, "she is just like a flower bloom for him, and the embodiment of this ideal is done." On Daisy, gatsby's dream became flesh and blood. He desire and Daisy together to realize their dreams.However, Daisy cannot act as the role. She is a just a miss the bourgeoisie for the highest goal in life, no thoughts, there is no sentiment, shallow false, bored, nothing to do. She never to realize gates than his dream to sacrifice their own vested interests. While gatsby himself could not achieve their dreams, of course, his idea is too unreal. He and Daisy's husband Tom buchanan possess wealth, the difference between two people is at least he used his wealth to pursue a kind of "beauty", and try my best to get it. However, he didn't win it, finally, George Wilson, is Tom's mistress's husband in Daisy couple killed gatsby conspired and egged. His dream completely shattered. Gatsby's failure is the fundamental reason is that he did the "American dream" has been out of date, his opportunity had little s dream come true.I felt sorry for gatsby, he is so single-minded, but in the end was hurt by their favorite woman. Of course he is praiseworthy in some places. He can read the love is beautiful, and not likemost people associate love and interests. But he really misled by his ideal, he did not see time and occasion, he shouldn't be on the right people also is reluctant to part with the past memories after married. And Daisy this person too vain, too greedy. To some extent, gates than the final fate has a lot to do with her. 《了不起的盖茨比》英语读后感篇3There is a dream,rooted deeply in every American,from the very beginning of theMayFlower,that the great grandfathers of all Americans had been contemplatingand seeking,and of all Americans that has been written in the second sentence of theUnited States Declaration of Independence which states that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."The American Dream , is a belief that as long as the United States after a hard struggle will be able to achieve the ideal of a better life, that is, people have to work through their own hard work, courage, creativity and determination to move towards Prosperity,rather than rely on specific social classes and other assistance. This is usually on behalf of the people in the economic success or entrepreneurial spirit.Yet, the dream has already became a nightmare,that in the money-orienting,power-persuing minds springing up since the Industry Revolution,Americans have fallen in,not only the way of life through which Americans rifling for more luxurious enjoyment, but the morality of heart that they persued prosperity with all costs of which they were oblivious.Luckly,we had people who saw the reality much more clearly than the blind masses,while those were considered Critics of sorts.They pointed out that many versions of the dream equateprosperity with happiness, and that happiness may not always be that simple. These critics suggest that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making it more like a cruel joke than a genuine dream. Fitzgerald was one of them who went the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James, because he depicted the extolled grandest and most boisterous, reckless and merry-making scene （T.S.Elliot）。
伟大的盖茨比影评英文作文
伟大的盖茨比影评英文作文英文：The Great Gatsby is a classic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and it has been adapted into several films over the years. The most recent adaptation, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular character, Jay Gatsby, is a visually stunning and emotionally gripping film. The story is set in the 1920s, and it follows the enigmatic and wealthy Gatsby as he tries to win back the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, who is married to another man.One of the things that I love about The Great Gatsby is the way it captures the glamour and decadence of the Jazz Age. The costumes, the music, and the lavish parties all contribute to the film's immersive and intoxicating atmosphere. The cinematography is also incredibly beautiful, with sweeping shots of Gatsby's mansion and the glittering lights of New York City. The film does a fantastic job ofbringing the opulence and excess of the era to life.Another aspect of the film that I find compelling is the character of Jay Gatsby himself. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a powerful and nuanced performance, portraying Gatsby as a man who is both charismatic and deeply flawed. Gatsby's unrelenting pursuit of Daisy and his tragic past make him a sympathetic and tragic figure. The film does a great job of exploring the complexities of his character and making the audience empathize with him.In addition to the stunning visuals and compelling characters, The Great Gatsby also has a timeless and poignant story. The themes of love, wealth, and the American Dream are still relevant today, and the film does a great job of exploring these themes in a thought-provoking way. The tragic ending of the story is both heart-wrenching and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impact on the audience.Overall, The Great Gatsby is a visually stunning and emotionally gripping film that stays true to the spirit ofthe original novel. The performances, the visuals, and the storytelling all come together to create a truly memorable cinematic experience.中文：《了不起的盖茨比》是一部由F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德（F. Scott Fitzgerald）所著的经典小说，多年来已被改编成多部电影。
介绍名人 伟大的盖茨比 The Great Gatsby 英语作文
The Great Gatsby>The Great Gatsby Essay:The Great Gatsby is a classic American novel written by F Scott Fitzgerald. It is a novel best described as a Satire on the American ideals of the 1920s. The novel has been set up in the time of early 20th century in the American society where people least cared about each other. The societal devices of greed, betrayal, poverty, desire and satisfaction are collectively depicted by the three strata of the American society of the 1920s.F Scott Fitzgerald, through his most popular literary piece- The Great Gatsby, gives a vivid peek into the interrelations among the born rich, earned rich and the poor people of the society. The great American dream of the said time makes the readers question if materialism is power?Long and Short Essays on The Great Gatsby for Students and Kids in EnglishWe are providing a long essay on The Great Gatsbyof 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the same topic along with ten lines about the topic to help readers.Long Essay on The Great Gatsby 500 Words in EnglishLong Essay on The Great Gatsby is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.The Great Gatsby is a critically acclaimed classic American novel. The author of the book is F Scott Fitzgerald. This is the author’s most popular book that has the honour of many elite references in societal strata. The other works of F Scott Fitzgerald include the romantic egotist, this side of paradise, the beautiful and damned, tender is the night and the love of the last tycoon.The Great Gatsby is set up in the 1920s. The ambience created by the story is set up in America of the post-war economic evolution. The story is in the form of a narration. The narrator is Nick Carraway, who has returned from his long stay in the East. He is a born, rich character who inherited wealth from his ancestors.Jay Gatsby is Nick’s neighbour. Nick watches the lavish parities Jay Gatsby hosts every evening but attends one of the party after Jay invited him. The lavish parties at Mr Gatsby’s place depict how carefree the American liveswere in the time that led them to attend strange parties with strange people. The fact that Mr Gatsby hosts parties every evening tells us the tale of an American Dream.Mr Gatsby has an unforgettable past that decays his will to live irrespective of his wealth and luxuries. This character building by the author tells us how materialism can never dominate desire.The other important characters of the story are Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan. They are related to Nick Carraway and very mysteriously acquainted with Mr Gatsby. It is with the help ofthese characters that the author brings the vivid picture of the American society in the 1920s.You can now access more Essay Writing on this topicMany readers have critically acclaimed the Great Gatsby but absorbingly praised by more of them. It is called as the best American novel that showcases America in its raw and naked form. This is why the title of an American dream is synonymously is used as a theme for the story.The reason for it being called an American dream is that it shows the perfect picture of thesociety of America where wealth was every soul only dreams and materialistic possesions attracted elite attention. The story is very simple if you might incept but highly impactful with the reason of true possessions of life.The Great Gatsby has been adapted into cinema many times because of its extraordinary interpretation. The most recent adaptation was in 2013, with Baz Luhrmann and Leonardo Decaprio as the directors and screenplay writers. Leonardo was also the lead in the movie as the character of Jay Gatsby.With a higher value of literary significance, The Great Gatsby is widely read by generations of book lovers. It is also taught in higher studies to grasp the literary significance it holds. It is a book one must read to have realizations of the real values of life.The book has an impactful ending where the readers can witness how the past curbs the future and how the future is nothing but a result of past aspirations.Short Essay on The Great Gatsby 150 Words in EnglishShort Essay on The Great Gatsby is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.The Great Gatsby is a highly acclaimed, sometimes referred to as the Best American novel of all times. The story is a vivid peek into the agreeable society of America in the 1920s. The magic of power, wealth, desire, betrayal and discontentment, all teams up to present the ideals of materialism that rules the society but fails to bestow gratification. This clear depiction of the societal stratification is anticipated by the three classes of American society- the rich, the poor and the earned rich.The three classes, in the novel, have interrelated themselves by contentious association. The get-together events among the classes and within the classes are an interpretation of the things that make up the nonchalant American life in the early 20th Century.The story has Jay Gatsby as the protagonist, and Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan as the other important characters who shape up the story and their actions proceed to the pithy climax of the story.10 Lines on The Great Gatsby Essay in English1. The Great Gatsby is often termed to as the finest work of fiction by any American writer that surpasses the literary artistry.2. The Great Gatsby is a highly acclaimed classic that satire upon the American lives depends on the class in the 1920s.3. The Great Gatsby is written by F Scott Fitzgerald.4. The protagonist and the narrator of the story are Nick Carraway.5. Nick caraway’s proportional evolution from the initiation to the end turns out to be worthwhile in the context of the story.6. The story mostly revolves around Jay Gatsby.7. Jay Gatsby is a self-made man who has earned enough money to host lavish parties every night.8. The otherimportant characters are Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan. 9. The societal stratification of the said time is perhaps the central theme of the story. 10. The other themes include the conflict between power, wealth, betrayal, desire, carelessness and discontentment, that pack up the complete meaning of The Great Gatsby.FAQ’s on The Great Gatsby EssayQuestion 1.When is the story of The Great Gatsby set up?Answer:The Great Gatsby is set up in the early 1920s, post-war economic growth era. The venue of the story is a nonchalant American society.Question 2.Does The Great Gatsby have a prequel and a sequel?Answer:No. The Great Gatsby does not have any prequel or sequel. The story is limited to one volume and is certainly the most factiously impactful American story.Question 3.What happens to Jay Gatsby in the end?Answer:The story revolves around Jay Gatsby and his lavish guff parties. The story proceeds to give us a vivid picture of what jay Gatsby is and what he wants. His character leads to an abrupt end of Gatsby but a very meaning end of the story.Question 4.What should be the literary level for me to read The Great Gatsby?Answer:You do not need to have a literary standard to read The Great Gatsby. It’s a fine novel in easy words which can be read and understood by anyone.。
《了不起的盖茨比》赏析
The plot synopsis
Nick came to New York from home in the Midwest, is next to his residence book hero gatsby luxurious mansion. Here every night in held a grand banquet.
-- 精品--
This paragraph to appreciate
• I do not know the younger girl. She lie low is on the imperial concubine couch, immobilized, chin tilted slightly, as if something is about to fall down, the above and she is trying to keep its balance. Her eyes turn don't turn, doesn't seem to see me in. But in fact I was surprised, almost did to apologize for my coming to bother her.
反正贝克小姐的嘴唇是动了几下，几乎看不 出来地朝我点点头，然后赶紧让她的头回到原 位——她下巴顶着的那样东西显然歪了一点， 把她吓坏了。我又差点脱口说出道歉的话。
-- 精品--
This paragraph to appreciate
That summer, the music from my neighbor's house in the middle of the night often. The blue of the garden, a lot of men and women like moths in twitter, walking up and down between the champagne and the stars.
the great gatsby第三章感受与收获
the great gatsby第三章感受与收获《了不起的盖茨比》是美国著名作家F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德创作的一部文学经典，它以富豪盖茨比的传奇经历为背景，生动展现了上世纪20年代美国社会的虚伪与破败。
第三章是全书中的关键章节之一，通过描述盖茨比的豪华派对和人们的狂欢场面，展现了人性的脆弱和对物质的贪婪，带给我深刻的感受与启示。
第三章开篇，菲茨杰拉德以描写盖茨比的派对来展现人们的放纵与堕落。
派对的规模之大和无法想象的奢华让我震惊。
人们在豪华的庄园里疯狂狂欢，各种名流和社会精英都聚集在这个地方。
然而，在繁华背后，却隐藏着人们内心的空虚和孤独。
无论是盖茨比自己还是来参加派对的人们，都在这片虚荣的海洋中迷失了自己。
这让我想到了现实社会中人们对物质的过渡追求和内心的空虚，以及人们在社交场合上的虚伪与伪善。
众多参加派对的贵族和名流们简直就像是一群饥饿的狗，他们来到盖茨比的派对，希望通过参与这样的场合来寻找快乐和满足。
这种追逐物质享受和外表光鲜的现象令我想起了现实生活中的社交场合，人们往往只关注表面的光鲜亮丽，而忽略了真正的内在价值。
这也让我不禁思考，物质是否真的能带来快乐和满足，或许我们应该更多地从内心去追求真正的价值和快乐。
在这个派对中，我对盖茨比产生了深深的兴趣。
他一直以来都是神秘的存在，人们对他的来历和财富都充满了八卦和猜测。
然而，在这个派对中，我第一次看到了盖茨比真正的面貌，一个富有悲剧色彩的形象。
他虽然年轻有为、事业有成，但他内心却是孤独和空虚的。
无论他参与多少派对、结交多少朋友，他都无法找到内心的满足和真正的快乐。
这让我深深地思考人生的意义和追求，究竟是什么才能真正满足我们的内心需求？通过阅读第三章，我意识到财富和地位并不等同于幸福。
在这个派对中，有很多贵族和名流们生活奢华，却感到无趣和虚无。
而盖茨比虽然拥有巨大的财富和华丽的派对，却缺乏真正的幸福感。
这给了我一个重要的启示，那就是真正的幸福不仅来自物质的享受，更来自于内心的满足和对生活的热爱。
美国文学选读 The Great Gatsby 分析
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1890 - 1940)II. His masterpiece: The Great Gatsby1.The story summary:The entire story takes place in one summer in 1922.The novel describes the life and death of Jay Gatsby, as seen through the eyes of a narrator who does not share the same point of view as the fashionable people around him.The narrator learns that Gatsby became rich by breaking the law. Gatsby pretends to be a well-educated war hero, which he is not, yet the narrator portrays（描绘）him as being far more noble than the rich, cruel, stupid people among whom he and Gatsby live.Gatsby’s character is purified by a deep, unselfish love for Daisy, a beautiful, silly woman who, earlier, married a rich husband instead of Gatsby and moved into high society.Gatsby has never lost his love for her and, in an era when divorce has become easy, he tries to win her back by becoming rich himself. He does not succeed, and in the end he is killed by accident because of his determination to shield Daisy from disgrace.None of Gatsby’s upper class friends come to his funeral. The narrator is so disgusted that he leaves New York and returns to his original home.Chapter NineNick makes plans for the funeral.Gatsby's Funeral, three people show up.Nick returns to the west.Nick meets with Tom BuchananNick gets a last view of Gatsby's house.小说表面上是一个爱情故事，但实际却是对社会现状的讽刺批判。
了不起的盖茨比第三章中英翻译The Great Gatsby Chapter 3
Chapter 3THERE was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor−boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week−ends his Rolls−Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing−brushes and hammers and garden−shears, repairing the ravages of the night before.Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruitier in New York every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulp less halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler's thumb.At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors−d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.总是有悠扬的音乐在夏夜的晚上从我隔壁传出。
the great gatsby内容简介
the great gatsby内容简介
《了不起的盖茨比》（The Great Gatsby）是美国作家弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德于1925年发表的一部小说。
小说讲述了20世纪20年代的美国华丽的浮华生活和东部精英阶层的道德腐败，主要围绕着主人公杰伊·盖茨比和他的痴情追求达芙妮·布坎南展开。
盖茨比是一个自我造就的富翁，为了痴情于达芙妮而建造起奢华的庄园和昂贵的生活方式。
但实际上他是一个心灵孤独的人，因为达芙妮早已嫁给了富商汤姆·布坎南。
在奢华的聚会中，盖茨比认识了汤姆的情人黛西，并与她展开了一段暗恋。
但最终，在汤姆的暴力威胁下，盖茨比的爱情梦想破灭。
《了不起的盖茨比》以优美的语言、细腻的叙事，揭示了人性的卑微与社会的冷酷，以及人们对爱情与名望的狂热追求。
该小说被誉为20世纪美国文学的经典作品，广受读者欢迎和赞誉。
《The Great Gatsby》(了不起的盖茨比)精彩片段节选
I spent my Saturday nights in New York because those gleaming，dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter, faint and incessant,from his garden，and the cars going up and down his drive. One night I did hear a material car there, and saw its lights stop at his front steps. But I didn' t investigate. Probably it was some final guest who had been away at the ends of the earth and didn't know that the party was over. 每星期六晚上我都是在纽约度过的，因为盖茨比举办的那些灯火辉煌、光彩炫目的宴会使我记忆犹新，所以我仍然可以听到微弱的音乐声和欢笑声不断地从他的园子里飘过来，还有一辆辆汽车在他的车道上开来开去。
一天晚上我确实听见那儿有一辆汽车，也看见车灯照在他门前的台阶上。
我没有去调查。
那大概是最后一位客人，刚从天涯海角归来，还不知道宴会早已收场了。
On the last night, with my trunk packed and my car sold to the grocer, I went over and looked atthat huge incoherent failure of a house once more. On the white steps an obscene word，scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight, and I erased it，drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone. Then I wandered down to the beach and sprawled out on the sand. 在最后那个晚上，我的行李已经收拾好了，车子也卖给了杂货店老板，我走过去又看了一眼那座庞大而零乱的、意味着失败的房子。
the great gatsby(了不起的盖茨比) 英文介绍及赏析
The Great Gatsby F.Scott.FitzgeraldContextFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, and named after his ancestor Francis Scott Key, the author of The Star-Spangled Banner. Fitzgerald was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Though an intelligent child, he did poorly in school and was sent to a New Jersey boarding school in 1911. Despite being a mediocre student there, he managed to enroll at Princeton in 1913. Academic troubles and apathy plagued him throughout his time at college, and he never graduated, instead enlisting in the army in 1917, as World War I neared its end.Fitzgerald became a second lieutenant, and was stationed at Camp Sheridan, in Montgomery, Alabama. There he met and fell in love with a wild seventeen-year-old beauty named Zelda Sayre. Zelda finally agreed to marry him, but her overpowering desire for wealth, fun, and leisure led her to delay their wedding until he could prove a success. With the publication of This Side of Paradise in 1920, Fitzgerald became a literary sensation, earning enough money and fame to convince Zelda to marry him.Many of these events from Fitzgerald’s early life appear in his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, published in 1925. Like Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is a thoughtful young man from Min nesota, educated at an Ivy League school (in Nick’s case, Yale), who moves to New York after the war. Also similar to Fitzgerald is Jay Gatsby, a sensitive young man who idolizes wealth and luxury and who falls in love with a beautiful young woman while stationed at a military camp in the South.Having become a celebrity, Fitzgerald fell into a wild, reckless life-style of parties and decadence, while desperately trying to please Zelda by writing to earn money. Similarly, Gatsby amasses a great deal of wealth at a relatively young age, and devotes himself to acquiring possessions and throwing parties that he believes will enable him to win Daisy’s love. As the giddiness of the Roaring Twenties dissolved into the ble akness of the Great Depression, however, Zelda suffered a nervous breakdown and Fitzgerald battled alcoholism, which hampered his writing. He published Tender Is the Night in 1934, and sold short stories to The Saturday Evening Post to support his lavish lifestyle. In 1937, he left for Hollywood to write screenplays, and in 1940, while working on his novel The Love of the Last Tycoon, died of a heart attack at the age of forty-four.Fitzgerald was the most famous chronicler of 1920s America, an era that he dubbed “the Jazz Age.” Written in 1925, The Great Gatsby is one of the greatest literary documents of this period, in which the American economy soared, bringing unprecedented levels of prosperity to the nation. Prohibition, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution (1919), made millionaires out of bootleggers, and an underground culture of revelry sprang up. Sprawling private parties managed to elude police notice, and “speakeasies”—secret clubs that sold liquor—thrived. The chaos and violence of World War I left America in a state of shock, and the generation that fought the war turned to wild and extravagant living to compensate. The staid conservatism and timeworn values of the previous decade were turned on their ear, as money, opulence, and exuberance became the order of the day.Like Nick in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald found this new lifestyle seductive and exciting, and, like Gatsby, he had always idolized the very rich. Now he found himself in an era in which unrestrained materialism set the tone of society, particularly in the large cities of the East. Even so, like Nick, Fitzgerald saw through the glitter of the Jazz Age to the moral emptiness and hypocrisy beneath, and part of him longed for this absent moral center. In many way s, The Great Gatsby represents Fitzgerald’s attempt to confront his conflicting feelings about the Jazz Age. Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald was driven by his love for a woman who symbolized everything he wanted, even as she led him toward everything he despised.Plot OverviewNick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a wealthy but unfashionable area populated by the new rich, a group who have made their fortunes too recently to have established social connections and who are prone to garish displays of wealth. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a gigantic Gothic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night.Nick is unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg—he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg, a fashionable area of Long Island home to the established upper class. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening for dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, an erstwhile classmate of Nick’s at Yale. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with wh om Nick begins a romantic relationship. Nick also l earns a bit about Daisy and Tom’s marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a vulgar, gaudy party in the apartment that Tom keeps for the affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose.As the summer progresses, Nick eventually garners an invitation to one of Ga tsby’s legendary parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, a surprisingly young man who affects an English accent, has a remarkable smile, and calls everyone “old sport.” Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsby tells Jordan that he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to arr ange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him if she knows that he still loves her. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. Their love rekindled, they begin an affair.After a short time, Tom grows in creasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans’ house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by the thought that his wife could be unfaithful to him. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal—his fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him.When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself.Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby’s life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick reflects that just as Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsby’s power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him “great,” Nick reflects that the era o f dreaming—both Gatsby’s dream and the American dream—is over.Character ListNick Carraway - The novel’s narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. After moving to West Egg, a fictional area of Long Island that is home to the newly rich, Nick quickly befriends his next-door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby. As Daisy Buchanan’s cousin, he facil itates the rekindling of the romance between her and Gatsby. The GreatGatsby is told entirely through Nick’s eyes; his thoughts and perceptions shape and color the story.Nick Carraway (In-Depth Analysis)Jay Gatsby - The title character and protagonist of the novel, Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune. As the novel progresses, Nick learns that Gatsby was born James Gatz on a farm in North Dakota; working for a millionaire made him dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth. When he met Daisy while training to be an officer in Louisville, he fell in love with her. Nick also learns that Gatsby made his fortune through criminal activity, as he was willing to do anything to gain the social position he thought necessary to win Daisy. Nick views Gatsby as a deeply flawed man, dishonest and vulgar, whose extraordinary optimism and power to transform his dreams into reality make him “great” nonetheless.Jay Gatsby (In-Depth Analysis)Daisy Buchanan - Nick’s cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Now a beautiful socialite, Daisy lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island. She is sardonic and somewhat cynical, and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity.Daisy Buchanan (In-Depth Analysis)Tom Buchanan - Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Yale. Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, but when he begins to suspect Daisy and Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation.Jordan Baker - Daisy’s friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved during the course of the novel. A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest: she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth.Myrtle Wilson - Tom’s lover, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle herself possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire.George Wilson - Myrtle’s husband, the lifeless, exhausted owner of a run-down auto shop at the edge of the valley of ashes. George loves and idealizes Myrtle, and is devastated by her affair with Tom. George is consumed with grief when Myrtle is killed. George is comparable to Gatsby in that both are dreamers and both are ruined by their unrequited love for women who love Tom.Owl Eyes - The eccentric, bespectacled drunk whom Nick meets at the first party he attends at Gatsby’s mansion. Nick finds Owl Eyes look ing through Gatsby’s library, astonished that the boo ks are real.Klipspringer - The shallow freeloader who seems almost to live at Gatsby’s mansion, taking advantage of his host’s money. As soon as Gatsby dies, Klipspringer disappears—he does not attend the funeral, but he does call Nick about a pair of te nnis shoes that he left at Gatsby’s mansion. Analysis of Major CharactersJay GatsbyThe title character of The Great Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he achieved this lofty goal by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication—he dropped out of St. Olaf’s College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Gatsby immediately fell in love with Daisy’s aura of luxury, grace, and charm, and l ied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her. Daisy promised to wait for him when he left for the war, but married Tom Buchanan in 1919, while Gatsby was studying at Oxford after the war in an attempt to gain an education. From that moment on, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, and his acquisition of millions of dollars, his purchase of a gaudy mansion on West Egg, and his lavish weekly parties are all merely means to that end.Fitzgerald delays the introduction of most of this information until fairly late in the novel. Gats by’s reputation precedes him—Gatsby himself does not appear in a speaking role until Chapter III. Fitzgerald initially presents Gatsby as the aloof, enigmatic host of the unbelievably opulent parties thrown every week at his mansion. He appears surrounded by spectacular luxury, courted by powerful men and beautiful women. He is the subject of a whirlwind of gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is ever introduced to the reader. Fitzgerald propels the novel forward through the early chapters by shrouding Gatsby’s background and the source of his wealth in mystery (the reader learns about Gatsby’s childhood in Chapter VI and receives definitive proof of his criminal dealings in Chapter VII). As a result, the reader’s first, distant impressions of Gatsby strike quite a different note from that of the lovesick, naive young man who emerges during the later part of the novel. Fitzgerald uses this technique of delayed character revelation to emphasize the theatrical qualit y of Gatsby’s approach to life, which is an important part of his personality. Gatsby has literally created his own character, even changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby to represent his reinvention of himself. As his relentless quest for Daisy demonstrates, Gatsby has an extraordinary ability to transform his hopes and dreams into reality; at the beginning of the novel, he appears to the reader just as he desires to appear to the world. This talent for self-invention is what gives Gatsby his qual ity of “greatness”: indeed, the title “The Great Gatsby” is reminiscent of billings for such vaudeville magicians as “The Gre at Houdini” and “The Great Blackstone,” suggesting that the persona of Jay Gatsby is a masterful illusion.Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.(See Important Quotations Explained)As the novel progresses and Fitzgerald deconstructs Gatsby’s self-presentation, Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent, hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. Gatsby invests Daisy with an idealistic perfection that she cannot possibly attain in reality and pursues her with a passionate zeal that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as America’s powerful optimism, vitality, and individualism become subordinated to the amoral pursuit of wealth.Gatsby is contrasted most consistently with Nick. Critics point out that the former, passionate and active, and the latter, sober and reflective, seem to represent two sides of Fitzgerald’s personality. Additionally, where as Tom is a cold-hearted, aristocratic bully, Gatsby is a loyal and good-hearted man. Though his lifestyle and attitude differ greatly from those of George Wilson, Gatsby and Wilson share the fact that they both lose their love interest to Tom.Nick CarrawayIf Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgerald’s personality, the flashy celebrity who pursued and glorified wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East. A young man (he turns thirty during the course of the novel) from Minnesota, Nick travels to New York in 1922 to learn the bond business. He lives in the West Egg district of Long Island, next doorto Gatsby. Nick is also Daisy’s cousin, which enables him to o bserve and assist the resurgent love affair between Daisy and Gatsby. As a result of his relationship to these two characters, Nick is the perfect choice to narrate the novel, which functions as a personal memoir of his experiences with Gatsby in the summer of 1922.Nick is also well suited to narrating The Great Gatsby because of his temperament. As he tells the reader in Chapter I, he is tolerant, open-minded, quiet, and a good listener, and, as a result, others tend to talk to him and tell him their secrets. Gatsby, in particular, comes to trust him and treat him as a confidant. Nick generally assumes a secondary role throughout the novel, preferring to describe and comment on events rather than dominate the action. Often, however, he functions as Fitzger ald’s voice, as in his extended meditation on time and the American dream at the end of Chapter IX. Insofar as Nick plays a role inside the narrative, he evidences a strongly mixed reaction to life on the East Coast, one that creates a powerful internal conflict that he does not resolve until the end of the book. On the one hand, Nick is attracted to the fast-paced, fun-driven lifestyle of New York. On the other hand, he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging. This inner conflict is symbolized througho ut the book by Nick’s romantic affair with Jordan Baker. He is attracted to her vivacity and her sophistication just as he is repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people.Nick states that there is a “quality of distortion” to life in New York, and this lifestyle makes him lose his equilibrium, especially early in the novel, as when he gets drunk at Gatsby’s party in Chapter II. After witnessing the unraveling of Gatsby’s dream and presiding over t he appalling spectacle of Gatsb y’s funeral, Nick realizes that the fast life of revelry on the East Coast is a cover for the terrifying moral emptiness that the valley of ashes symbolizes. Having gained the maturity that this insight demonstrates, he returns to Minnesota in search of a quieter life structured by more traditional moral values.Daisy BuchananPartially based on Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick’s cousin and the object of Gatsby’s love. As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy was extremely popular among the military officers stationed near her home, including Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy, claiming to be from a wealthy family in order to convince her that he was worthy of her. Eventuall y, Gatsby won Daisy’s heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, bu t in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.After 1919, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, making her the single goal of all of his dreams and the main motivation behind his acquisition of immense wealth through criminal activity. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfection—she has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby’s ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats behind her money. Daisy proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby in Chapter VII, then allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself was driving the car. Finally, rather than a ttend Gatsby’s funeral, Daisy and Tom move away, leaving no forwarding address.Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. She is capable of affection (she seems genuinely fond of Nick and occasionally seems to love Gatsby sincerely), but not of sustained loyalty or care. She is indifferent even to her own infant daughter, never discussing her and treating her as an afterthought when she is introduced in Chapter VII. In Fitzgerald’s conception of America in the 1920s, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocratic East Egg set.Themes, Motifs & SymbolsThemesThemes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920sOn the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsby’s parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. The clash between “old money” and “new money” manifests itself in the novel’s symbol ic geography: East Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich. Meyer Wolfshiem and Gatsby’s fortune s ymbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging.As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter IX), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. In the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. The main plotline of the novel reflects this assessment, as Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in the ir respective social statuses, his resorting to crime to make enough money to impress her, and the rampant materialism that characterizes her lifestyle. Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instill them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. In Nick’s mind, the ability to create meaningful symbols constitutes a central component of the American dream, as early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideals and values.Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthi ness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished past—his time in Louisville with Daisy—but is incapable of doing so. When his dream crumbles, all that is left for Gatsby to do is die; all Nick can do is move back to Minnesota, where American values have not decayed.The Hollowness of the Upper ClassOne of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while EastEgg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and does not pick up on subtle social signals, such as the insincerity of the Sloanes’ invitation to lunch. In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, epitomized by the Buchanans’ tasteful home and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker.What the old aristocracy possesses in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves careless, inconsiderate bullies who are so used to money’s ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others. The Buchanans exemplify th is stereotype when, at the end of the novel, they simply move to a new ho use far away rather than condescend to attend Gatsby’s funeral. Gatsby, on the other hand, whose recent wealth derives from criminal activity, has a sincere and loyal heart, remaining outside Daisy’s window until four in t he morning in Chapter VII simply t o make sure that Tom does not hurt her. Ironically, Gatsby’s good qualities (loyalty and love) lead to his death, as he takes the blame for killing Myrtle rather than letting Daisy be punished, and the Buchanans’ bad qualities (fickleness and selfishness) allow them to remove themselves from the tragedy not only physically but psychologically.MotifsMotifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.GeographyThroughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old aristocracy, West Egg the newly rich, the valley of ashes the moral and social decay of America, and New York City the uninhibited, amoral quest for money and pleasure. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral decay and social cynicism of New York, while the West (including Midwestern and northern areas such as Minnesota) is connected to more traditional social values an d ideals. Nick’s analysis in Chapter IX of the story he has related reveals his sensitivity to this dichotomy: though it is set in the East, the story is really one of the West, as it tells how people originally from west of the Appalachians (as all of the main characters are) react to the pace and style of life on the East Coast.WeatherAs in much of Shakespeare’s work, the weather in The Great Gatsby unfailingly matches the emotional and narrative tone of the story. Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion begins amid a pouring rain, proving awkward and melancholy; their love reawakens just as the sun begins to come out. Gatsby’s climactic confrontation with Tom occurs on the hottest day of the summer, under the scorching sun (like the fatal encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet). Wilson kills Gatsby on the first day of autumn, as Gatsby floats in his pool despite a palpable chill in the air—a symbolic attempt to stop time and restore his relationship with Daisy to the way it was five years before, in 1917.SymbolsSymbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.The Green LightSituated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsb y’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter I he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. In Chapter IX, Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation.The Valley of AshesFirst introduced in Chapter II, the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure. The valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result.The Eyes of Doctor T. J. EckleburgThe eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. They may represent God staring down upon and judging American society as a moral wasteland, though the novel never makes this point explicitly. Instead, throughout the novel, Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only have meaning because characters instill them with meaning. The connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and God exists only in George Wilson’s grief-stricken mind. This lack of concrete significance contributes to the unsettling nature of the image. Thus, the eyes also come to represent the essential meaninglessness of the world and the arbitrariness of the mental process by which people invest objects with meaning. Nick e xplores these ideas in Chapter VIII, when he imagines Gatsby’s final thoughts as a depressed consideration of the emptiness of symbols and dreams.。
英语专业毕业论文外文翻译_浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中盖茨比的悲剧根源
毕业设计（论文）任务书（指导教师填表）研究所（教研室）主任签字： 2011 年1月6日河南科技大学毕业设计（论文）开题报告（学生填表）院系：外国语学院河南科技大学毕业设计（论文）题目申请表（指导教师填表）院系：外国语学院研究所（教研室）：英语系填表日期：2010年12月15日注：1.课题类型一栏填写：工程设计、硬件设计、论文或软件工程。
2.课题来源一栏填写：科研、生产或自拟。
3.本表一式两份，一份由院系保存，一份由研究所（教研室）保存。
河南科技大学毕业论文题目An analysis of Gatsby’s Tragic Roots in The Great Gatsby 浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中盖茨比的悲剧根源姓名院系外国语学院专业英语指导教师2011 年 5月20日ABSTRACTFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a Jazz Age novelist and short story writer who is considered to be among the greatest twentieth-century American writers. The Great Gatsby, one of the finest novel of Fitzgerald, is regarded as a brilliant piece of social commentary, offering a vivid peek into American life in the 1920s.In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald offers up commentary on a variety of themes — justice, power, greed, betrayal and the American dream, which many Chinese and foreign scholars have analyzed. And this thesis mainly analyze The Great Gatsby from the perspective of Gatsby’s tragic roots.This paper consists of three parts. PartⅠbriefly introduces F.Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby. PartⅡmainly describes Gatsby’s American dream.Part Ⅲoffers three factors to support the reasons of Gatsby’s tragic roots.From the point of view of Gatsby’s tragic roots, the paper aims at making people understand this novel more deeply and contributing to building healthy values in today’s society.KEY WORDS: The Great Gatsby; American Dream; Tragic Roots摘要菲茨杰拉德是公认的二十世纪美国最杰出的爵士时代的小说家。
the_great_gatsby(了不起的盖茨比)_英文介绍及赏析
The Great Gatsby F.Scott.Fitzgerald.Character ListDaisy Buchanan - Nick’s cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Now a beautiful socialite, Daisy lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island. She is sardonic and somewhat cynical, and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity.Daisy Buchanan (In-Depth Analysis)Tom Buchanan - Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Yale. Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, but when he begins to suspect Daisy and Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation.Jordan Baker - Daisy’s friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved during the course of the novel. A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest: she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth.Myrtle Wilson - Tom’s lover, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle herself possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire.Analysis of Major CharactersDaisy BuchananPartially based on Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick’s cousin and the object of Gatsby’s love. As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy was extremely popular among the military officers stationed near her home, including Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy, claiming to be from a wealthy family in order to convince her that he was worthy of her. Eventually, Gatsby won Daisy’s heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.After 1919, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, making her the single goal of all of his dreams and the main motivation behind his acquisition of immense wealth through criminal activity. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfection—she has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby’s ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats behind her money. Daisy proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby in Chapter VII, then allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself was driving the car. Finally, rather than atte nd Gatsby’s funeral, Daisy and Tom move away, leaving noforwarding address.Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. She is capable of affection (she seems genuinely fond of Nick and occasionally seems to love Gatsby sincerely), but not of sustained loyalty or care. She is indifferent even to her own infant daughter, never discussing her and treating her as an afterthought when she is introduced in Chapter VII. In Fitzgerald’s conception of America in the 1920s, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocratic East Egg set.。
The Great Gatsby 了不起的盖茨比英文
? Jordan Baker –A cynical and conceited woman who cheats in golf;wants Nick to go out with her.
? Myrtle Wilson -Tom has an affair with this
wrote many short stories that Fitzgerald's friendship
“信达雅”标准下的The Great Gatsby书名翻译
“信达雅”标准下的The Great Gatsby书名翻译译者对菲茨杰拉德的小说The Great Gatsby书名尝试过多种译法，其中以《了不起的盖茨比》最为流行。
用“信、达、雅”标准对《了不起的盖茨比》的译法进行重新审视，其准确性尚有可商榷之处。
《了不起的盖茨比》的译法是特定时代的产物，且“信”而不“达”，抛开意识形态的禁锢，《伟大的盖茨比》的译法更符合“信”和“达”的标准。
在众多追求“雅”译的译法中，既暗示小说内容，又呼应小说主题的《灯绿梦渺》堪称“尔雅”，充分体现了译者对整部小说的透彻理解，是译者对小说的一种高度概括和唯美诠释。
标签：The Great Gatsby；“信、达、雅”；书名翻译；《了不起的盖茨比》严复先生在其首部译著《天演论》的“译例言”中，论述了他对翻译标准的看法，提出了他所遵循的翻译标准——“信、达、雅”，[1]从而一举奠定了其在我国近现代翻译理论中的基础地位。
严复对“信、达、雅”标准的模糊阐述，赋予了其所涵盖的范畴和涵义极强的伸缩性，成就了其在翻译理论中的基石作用。
孙严群在《天演论》“序”中断言：“吾国学人致力译事来者方多，犹奉‘信’‘达’‘雅’为圭臬”，果然一语成箴。
严复关于翻译的“信、达、雅”标准，历经百年不衰，一直为许多译者所推崇。
虽然译界对其理论和翻译思想争论不断，对“信、达、雅”的内容和涵义进行完善和发展，出现了诸如陈西滢的“形似、意似、神似”、钱钟书的“化境”、刘重德的“信、达、切”、许渊冲的“信、达、优”等，但归根结底，都留有“信、达、雅”的痕迹，很难割离开与“信、达、雅”千丝万缕的联系，所谓“万变不离其宗，‘信达雅’之宗”。
[2]用“信、达、雅”作为翻译的标准，衡量The Great Gatsby书名翻译，探讨多年来大陆和港台出现的诸多译法，对更深刻认识这部作品，大有裨益；同时，对今后重译书名的再选择，提供一些借鉴和有益的启示。
菲茨杰拉德的“爵士时代”代表作品The Great Gatsby于1925年出版，著名诗人兼文学评论家T·S·艾略特在给菲茨杰拉德的信中，赞扬这部作品“代表了美国小说自亨利·詹姆斯以来，向前迈出的第一步”。
the great gatsby译文
the great gatsby译文
《了不起的盖茨比》
作者：F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德
译者：略
第一章
在我的一生中，假如一些东西浮上了水面，我就总是希望遭殃。
并且假如我真遭了殃，我也会细细地品味一番。
——杰伊·盖
茨比
当我29岁的时候，我的乡村富户朋友汤姆•布坦南带我去纽约
一起玩。
他是一个很高大的金发男子，一个在那个年代里扮演了“新金融”角色的人物。
在那个让人吃惊的女人们尚未习惯现金富商们告诉他们的故事之前，这类角色通常是默默无闻的。
我以邱小颖方式感慨，但这对他来说是个挑战。
他的态度装载着昂首挺胸的世界，对他来说除了自己之外都是渺小的。
汤姆的恰荣耀之外，长得很像邦慕斯，但我总是幻想邦慕斯可能是势利的。
渐渐地，我清楚地看到这被唤做“暗湖”的闷墙后面的门户，是他个人不愿花时间去打破的一堵墙。
他手里的笔更像一个握着长枪的斯巴达勇士的样子。
2002年，我要去纽约看汤姆。
所以我在公布我的日程之前，
首先让他解释为什么他没从瓜岛飞回来；终于，在我们抵达那
里的时候，它为此事出了眼睛。
他的苍白的女人——女巫这种讨厌的形象一直是我的嘲笑；她经常给汤姆写信，甚至给我们几百元的支票，如果在纽约偶然度过不想在金罩里结账的周末后，我们就会敲门向酒窖开放；她的透明的爱豆，那是金枪鱼罐头里泡出来的，是用水割的；她16岁时重逾200磅，让所有男子在深情厚意下逛过；她是泡在美国精神里的浓形式。
“眼前的《国家地理》摆在我面前，很快两小时过去了。
这一刻，桌子上的物质更加让我怀念了。
”。
《了不起的盖茨比》的读后感英文
《了不起的盖茨比》的读后感英文"The Great Gatsby" is a novel that left an indelible impression on me. The plot revolves around a mysterious wealthy man named Jay Gatsby, who throws lavish parties in the hopes of winning back his lost love, Daisy Buchanan. The novel offers a vivid portrayal of the roaring twenties, its excesses and its decadence, through the eyes of its protagonist, Nick Carraway, who is Gatsby's neighbor and confidante.As I delved deeper into the novel, I was struck by the complex characters and their motivations. Gatsby is a man driven by his love for Daisy, and his pursuit of her consumes his every waking moment. His grandiose parties, his extravagant lifestyle, and his elaborate schemes all stem from this desire to be with her. However, Gatsby's obsession blinds him to the reality of the situation, and his dream of being with Daisy proves to be elusive.Daisy, on the other hand, is a flawed character who represents the shallow and materialistic values of the Jazz Age. She is a woman who is accustomed to being pampered, and her love for Gatsby is superficial at best. Her inability to reciprocate Gatsby's love and her ultimate betrayal of him only serve to highlight the tragic nature of their relationship.Through the character of Nick Carraway, the novel offers a scathing critique of the American Dream. Nick is a man who comes to New York to pursue a career in the stock market, but he is repulsed by the greed and immorality he encounters. Despite his initial fascination with Gatsby's lifestyle, he eventually realizes that the pursuit of wealth and status is empty and meaningless.The novel is also notable for its evocative imagery and symbolism. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock, the valley of ashes, and the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg all serve to create a haunting and surreal atmosphere, and contribute to the novel's themes of disillusionment and decay.In conclusion, "The Great Gatsby" is a masterpiece of American literature that explores the themes of love, wealth, and the illusion of the American Dream. Its colorful characters, vivid imagery, and biting social commentary make it a timeless work that is still relevant today. Reading this novel has been a profound experience, and I would recommend it to anyone seeking to understand the complexities of human nature and the society in which we live.One of the most intriguing aspects of "The Great Gatsby" is its exploration of social class and the idea of social mobility. In the novel, Gatsby's rise from rags to riches is an embodiment of the American Dream. He is a self-made man who has amassed a fortune through dubious means, and his newfound wealth has allowed him to infiltrate the upper echelons of society. However, despite his enormous wealth, Gatsby is still seen as an outsider by the old money elite who view him as an upstart.Moreover, the novel also grapples with the idea of identity and the masks that people wear in order to fit in. Gatsby, for example, constructs a carefully curated persona that hides his true self, and his entire existence is built on the illusion of his wealth and status. Similarly, Daisy and Tom Buchanan are also shown to be living lives that are constructed around their social positions, and their attempts to maintain their façade ultimately lead to their downfall.Overall, "The Great Gatsby" is a powerful meditation on the human condition, and its themes of love, wealth, and the American Dream continue to resonate with readers across generations. Moreover, the novel's depiction of the excesses and decadence of the 1920s serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of excess and the emptiness of materialism. It is a poignant reminder that true happiness and fulfillment can only be found through genuine human connection and an appreciation of life's simple pleasures.。
The Great Gatsby 影评
The Great Gatsby 影评
《了不起的盖茨比》是一部充满视觉和情感冲击的电影。
从影片开头那些华丽的派对场景到结尾的悲剧性结局，整部电影都让人沉浸在20世纪20年代的繁华和荒诞之中。
首先，影片的视觉效果令人惊叹。
导演巧妙地运用了华丽的场景和服装设计，将观众带入了那个时代的奢华和狂欢。
每一个场景都充满了细节和色彩，让人仿佛置身于一个梦幻般的世界之中。
其次，影片中人物关系的错综复杂也让人印象深刻。
盖茨比和黛西之间的爱情故事让人动容，而汤姆和黛西之间的婚姻危机也让人感到心痛。
每一个角色都有自己的内心世界和矛盾，这让整个故事更加丰富和引人入胜。
最后，影片所传达的对于物质和精神追求的思考也让人深思。
盖茨比虽然拥有了一切，却没有得到他真正想要的东西；而黛西虽然有了物质上的享受，却没有得到真正的幸福。
这种对于人生意义的探讨让影片更加有深度和内涵。
总的来说，电影《了不起的盖茨比》是一部充满了华丽和深刻内涵的作品。
它不仅让观众感受到了那个时代的繁华和荒诞，更让人思考人生的意义和追求。
这部电影不仅仅是一部娱乐作品，更是一部
值得深思的艺术品。
THEGREATGATSBY了不起的盖茨比全解
人物的象征意义——黛西 Daisy
• 黛西不论在尼克的眼中还是在盖茨比的心目中,她是美貌、 权势和财富的象征。 • 她的歌声叮当作响,嗓音铿锵优美,仿佛充满了金钱。她是 时代的产物,同时也是盖茨比梦想的化身。但她徒有一副 美丽躯壳,内心空洞、冷漠和自私。 • 黛西美丽却缺乏内涵正如美国梦，作者刻画出黛西这个人 物来象征美国梦。 • 女主人公的名字是作者精心设计的,Daisy一词翻译成汉语 就是雏菊,也就象征着金钱和空虚同时存在,并预示着梦想 的破灭。
Jay Gatsby
黛西是美貌、权势和财富的象征。
• 她的歌声叮当作响,嗓音铿锵优 美,仿佛充满了金钱。她是时代 的产物,同时也是盖茨比梦想的 化身。
• 她娇憨可爱，善于做作，卖弄 风情。像仙女一样，白衣飘飘， 声音无比婉转，充满了激情。 • 黛西不自食其力，过着寄生的 生活。她贪恋金钱，贪恋优越 的生活。她徒有一副美丽躯壳, 内心空洞、冷漠和自私。
背景设置中象征手法的运用
• 夏天,太阳火辣辣地照射大地,大地好像要被烧焦了似的,它容易引发 人们冲动、急躁。作者把背景设置在夏天,可以看出作者细腻的感情 和精心的设计。小说第七章以炙热天气开始,并展示所有主要人物的 复杂关系;高潮部分不仅预示了盖茨比幻想的破灭,而且也对其他主要 人物进行了犀利的道德评判。故事发生的季节就像喧噪的20世纪20年 代。 • 但作者在写小说的时候保持了清醒的头脑。正如炎热的天气到了一定 程度就要下雨一样,他相信雨后会见到彩虹,也许夏天过去,人们就会 平静下来,了解并反思自己的观念和行为,他们会有所收获。一个人的 经历是这样,美国也是这样;经历了喧噪的20年代,又迎来了30年代的 黄金时代。
Jay Gatsby Daisy
• 其次，在盖茨比的身上，可以看 到拜金时代在他身上打下的深刻 烙印。
the great gatsby(了不起的盖茨比) 英文 介绍及赏析
The Great Gatsby F.Scott.FitzgeraldContextFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, and named after his ancestor Francis Scott Key, the author of The Star-Spangled Banner. Fitzgerald was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Though an intelligent child, he did poorly in school and was sent to a New Jersey boarding school in 1911. Despite being a mediocre student there, he managed to enroll at Princeton in 1913. Academic troubles and apathy plagued him throughout his time at college, and he never graduated, instead enlisting in the army in 1917, as World War I neared its end.Fitzgerald became a second lieutenant, and was stationed at Camp Sheridan, in Montgomery, Alabama. There he met and fell in love with a wild seventeen-year-old beauty named Zelda Sayre. Zelda finally agreed to marry him, but her overpowering desire for wealth, fun, and leisure led her to delay their wedding until he could prove a success. With the publication of This Side of Paradise in 1920, Fitzgerald became a literary sensation, earning enough money and fame to convince Zelda to marry him.Many of these events from Fitzgerald’s early life appear in his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, published in 1925. Like Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is a thoughtful young man from Minnesota, educated at an Ivy League school (in Nick’s case, Yale), who moves to New York after the war. Also similar to Fitzgerald is Jay Gatsby, a sensitive young man who idolizes wealth and luxury and who falls in love with a beautiful young woman while stationed at a military camp in the South.Having become a celebrity, Fitzgerald fell into a wild, reckless life-style of parties and decadence, while desperately trying to please Zelda by writing to earn money. Similarly, Gatsby amasses a great deal of wealth at a relatively young age, and devotes himself to acquiring possessions and throwing parties that he believes will enable him to win Daisy’s love. As the giddiness of the Roaring Twenties dissolved into the bleakness of the Great Depression, however, Zelda suffered a nervous breakdown and Fitzgerald battled alcoholism, which hampered his writing. He published Tender Is the Night in 1934, and sold short stories to The Saturday Evening Post to support his lavish lifestyle. In 1937, he left for Hollywood to write screenplays, and in 1940, while working on his novel The Love of the Last Tycoon, died of a heart attack at the age of forty-four.Fitzgerald was the most famous chronicler of 1920s America, an era that he dubbed “the Jazz Age.” Written in 1925, The Great Gatsby is one of the greatest literary documents of this period, in which the American economy soared, bringing unprecedented levels of prosperity to the nation. Prohibition, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution (1919), made millionaires out of bootleggers, and an underground culture of revelry sprang up. Sprawling private parties managed to elude police notice, and “speakeasies”—secret clubs that sold liquor—thrived. The chaos and violence of World War I left America in a state of shock, and the generation that fought the war turned to wild and extravagant living to compensate. The staid conservatism and timeworn values of the previous decade were turned on their ear, as money, opulence, and exuberance became the order of the day.Like Nick in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald found this new lifestyle seductive and exciting, and, like Gatsby, he had always idolized the very rich. Now he found himself in an era in which unrestrained materialism set the tone of society, particularly in the large cities of the East. Even so, like Nick, Fitzgerald saw through the glitter of the Jazz Age to the moral emptiness and hypocrisy beneath, and part of him longed for this absent moral center. In many ways, The Great Gatsby represents Fitzgerald’s attempt to confront his conflicting feelings about the Jazz Age. Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald was driven by his love for a woman who symbolized everything he wanted, even as she led him toward everything he despised.Plot OverviewNick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a wealthy but unfashionable area populated by the new rich, a group who have made their fortunes too recently to have established social connections and who are prone to garish displays of wealth. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a gigantic Gothic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night.Nick is unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg—he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg, a fashionable area of Long Islandhome to the established upper class. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening for dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, an erstwhile classmate of Nick’s at Yale. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Nick also learns a bit about Daisy and Tom’s marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a vulgar, gaudy party in the apartment that Tom keeps for the affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose.As the summer progresses, Nick eventually garners an invitation to one of Gatsby’s legendary parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, a surprisingly young man who affects an English accent, has a remarkable smile, and calls everyone “old sport.” Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsby tells Jordan that he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him if she knows that he still loves her. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. Their love rekindled, they begin an affair. After a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans’ house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by the thought that his wife could be unfaithful to him. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal—his fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to provethat Gatsby cannot hurt him.When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby’s life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick reflects that just as Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsby’s power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him “great,” Nick reflects that the era of dreaming—both Gatsby’s dream and the American dream—is over.Character ListNick Carraway - The novel’s narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. After moving to West Egg, a fictional area of Long Island that is home to the newly rich, Nick quickly befriends his next-door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby. As Daisy Buchanan’s cousin, he facilitates the rekindling of the romance between her and Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick’s eyes; his thoughts and perceptions shape and color the story.Nick Carraway (In-Depth Analysis)Jay Gatsby - The title character and protagonist of the novel, Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune. As the novel progresses, Nick learns that Gatsby was born James Gatz on a farmin North Dakota; working for a millionaire made him dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth. When he met Daisy while training to be an officer in Louisville, he fell in love with her. Nick also learns that Gatsby made his fortune through criminal activity, as he was willing to do anything to gain the social position he thought necessary to win Daisy. Nick views Gatsby as a deeply flawed man, dishonest and vulgar, whose extraordinary optimism and power to transform his dreams into reality make him “great” nonetheless. Jay Gatsby (In-Depth Analysis)Daisy Buchanan - Nick’s cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Now a beautiful socialite, Daisy lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island. She is sardonic and somewhat cynical, and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity.Daisy Buchanan (In-Depth Analysis)Tom Buchanan - Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Yale. Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, but when he begins to suspect Daisy and Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation.Jordan Baker - Daisy’s friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved during the course of the novel. A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest: she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth.Myrtle Wilson - Tom’s lover, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle herself possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire.George Wilson - Myrtle’s husband, the lifeless, exhausted owner of a run-down auto shop at the edge of the valley of ashes. George loves and idealizes Myrtle, and is devastated by her affair with Tom. George is consumed with grief when Myrtle is killed. George is comparable to Gatsby in that both are dreamers and both are ruined by their unrequited love for women who love Tom.Owl Eyes - The eccentric, bespectacled drunk whom Nick meets at the first party he attends at Gatsby’s mansion. Nick finds Owl Eyes looking through Gatsby’s library, astonished that the books are real.Klipspringer - The shallow freeloader who seems almost to live at Gatsby’s mansion, taking advantage of his host’s money. As soon as Gatsby dies, Klipspringer disappears—he does not attend the funeral, but he does call Nick about a pair of tennis shoes that he left at Gatsby’s mansion. Analysis of Major CharactersJay GatsbyThe title character of The Great Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he achieved this lofty goal by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication—he dropped out of St. Olaf’s College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Gatsby immediately fell in love with Daisy’s aura of luxury, grace, and charm, and lied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her. Daisy promised to wait for him when he left for the war, but married Tom Buchanan in 1919, while Gatsby was studying at Oxford after the war in an attempt to gain an education. From that moment on, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, and his acquisition of millions of dollars, his purchase of a gaudy mansion on West Egg, and his lavish weekly parties are all merely means to that end.Fitzgerald delays the introduction of most of this information until fairly latein the novel. Gatsby’s reputation precedes him—Gatsby himself does not appear in a speaking role until Chapter III. Fitzgerald initially presents Gatsby as the aloof, enigmatic host of the unbelievably opulent parties thrown every week at his mansion. He appears surrounded by spectacular luxury, courted by powerful men and beautiful women. He is the subject of a whirlwind of gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is ever introduced to the reader. Fitzgerald propels the novel forward through the early chapters by shrouding Gatsby’s background and the source of his wealth in mystery (the reader learns about Gatsby’s childhood in Chapter VI and receives definitive proof of his criminal dealings in Chapter VII). As a result, the reader’s first, distant impressions of Gatsby strike quite a different note from that of the lovesick, naive young man who emerges during the later part of the novel.Fitzgerald uses this technique of delayed character revelation to emphasize the theatrical quality of Gatsby’s approach to life, which is an important part of his personality. Gatsby has literally created his own character, even changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby to represent his reinvention of himself. As his relentless quest for Daisy demonstrates, Gatsby has an extraordinary ability to transform his hopes and dreams into reality; at the beginning of the novel, he appears to the reader just as he desires to appear to the world. This talent for self-invention is what gives Gatsby his quality of “greatness”: indeed, the title “The Great Gatsby” is reminiscent of billings for such vaudeville magicians as “The Great Houdini” and “The Great Blackstone,” suggesting that the persona of Jay Gatsby is a masterful illusion.Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.(See Important Quotations Explained)As the novel progresses and Fitzgerald deconstructs Gatsby’s self-presentation, Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent, hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. Gatsby invests Daisy with an idealistic perfection that she cannot possibly attain in reality and pursues her with a passionate zeal that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing thecorruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as America’s powerful optimism, vitality, and individualism become subordinated to the amoral pursuit of wealth.Gatsby is contrasted most consistently with Nick. Critics point out that the former, passionate and active, and the latter, sober and reflective, seem to represent two sides of Fitzgerald’s personality. Additionally, whereas Tom is a cold-hearted, aristocratic bully, Gatsby is a loyal and good-hearted man. Though his lifestyle and attitude differ greatly from those of George Wilson, Gatsby and Wilson share the fact that they both lose their love interest to Tom.Nick CarrawayIf Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgerald’s personality, the flashy celebrity who pursued and glorified wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East. A young man (he turns thirty during the course of the novel) from Minnesota, Nick travels to New York in 1922 to learn the bond business. He lives in the West Egg district of Long Island, next door to Gatsby. Nick is also Daisy’s cousin, which enables him to observe and assist the resurgent love affair between Daisy and Gatsby. As a result of his relationship to these two characters, Nick is the perfect choice to narrate the novel, which functions as a personal memoir of his experiences with Gatsby in the summer of 1922.Nick is also well suited to narrating The Great Gatsby because of his temperament. As he tells the reader in Chapter I, he is tolerant, open-minded, quiet, and a good listener, and, as a result, others tend to talk to him and tell him their secrets. Gatsby, in particular, comes to trust him and treat him as a confidant. Nick generally assumes a secondary role throughout the novel, preferring to describe and comment on events rather than dominate the action. Often, however, he functions as Fitzgerald’s voice, as in his extended meditation on time and the American dream at the end of Chapter IX. Insofar as Nick plays a role inside the narrative, he evidences a strongly mixed reaction to life on the East Coast, one that creates a powerful internal conflict that he does not resolve until the end of the book. On the one hand, Nick is attracted to the fast-paced, fun-driven lifestyle of New York. On the other hand, he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging. This inner conflictis symbolized throughout the book by Nick’s romantic affair with Jordan Baker. He is attracted to her vivacity and her sophistication just as he is repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people. Nick states that there is a “quality of distortion” to life in New York, and this lifestyle makes him lose his equilibrium, especially early in the novel, as when he gets drunk at Gatsby’s party in Chapter II. After witnessing the unraveling of Gatsby’s dream and presiding over the appalling spectacle of Gatsby’s funeral, Nick realizes that the fast life of revelry on the East Coast is a cover for the terrifying moral emptiness that the valley of ashes symbolizes. Having gained the maturity that this insight demonstrates, he returns to Minnesota in search of a quieter life structured by more traditional moral values.Daisy BuchananPartially based on Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick’s cousin and the object of Gatsby’s love. As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy was extremely popular among the military officers stationed near her home, including Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy, claiming to be from a wealthy family in order to convince her that he was worthy of her. Eventually, Gatsby won Daisy’s heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.After 1919, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, making her the single goal of all of his dreams and the main motivation behind his acquisition of immense wealth through criminal activity. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfection—she has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby’s ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats behind her money. Daisy proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby in Chapter VII, then allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself was driving the car. Finally, rather than attend Gatsby’s funeral, Daisy and Tom move away, leaving no forwarding address.Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. She is capable of affection (she seems genuinely fond of Nick and occasionally seems to love Gatsby sincerely), but not of sustained loyalty or care. She is indifferent even to her own infant daughter, never discussing her and treating her as an afterthought when she is introduced in Chapter VII. In Fitzgerald’s conception of America in the 1920s, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocratic East Egg set.Themes, Motifs & SymbolsThemesThemes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920sOn the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly rich industrialistsand speculators. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsby’s parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. The clash between “old money” and “new money” manifests itself in the novel’s symbolic geography: East Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich. Meyer Wolfshiem and Gatsby’s fortune symbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging.As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter IX), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. In the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. The main plotline of the novel reflects this assessment, as Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in their respective social statuses, his resorting to crime to make enough money to impress her, and the rampant materialism that characterizes her lifestyle. Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instill them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. In Nick’s mind, the ability to create meaningful symbols constitutes a central component of the American dream, as early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideals and values.Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished past—his time in Louisville with Daisy—but is incapable of doing so. When his dream crumbles, all that is left for Gatsby to do is die; all Nick can do is move backto Minnesota, where American values have not decayed.The Hollowness of the Upper ClassOne of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and does not pick up on subtle social signals, such as the insincerity of the Sloanes’ invitation to lunch. In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, epitomized by the Buchanans’ tasteful home and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker.What the old aristocracy possesses in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves careless, inconsiderate bullies who are so used to money’s ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others. The Buchanans exemplify this stereotype when, at the end of the novel, they simply move to a new house far away rather than condescend to attend Gatsby’s funeral. Gatsby, on the other hand, whose recent wealth derives from criminal activity, has a sincere and loyal heart, remaining outside Daisy’s window until four in the morning in Chapter VII simply to make sure that Tom does not hurt her. Ironically, Gatsby’s good qualities (loyalty and love) lead to his death, as he takes the blame for killing Myrtle rather than letting Daisy be punished, and the Buchanans’ bad qualities (fickleness and selfishness) allow them to remove themselves from the tragedy not only physically but psychologically.MotifsMotifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.GeographyThroughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old aristocracy, West Egg the newly rich, the valley of ashes the moral and social decay of America, and New York City the uninhibited, amoral quest for money and pleasure. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral。
伟大的盖茨比英文读后感伟大的盖茨比作者英文
伟大的盖茨比英文读后感伟大的盖茨比作者英文伟大的盖茨比英文读后感The Great Gatsby is ranked second in the Modern Liparys list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century, I got to know this pilliant work through Japanese writer Murakami Harukis work Norwegian?Wood in which he spoke highly of it.The main plot is that a young man named Nick Caraway, who came to New York City in spring of 1922.He became involved in the life of his neighbor at Long Island, Jay Gatsby, a very rich man, who entertained hundreds of guests at his party.Gatsby revealed to Nick, that he fell in love with Nick"s cousin Daisy before the war.At that time he was poor.However, Daisy married Tom Buchanan, a rich but boring man of good social position.Gatsby lost Daisy because he had no money, but he was still in love with her.He persuaded Nick to ping him and Daisy together again.“You can"t repeat the past,” Nick said to him.Gatsby tried to convince Daisy to leave Tom, who, in turn, revealed that Gatsby has made his money from bootlegging.So they asked Daisy whom she loved.Daisy began to sob helplessly: I did love him once-but I loved you too.Daisy, driving Gatsby"s car, hit and killed Tom"s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, unaware of her identity.Gatsby remained silent to protect Daisy.Tom told Myrtle"s husband Wilson it was Gatsby who killed his wife.Wilson murdered Gatsby and then mitted suicide.Nick was left to arrange Gatsby"s funeral, attended only Gatsby"s father and one former guest.Nick returned to the his Midwest home, reflecting on Gatsby"s dreams and the sad and cyclical nature of the past.?I think one of the clues is Gatsbys dream-get back his lost love, the te_t describes the whole?thought-provoking story with how to get his dream e true? and thefailure of the dream?.The author described this story by heart for he held the same story himself.In fact, he was the main character Gatsby.On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman.Actually it is a story of the distorted American dream failing in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material e_cess.?I have searched the Inter that Hemingway once said that it was woman that had ruined F.Scott Fitzgerald.The woman who loved deeply by him is a beautiful lady named Ginevra King.It seems that they have suffered the same condition in real life.Ginevras father has warned Gatsby, poor boys shouldnt think of marrying rich girls, which hurt him so much.Apparently, this is an usual thing in reality, almost everyday we can hear this kind of news.Gossip journalists prefer the news about giants, especially some privacy and scandals.Love seems is the big potato among them.We know so many love tragedies about stars who married the giant that I just cant understand why there are so many people choose to marry a rich manlike?moths?to a flame.Daisy was a woman alike, I dont think she was happy , maybe she was just adapted to a lavish life.This is a big question for every girl, Mr.Right should be a poor man who loves her or a playboy who owns a big fortune? Love is an internal topic for everyone.Gatsbys story was a love tragedy, but it really reflected the general mood of society, material was much important than true feeling.In this money crazy modern times, many people make money from fraud, pibery, e_ploitation and smuggling.Also in this material world, we are thirsty, worried and lost.However, we should keep ourselves in the rapidly changed world.Above are my thoughts about the heroines e_perience.Also it is no doubts that the book is a famous work with literary heft.Some critics said that this work is an elegy of the jazz age.Maybe its true, anyway it reflected the life in 19th 20s, and its really amazing.。
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
View of the Great GatsbyThis novel is talking about a story about love and money. The hero Gatsby fell in love with a girl named Daisy when he was poor and unknown. Later, because of war, Gatsby had to leave Daisy, and after that, Daisy married another man Tom Buchanan. When Gatsby learned that, he felt depressed and was in agony, he thought it was money that changed Daisy’s heart, so he made his mind to becoming rich.Several years later, Gatsby indeed became a millionaire though he acquired wealth and position from drug business. He moved to the opposite side from Daisy’s house, and entertained lavishly. Daisy was not living in happiness after her marrige, for Tom had a mistress outside. Gatsby and Daisy met again by Nick, a neighbor of Gatsby and the distant cousin of Daisy. However, Gatsby thought that he regain his love while Daisy was just seeking stimulation through this reunion. At last, in order to protect Daisy, Gatsby took the blame of killing people in an accident, he was killed by Wilson and even was done an injustice to be accused of adultery.Gatsby is really a tragedy throughout the whole story. He always believes that he can create a personality based on the values of American popular culture. To some degree, Gatsby transforms himself from Jimmy Gats to Jay Gatsby because his parents, but the more reason is that his dream of success is inflating. He goes a step further and actually lives out of the myths of the culture. To fulfill his dream and to tally with his new identity, he lives a life full of luxury and dissipation, and he believes what he behaves and those people or things surrounds himself is totally right. However, his dream lacks a moral sense, for instance, he made his fortune outside of the law, and his dream lacks an elegant sense, the world in his imagination and he creates in the reality are both so gaudy. Actually, Gatsby in Tom’s eye is much more accurate for reading Gatsby.To Daisy, he didn’t realized that he has trapped in the love for her because she represents his dream to him, it is Daisy’s voice that holds the Gatsby most, and Gatsby identifies the voice’s distinctive quality, that is money. But the reality changed by money cannot be accepted by Gatsby. So he is always on the hook he makes to himself. He wants to recover something or get back just like five years ago, but whatever he created for himself were illusory. If Gatsby recognizes Daisy’s betrayal, if he has come to terms wit h reality and let go of this stupid and fault dream, he can face the pain with strong will and go on living his own life.The Road Not TakenRobert Frost (1874-1963) his first book A Boy’s Will(1913). He received honorary degrees from forty-four colleges and universities and won four Pulitzer Prizes. the United states Senate passed resolutions honoring his birthdays twice, and when he was eighty-seven he read his poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, he is the only one person who enjoyed such honor. He employed the plain speech of rural New Englanders and preferred the short, traditional forms of lyric and narrative. He is a poet of nature.This poem include 4 stanzas, the 1-3stanza is the first part. When I face two roads, “I” chose the unfrequented one. He had been through complicated struggle and contradiction. “And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stood” describes the poet’s pity for not choosing the other one. He stand s there, looking at the other road, feeling it is full of lure to be explored. He finally chose the one less traveled by, kept the other one for one day in the future. This is poet’s self-comfort after he made the decision. The fourth stanza is the second part, which expressed the feeling about the choice after several years. “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Tells people will face many choices in their whole life, it’s very important to make decision because each choice we made wouldinfluence our life much. A person’s destiny will be different when they made different choices, so it’s especially vital to think over when facing the turnoff in life.Pattern: ABAAB CDCCDThe three “And” is stress, indicate the poet is hesitating, he is thinking over and overTetrameter(4 pairs in one line) trochaic(扬抑格)9 syllables in each lineEveryone has a different life journey which leads to a different future.。