美国文学作品选读 《了不起的盖茨比》

美国文学作品选读结课论文Symbolism in The Great GatsbyF.Scott Fitzgerald, as one of the great stylists in Americanliterature and is the spokesman of a crucial and revealing period in the cultural history of his country. His masterpiece, The GreatGatsby, written in1925, is often referred to as “The Great American Novel", and as the quint essential work which captures the mood of the "Jazz Age". T.S.Eliot read this book several times and commented that it was "the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James".The Great Gatsby drew a picture of American people pursuing wealth, statute and pleasure of the Jazz Age. In this novel, Fitzgerald expressed that the American dream has been destroyed by the desire for materialism. At the beginning, Gatsby has a pure dream, but he becomes corrupted in his quest towards that dream. In order to fully express his ideas Fitzgerald wisely applies many meaningful symbols to accentuate the story.In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbols wildly, which cleverly depicts the decay of the people’s American Dream. The author expresses his feelings or ideas to the readers by employing many symbolic objects, which are employed to express meanings beyond what may be literally described. These symbols make the story complete and excellent.In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald is a capable artist, his emotions and feelings are conveyed through colors. Different color symbolisms not only enlivens the characters but also deepens the theme of the novel that can make readers fully and vividly understand the atmosphere in America at that time.First, the color of white appears many times in this novel. When Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time, Daisy is dressed in white and she has a little white roadster. On many occasions, she often drives a white car. She even tells others that she has a “white childhood”. This color represents her purity, her innocence, her unperturbed self. However, under the beautiful appearance, Daisy actually has a hollow, grim and selfish heart. White is a kind of color without real color conparing with other colors, so it reveals the emptiness of Daisy as well as Gatsby’s dream.Second, the color of green, the green light runs through the whole life of Gatsby and it deeply symbolizes the hope, belief and faith of him. Daisy, in some degree, represents his greatdream.Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream. The most obvious interpretation is that the light is symbolic of Gatsby’s longing for Daisy. However, that is too simplistic, Daisy is a part of it , but the green light means much more. It is one of the most important symbols in this novel and can be interpreted in many ways. The green light also means the American Dream itself. Gatsby wants to pursuit of money and material sucess.Each time the green light occurs, it will play a very important role in the process of modeling the protagonist Gatsby.Third, yellow is also a main symbolic color. It represents the treasure and luxury. Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s house was decorated with reflected gold, Daisy uses a gold pencil,actually she is called “the golden girl”, the two girls in the party wear “twin yellow dresses”, Gatsby’s is yellow......It seems that this society is full of yellow, echoing the sound of the mThe two girls in the party wear “twin yellow dresses”, Doctor T. J. Eckleburg‟s spectacles are yellow, the orchestra in the party plays “yellow cocktail music”, Jordon‟s arm is gold, and Gatsbys car is yell ow……it seems that this society is full of yellow, echoing the sound of the money. F. Scott Fitzgerald said that, “In Jazz Age, money is the tool to become successful”. For money, people cheat each other, abandon their morality and belief. Yellow is the most glorious color in Jazz Age.Throughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts.The fist one is the vally of ashes, it resembles something dark and lifeless. It represents the totally destructi on of the “American Dream”, where money is valued above all else including morals such as gold and religion. Thus, the total corruption of the American Dream is symbolically seen in the valley as a pile ashes, watched over by the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg. This can be seen as a punishment from ahigher power that is unhappy with the path that humankind is taking. The vally of ashes also symbolizes the morass of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result.Second, East Egg and West Egg also have symbolic meanings in this novel. East aeagg is the location where the rich people live in, who have family money and prestige, what would be called “old money”. People there move within their own narrow, snobbish socia l circle and feel superior to those who are not member of their priviledged class. Gatsby is the typical of West Eggers. He was born with poverity in North Dakota. The West Eggers will never enter into the exclusive “old money” upper class. So the East Egg symbolizes the fashionable life, sophistication, the modern society and the land where anything can happen. This world is full of brutality, corruption, carelessness, materialism and failure of emotion. In contrast, the West Egg where Nick and Gatsby live represents the American Dream containing a moral existence and basic values. These two “worlds” are in constant conflict throughout the novel.In The Great Gatsby, by using symbolic images, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals the contraditiona and inner confilict of the characters as well as displays intelligence and excellent writting skill. The entire story concerns with the effect the roaring age brings to people’s value of being a man, causing the deterioration of morality and running after money even one undeserved. Gatsby deadly accumulated great wealth in illegal way in order to get Daisy’s love, but he didn’t recognize people’s ugly inward -- the greedy to money and mean of kindness, and finally he died with everything lost.。