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1、The Disillusion of American Dream Reflected in The Great GatsbyContents Abstract .1 Key words.1 I. Introduction . .2 1.1 Introduction to Fitzgerald21.2 Description of the Novel.3II. Literature Reviews.5 2.1 Analysis the Main Characters in The Great Gatsby. .52.1.1Jay Gatsby. .52.1.2 Daisy.62.1.3 Nic
2、k. .72.2 Artistic SkillsSymbols. 72.2.1 The Green Light. 72.2.2 The Valley of Ashes82.2.3 The Eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg.82.2.4 Geography.8 III. The Decline of the American Dream . 9 3.1 The Disillusion of the American Dream .93.2 The Reasons of the Tragedy. .11 IV. Conclusion13 4.1 Theme Analysis
3、. 134.2 A Mirrorof America in the 1920s . 15 References .17第 1 页 共 17 页摘要 ：了不起的盖茨比以独特的艺术手法及深刻的社会背景轰动了当时的整个美国，代表着菲茨杰拉得文学的最高成就，集中反映了二十世纪二十年代的美国梦及其幻灭的过程 , 给我们展现了美国西部大开发时代的社会面貌，也反映了作者对美国梦的深刻理解。 小说通过栩栩如生的个性鲜明的人物，及大量的象征手法的应用来烘托小说的背景。菲茨杰拉得通过对盖茨比一生对梦想的追求来反映了当时的青年一代对美国梦的信仰。本文通过对小说中人物个性的分析，艺术手法的再现来阐述当代的美国梦及其幻
4、灭的过程，再现了美国二十世纪二十年代的社会背景及给如今的我们留下的深刻反思。关键词 ：美国梦的幻灭；了不起的盖茨比；象征手法；人物性格Abstract:The Great Gatsby caused a sensation of the whole America, depending on the unique artistry, deep social meditation. It is the masterpiece of Fitzgerald. The novel reflects the disillusion of the 1920s American dream；it refle
5、cts a vivid social background of the development of western land of America; and also reflects the deep thinking of the American dream. The novel uses the vivid characters and their unique personality to support the theme of the novel: the process of the decline of the American dream, at the same ti
6、me to reflect the social background of the 1920s to us again. Additionally, a lot of symbols cover the whole novel to support this masterpiece again. Fitzgerald portrays the youth s faith in American dream as the “ great”Gatsby s whole life. And this thesis mainly analysis the vivid characters, symb
7、ols to elaborate the American dream and the process of the disillusion of it and also reflects the social background of the 1920s. At the same time, a deep meditation left all of us to keep in our minds. Key words: Disillusion of the American dream; The Great Gatsby;symbols; personality I. Introduct
8、ion 1.1 Introduction to FitzgeraldJust as many people thought that America would become hope of the world, so F. Scott. Fitzgerald and other young people were very enthusiastic and exited about this new world they were living in but lived to realize eventually that, instead of success, it was a disa
9、ster. For Fitzgerald, who lived in the midst of the “ roaring twenties ” and it was part of it all-driving fast cars, drinking hard whisky, and taking an immense delight in it, America 第 2 页 共 17 页was ,he was perceptive enough to understand, “ a moon that never rose ” . As much as he enjoyed the “ r
10、oaring of the post-war boom rears, he foresaw its doom ”.Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on september24, 1896. He was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tough 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,
11、 he menaced 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. One of the major events during 15 months of service was his meeting Zelda Sayre. Zelda wa
12、s the daughter of a judge in Montgomery, Alabama, a beautiful girl who told Fitzgerald that she liked him well enough but was too expensive for him. After his discharge from the army early in 1919, it became apparent that he had no means of supporting this woman with such great financial and social
13、expectations he had no way of making a fortune by writing advertisements in New York. Zelda soon broke their engagement, in June, and Fitzgerald went back to his father s home to rewrite his hovel. Six months later he surfaced again in Montgomery, this time triumphant with the news that his novel ha
14、d been accepted. Zelda agreed to marry him when the morel was published. This Side of Paradise is not really very good because it was written by so young a man, but is historically interesting. It became immensely popular for the simple reason that it caught the tone of the age. Essentially autobiog
15、raphical, the book describes Fitzgerald s sense of failure with his academic performance and the frustration of his dreams at Princeton. Out of his voluminous writings in the early twenties came two collections. Flappers and Philosophers (1920) which glittered with the image of the Fitzgeralds as th
16、e symbol of an American ideal (the word “ flapper,” used to describe the new woman of the post-war period, became widespread henceforward), and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) which gave its name to an important historical period in the history of the country, the Jazz Age, the 1920 s. In 1922 Fitzgera
17、ld finished his second novel The Beautiful and Damned. It is interesting especially as a sort of first attempt at writing The Great Gatsby: its theme is the same as The Great Gatsby though the writing is not as great as it. Meanwhile, the Fitzgeralds were living, on the proceeds of Scott s books and
18、 stories as a writer, thus it was amazing that he was still artistically whole enough to produce in Paris his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby (1925). After this he wrote one more important book, Tender is the Night, and some collections of short stories such as All the Sad Youth Men and Taps at 第 3 页
19、共 17 页Reveille. 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. (Three things eventually combined to break him down, loneliness, alcohol, and the
20、awareness that he was dissipating his talent). As his life became a tragic mess, he tried to find solace in his cups. It was alcohol as much as anything that killed him in the end. To a man who valued artistic integrity over and above anything else, nothing hurt more than the acute consciousness tha
21、t, by writing trash for popular magazines in order to make money, he was frittering away his talent. Fitzgerald was tormented virtually all his life by the fact that he could not concentrate on the novel and the improvement of his art in general. Fitzgerald is the sacrifice of his times. He was very
22、 enthusiastic in the lavish life, at the same time; he still could use his critical eyes to observe them. In his story, Gatsby 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 Fitzger
23、aldsPersonality. 1.2 Description of the Novel Nick 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 ma
24、de their fortunes too recently to have established social connections and who are prone to garish displays of wealth. Nicks nest-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
25、the other inhabitants of West Eg ghe 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 husban d, Tom, a classmate of Nicks at
26、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 Toms marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping
27、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 第 4 页 共 17 页responds by breaking her nose. As the sum
28、mer progresses, Nick eventually gets 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 Jord
29、an 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. Gatsbys extravaga
30、nt 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 G
31、atsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. And then their love rekindled. After a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wifes relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with s
32、uch undisguised passion that Tom realizesGatsby 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 and Daisy in a suite at the Plaza Ho
33、tel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminalhis fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to
34、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 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.
35、The next day, Tom tells Myrtle s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car which killed Myrtle; and Gatsby must have been her lover. George 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 relat
36、ionship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsbys life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the rich people on the East Coast. Nick reflects that just as Gatsbys dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty,the
37、 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 第 5 页 共 17 页makes him “great,” Nick reflects that the era of dreamingboth Gatsbys dream and the American dreamis over. II. Literature R
38、eviews 2.1 Analysis the Main Characters in The Great Gatsby.2.1.1 Jay GatsbyThe great part of Gatsby just like the name of the novel The Great Gatsby, to some extent, Jay Gatsby is indeed great. As is true throug hout the book, Gatsbys power to make his dreams real is what makes him “great.” In Chap
39、ter 6, it becomes clear that his most powerfully realized dream is his own identity, his sense of self. It is important to realize, in addition, that Gatsby s conception of the “ great”Gatsby is itself a dream. He thinks of Daisy as the former girl who loved him in Louisville, blinding himself to th
40、e reality that she would never desert her own class and background to be with him. In fact, Gatsby pursuits his lover in such decayed social and moral values, and his lover, to some extent, does not own any such beautiful, splendid elements at all, even at the end he still believes that Daisy would
41、give him a call. Although Gatsbys dream definitely comes to its end, just like American youth of the 1920s, he still does some things to pursuit all the time. I think although Gatsby could not escape his tragedy, his spirit and faith would never fail supporting him to achieve his goals.The virgin pa
42、rt “He had one of those rare s miles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, which you may come across four or five times in life. It faced or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you jus
43、t as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.”This passage occurs in Chapter 3 as part of Nicks first close examination of Gatsbys character and appearance. This description of Gatsbys smile captures both the theatrical quality of Gatsbys characte
44、r and his charisma. One of the main facets of Gatsbys persona is that he acts out a role that he defined for himself when he was seventeen years old. His smile seems to be both an important part of the role and a result of the singular combination of hope and imagination that enables him to play it
45、so effectively. Here, Nick describes Gatsbys rare focus-he has the ability to make anyone whom he smiles at feel at will as though he has chosen tha t person out of “the whole external world,”reflecting that person s most optimistic conception of him-or herself. 第 6 页 共 17 页The tragic part of his ch
46、aracter When Daisy drove Gatsby s car, killed Tom s lover, Gatsby s decision to take the blame for Daisy demonstrates the deep love he still feels for her and illustrates the basic nobility that defines his character. Maybe we could take mercy of him due to his deep love to Daisy; and maybe we thus
47、could understand his somehow clumsy behaviors. However, his love to Daisy could not catch up with time, only remained in the past. Poorly, he just uses any conceivable, beautiful thing to build his ideal dream. In fact, as the time eluding, Daisy was not his former lover in Louisville. She is beauti
48、ful but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats behind her money. Finally, rather than attending Gatsby s funeral, she moves away with Tom. It is enough to describe Gatsby s tragic doom. In fact, his real dream, t
49、o some extent, never exists. When his dream crumbled, the only thing left to him is dead. 2.1.2 Daisy Daisy s personality maybe could use one sentence to describe, that is, she is beautiful and charming, at the same time, fickle, shallow, bored and sardonic, could not assume her responsibility. When
50、 she introduced her only daughter, she said “I hope shell be a foolthat s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”Daisy speaks these words in Chapter I as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her infant daughter. While not directly relevant to the novel s main t
51、hemes, this sentence offers a revealing glimpse into Daisys character. Daisy is not only a fool herself but also is the product of a social environment that, to a great extent, does not value intelligence in women. The older generation values subservience and docility in females, and the younger gen
52、eration values thoughtless giddiness and pleasure- seeking. Daisy s remark is somewhat sardonic: while she refers to the social values of her era, she dose not seem to challenge them. Instead, she describes her own boredom with life and seems to imply that a girl can have more fun if she is beautifu
53、l and simplistic. Daisy herself often tries to act such a part. She conforms to the social standard of American femininity in the 1920s in order to avoid such tension-dilled issues as her undying love for Gatsby. 2.1.3 Nick The novel s narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being ed
54、ucated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgments. Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick s eyes; his 第 7 页 共 17 页thoughts and pe
55、rceptions shape and color the story. Nick has the relationship of almost all the main roles. He is in a perfect position to tell the story. He is a cousin of Daisy Buchanans, he was in the same senior society as Tom Buchanan at Yale, and he has rented, during the summer of 1922, a house right next t
56、o Jay Gatsby. He knows all the characters well enough to be present at the crucial scenes in the novel. The information he doesnt have but needs in order to tell his story, he gets from other characters like Jordan Baker, the Greek restaurant owner Michaelis, and Gatsby himself. Nick knows things be
57、cause people confess to him, and people confess to him because he is tolerant, understanding, and sympathetic. 2.2. Artistic SkillsSymbols 2.2.1 The Green Light The color green represents hope, activeness, enthusiasm, youth, and dream. Maybe Fitzgerald uses it to describe Gatsbys dream quite properl
58、y. Gatsby believed in the great light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. “ It eludes us then, but thats no mattertomorrow we will run faster, stretch our armsfather. and then one fine morningSo we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”Gatsb
59、y 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 invest Daisy with an idealistic perfection zeal that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that weal
60、th causes and the unworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as Americas powerful optimism, vitality, and individualism become subordinated to the amoral pursuit of wealth. Although they never lose their optimism (“tomorrow we will run faster
61、, stretch out our arms father.”), they expend all of their energy in the pursuit of a goal that moves ever farther a way. This apt metaphor characterizes both Gatsby s struggle and the American dream itself. 2.2.2 The Valley of Ashes First introduced in Chapter 2, the Valley of Ashes between West Eg
62、g 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
63、 also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. 第 8 页 共 17 页The Valley of Ashes symbolizes the life of western people s spirit. The valley is produced by the modern industrialization civilization; it is a horrible hell
64、for peoples life. In the process of making material wealth, cars, trains, airplanes and so on come back and forth among the metropolis cities, produce the serious pollutions, therefore the pretty scenes of the whole America. This kind of visible dust desert represents the dispirited and infertile pe
65、oples spiritual world. And the disintegration of the American Dream exactly lies in the point, people s unrestrained desire for money and pleasure, thus the decayed social and moral values. 2.2.3 The Eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg The Eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eye
66、s 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 meanings becau
67、se the characters instill them with meanings. 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 represent hen essential meaninglessness of the world and the arbitrariness of the mental
68、 process by which people invest objects with meaning. Nick explores these ideas in Chapter 8, when he images Gatsby s final thoughts as a depressed consideration of the emptiness of symbols and dreams. This pair of no activeness, no life eyes were regarded as God by Mr. Wilson. In fact, this pair of
69、 eyes produced by an eye doctor in order to make money and this big pair eyes still observe this rubbish world full of the dust. 2.2.4 Geography Throughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old aristocr
70、acy, 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 moral decay and social cynicism of New York, while the west is connected to more traditional social
71、values and ideals. Nicks analysis in Chapter 9 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 pa
72、ce and style of life on the east coast. According to the novel, the West Egg and the East Egg resemble in the incredible similar shape. Just like its citizen, although both of them are rich, however they are quite 第 9 页 共 17 页different. At that time, no matter how much you spent and maybe you could
73、success, but at the end annoyed just like Gatsby could not be accepted by the old rich people with established wealth. His fortune only makes them guess the resource of the money coming from. At last the only thing left is his disillusion. III. The Decline of the American Dream 3.1 The Disillusion o
74、f the American Dream During the whole history of America, there is an important, never forgotten period, that is, the development of the western land. At that time, America had been “ a fresh, green breast of the new world,”had pandered to all human dreams and promised something like “ the orgiastic
75、 future” for humanity. And its father, Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers envisioned America as a place that would be free of the injustices of class and caste, a place where people from humble background would be free to try to improve them economically and socially. In fact, to some e
76、xtent, just as Fitzgerald saw it (and Nick explains in Chapter 9), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. Fitzgerald, his characters and other young men get great enthusiasm to build their dream to be rich people among the upper class and take
77、 great efforts to achieve them. To some extent, their dream reflects the common dream of the whole America. They had strong faith in their ability to achieve their dream if there is any fair chance. However, at that time (1920s), it were the pervasiveness of bootlegging and organized crime, combined
78、 with the burgeoning stock market and vast increase in the wealth of the general public during this era that covered the whole America; and America has become vulgar and empty as a result of subjecting its sprawling vitality to the greedy pursuit of money. Just as the American dream the pursuit of h
79、appiness has degenerates into a quest for mere wealth. At last, American dream had been changed in essence. The masterpiece of Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby portrays the disillusion of the American dream vividly. The main character, Jay Gatsby s whole life exactly reflects it. Gatsby s life follows a
80、 clear pattern: there are, at first, a dream, then disenchantment, and finally a sense of failure and despair. Gatsby s father, Henry C. Gatz, has come all the way from Minnesota. He is proud of his son and saves a picture of his house. He also fills Nick in Gatsby s early life, showing him a book i
81、n which a young Gatsby had written a schedule for self-improvement.“Look here, this is a book he had when he was a boy. It just shows you.”第 10 页 共 17 页He opened it at the back cover and turned it around for me to see. On the last fly-leaf was printed the word SCHEDULE, and the date September 12, 19
82、06. And underneath: Rise from bed . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00- 9.00 ”And after attending university, due to poor family Gatsby is forced to work as a janitor. But his humiliation at having to work as a janitor in college contrasts with the promise that he experiences when he meets Dan Cody, who repre
83、sents the attainment of everything that Gatsby wants. Acutely aware of his poverty, the young Gatsby develops a powerful obsession with amassing wealth and statues. Gatsby s act of self-improvement symbolizes his desire to jettison his lowers-class identity and recast himself as the wealthy man he e
84、nvisions. When as a solider at Luisville meet Daisy, the daughter of a judge, he is conquered by the wealth and elegant behaviors of her. By the time, Gatsby s dream has been produced completely. It is easy to see how a man who has gone to such great lengths to achieve wealth and luxury would find D
85、aisy so alluring: for her, the atmosphere of wealth and luxury comes effortlessly. She is able to take her position for granted, and she becomes, for Gatsby, the epitome of everything that he invented “ Jay Gatsby ” to achieve. As is true through the book, Gatsby s power to make his dream real is wh
86、at makes him “ great” . In Chapter 7, it becomes clear that his most powerfully realized dream is his own identity, his sense of self. It is important to realize, in addition, that Gatsby s conception of Daisy is itself a dream. He thinks of her as the sweat girl who loved him in Louisville, blindin
87、g himself to the reality that she would never desert her own class and background to be with him. In fact, Gatsby s dream, Daisy is beyond his expectation. She is talkative, shallow. As a woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in lov
88、e 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, she decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. As a matter of fact, Gatsby s thought of Daisy s marriage as his dream has no me
89、aning at all. When he heard of Daisy s marrying Tom, he still could not observe Daisy s personality. Instead, he thinks of losing Daisy as losing his great dream. Then he tries his best to do anything he could to win his true love back. And the most important thing is to make great fortune. Thus he
90、even contacts with Meyer Wolf-Shiem whose wealth derives from criminal activity to make his fortune. On the surface, Gatsby s party is almost unbelievably luxurious: guests marvel over his Rolls-Royce, his swimming pool, his beach, crates of fresh oranges and lemons, buffet tents in the gardens over
91、flowing with a feast, 第 11 页 共 17 页and a live orchestra playing under the stars. Liquor flows freely, and the crowd grows rowdier and louder as more and more guests get drunk. All of these prove his great success in getting close to his dream. Because the aim he has done is mere to attract Daisy s a
92、ttention. After being invited to his mansion, Daisy is overwhelmed by his luxurious lifestyle, and when he shows her his extensive collection of English shirts, she begins to cry. Then, they reestablish their connection, their love rekindled. At this time, Gatsby s obsession with recovering a blissf
93、ul past compels him to order Daisy to tell Tom that she has never loved him. Gatsby needs to know that she has always loved him, that she has always been emotionally loyal to him. Similarly, pleading with Daisy, Tom invokes their intimate personal history to remind her that she has had feelings for
94、him; by controlling the past, Tom eradicates Gatsby s vision of the future. That Tom feels secure enough to send Daisy back to East Egg with Gatsby confirms Nick s observation that Gatsby s dream is dead. 3.2 The Reasons of the Tragedy To be honest, Gatsby s dream is tragically failure. And the caus
95、es of the tragedy: Gatsby s“ideal ” is the main cause of tragedy. One part of Gatsbys“ideal ” or his first “dream” is to get rich. He thinks money can buy love and happiness, so it seems to him that dreams quite reasonable. But he never realizes this is a “common dream”. Tracing back the source of t
96、he dream we know it is a popular “dream” in America. It originates from the “gold rush” in American history. In that period, the bourgeoisie blows its own trumpet that American is a “golden world”. They say everyone has the same opportunity to make a fortune so long as he or she toils honestly. Gats
97、by is one of the believers of such a “dream”. He has been longing to get rich and stand out among rich people. In his youth he worships a “hard ” and dissolute man named Dan Cody, who makes himself “many times a millionaire”. He is infatuated with Daisy because he is “amazed” at Daisy s “beautiful h
98、ouseShining motor cars ”, and other aspects of an elegant life. All of her luxurious life makes him “overwhelmingly aware of youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves”, and makes him think that the rich can be “safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor”. So Gatsby, full of drive
99、, attempt to reach his goal of getting rich. From Chapter Nine, we know Gatsby did have an energetic “schedule ” in his childhood, such as getting up at six in the morning, beginning to study electricity at a quarter past seven, and until seven to nine in the evening “studying needed inventions”, it
100、 seems that not a second to be lost. He also has a wonderful “general resolves”, which set strict demands on himself, such as “not wasting time, no more smoking, reading one 第 12 页 共 17 页improving book or magazine per week and saving $500 per week”. Anyway he was dreaming to better himself all the t
101、ime in order that he could get rich some day. If we think Gatsby “dreams” at a very early age because he is trying to train himself for the late “dream”, then he “dreams” at the adult age surely because he is trying to capture Daisy. Here, obviously, Gatsbys second “dream” is the dream of love, and
102、this is the heart of his ultimate ideal. This is only a means to reach his ideal of love. But his view of love is not merely a marriage between him and a woman. From Chapter Six, we know “he knew women early ” “since they spoiled him, he became contemptuousof them, of young virgins because they were
103、 ignorant, of others because they were hysterical about things ”. But why does he admire Daisy? The cause is very simple. He admires Daisy because Daisy represents the elegance and virtue of the upper class. Just as I mentioned above, Daisy is a symbol for Gatsby to understand what an “ideal ” is. G
104、atsby thinks that he can become “great ” if he marries Daisy. So in order to marry her, he reads newspapers to look for Daisy, buys a mansion so that Daisy will be across the bay, and holds the fabulous party to attract Daisy to come over. But as he “almost ” realizes his “ideal ”, he is killed by T
105、om, who blames the accident on him. And that moment marks the end of his “ideal ”. Gatsby s death can easily remind people of why Gatsby cant realize his “ideal ”, or what the causes of his tragedy are society. Undoubtedly, Gatsby s tragedy is an inevitable fate of a person in the society in which t
106、here is a class distinction. As we know, in the bourgeois society not every one can make his fortune, only a few people can, and these people make their fortune by crushing others, or by some means of cruel and evil force or trickery. This is true with Gatsby. Gatsby becomes rich people through some
107、 criminal activities, not through his honestly, thrift and hard work. Actually Gatsby lives a short time luxuriously with his ill-gotten wealth, but he is overwhelmed by those who have deeper roots, and power and influence. So in the end he “was broken up like glass against Toms hard malice.” Obviou
108、sly Tom in the novel is a representative of the privileged class. Just as the book says, he belongs to “a rather distinguished secret society”. He is so insolent and presumptuous that he thinks it is right and proper for him to enjoy privilege. In his mind there is ever an “indiscernible barbed wire
109、 between his world and Gatsbys.”If anyone dares to climb over the “barbed wire ” and share their privileges, he will be destroyed. Therefore, although Gatsby gets rich through criminal activities and “formed a ladder ”, he fails to mount to Tom s “secret place ”, and even fails to “gulp down the inc
110、omparable milk of wonder”. No matter how extravagant his parties are, what he changes his name into, and how careful he is, he never crashes his background from the lower class. Anyway, the upper class never forgets this 第 13 页 共 17 页point, so they always look down upon him, and exclude him. Even wh
111、en they are enjoying his free dinner, they never lose a moment to score him. They spread rumors about Gatsby, saying “he is a cousin ofKaiser Withem”, “a German spy ” and an “Oxford man ”, “he kills a man” and was involved in “the underground pipeline to Canada”. So it is not only a Tom, but also th
112、e whole upper class that fights against him. Gatsby lives in a society of class distinction. He surely attempts to force his way into the upper class, for he has a bad backgrounda son of a shiftless, poverty-driven farmer-and knows the very rich are different from the poor. So it is quite natural an
113、d reasonable that he “dreams”. In other words, we can say, it is the society that makes him dream, but it is also the society that does not accept him. So in a word, in the society of class distinction, Gatsbys tragedy is an inevitable fate, and his “ideal ” itself is the main cause of his tragedy.
114、To make a long story short, Fitzgerald described a serious of tragedies successfully in The Great Gatsby. He reflects the social realty of that age by tragedies of that age and individuals. Readers can realize his sadness to the generation from his serious and light writing voice. And produce a sens
115、e of deep sorrow. This is the effect that only tragedy can develop. Fitzgerald achieved it completely. So we say, The Great Gatsby either from its contents or from its writing skills is a great tragic work to its name. IV. Conclusion4.1 Theme Analysis The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgeralds classic t
116、wentieth-century story of Jay Gatsby s quest for Daisy Buchanan, examines and critiques Gatsbys particular vision of the 1920 s American dream. Written in 1925, the novel serves as a bridge between World War I and the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Although Fitzgerald was an avid participant i
117、n the stereotypical “Roaring Twenties ” lifestyle of wild parties and bootlegging liquor, he was also an accurate critic of his time period. The Great Gatsby certainly serves more to detail societys failure to fulfill its potential than it does glamorize Fitzgeralds “Jazz Age. ” Fitzgeralds social i
118、nsight in The Great Gatsby focuses on a select group: privileged young people between the ages of 20 and 30. In doing so, Fitzgerald provides a vision of the “youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves”. Throughout the novel Nick finds himself surrounded by lavish mansions, fancy cars, an
119、d an endless supply of material possessions. A drawback to the seemingly limitless excess Nick sees in the Buchanans, for 第 14 页 共 17 页instance, is a throwaway mentality extending past material goods. Nick explains, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and
120、 then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”. Part of the mess left in the Buchanans wake at the end of the novel includes the literal and figurative death of the title character, Ja
121、y Gatsby. Certainly, his undeserved murder at the hands of George Wilson evokes sympathy; the true tragedy, however, lies in the destruction of an ultimate American idealist. The idealism evident in Gatsby s constant aspirations helps define what Fitzgerald saw as the basis for the American Characte
122、r. Gatsby is a firm believer in the American Dream of self-made success: he has, after all, not only invented and self-promoted a whole new persona for himself, but has succeeded both financially and societally. In spite of his success, Gatsbys primary ideological shortcoming becomes evident as he m
123、akes Daisy Buchanan the sole focus of his belief in “the orgiastic future”. His previously varied aspirations (evidenced, for example, by the book Gatsbys father shows Nick detailing his sons resolutions to improve him) are sacrificed for Gatsby s single-minded obsession with Daisys green light at t
124、he end of her dock. Even Gatsby realized the first time he kissed Daisy that once he “forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God”. For the first time in his wildly successful career, however, Gatsby aspires to obtain that which
125、is unattainable, at least to the degree which he desires. As the novel unfolds, Gatsby seems to realize that his idea and pursuit of Daisy is more rewarding than the actual attainment of her. Gatsby recognizes that as he did with his own persona he has created an ideal for Daisy to live up to. Altho
126、ugh Gatsby remains fully committed to his aspirations up until his death, he struggles with the reality of when those aspirations for his American Dream are either achieved or, in Gatsbys case, proven inaccessible. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in 1924, while working on The Great Gatsby, “That s the
127、whole burden of this novel - the loss of those illusions that give such color to the world so that you dont care whether things are true or false as long as they partake of the magical glory ” . 4.2A Mirrorof America in the 1920s The 1920 s is a decade when the outline of contemporary American clear
128、ly emerges. World War I creates a new generation, the Lost Generation and a new time, the Roaring Twenties. Modern American culture bursts into full bloom in the 1920 s. Jazz Age ” , “ Age 第 15 页 共 17 页of the Flapper” , “ Lawless Decade ” are the symbols of the twenties. It is a time of youth, a tim
129、e of profound culture and social changes. American people are torn between traditional values and new standards quickly adopted by young people. In this rapidly shifting time, American culture becomes independent and prosperous. The “ hot” jazz from the black ghettos, the short shirts and bobbed hai
130、r of the New Woman, and the methodical violation of prohibition by criminals and ordinary citizens alikethese seem to typify the spirit of the times. This postwar spirit is in sharp contrast to the spirit of idealism and self-sacrifice that marks the Progressive Era and the war years. Many writers r
131、eflect this time in their writings. And The Great Gatsby marks the highest point of Fitzgeralds artistic achievement. It is a vivid reflection of the Roaring Twenties, with its frantic gaiety and underlying sadness. In this novel, we come to meet Daisy, Myrtle and Jordan, who give us an impression o
132、f the women in the 1920 sshort skirted, free-taking and free-acting. The development of productive forces liberates women from the heavy burden of housework. Vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, telephones and washing machines appear in more and more homes. The chances of taking jobs make them more indep
133、endent and rebellious. Women want to live as they hope and they begin to behave against the old rules and morals. Women seeking for first-class citizenship try to work out more satisfying roles in the society. In the postwar crisis of values, women are experiencing some great changes as well as men.
134、 This novel also tells something about the 1920 s in its details. The most striking detail is the description of Gatsby s parties. In Gatsby s blue garden, “ between nine in the morning and long past midnight” , “ men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and sta
135、rs ” . That is the party where men and women dance crazily and joyously. In the 1920 s, taking advantages of prosperity and the mobility afforded by the automobile, the youth hold parties, consume bootleg liquor, take part in jazz clubs. The youth meet strangers in such noisy parties. They dance cra
136、zily, talk freely and behave in a so-called upper-class way. But they actually can not meet true friends there. Under the unusual noises of the parties, there lies deep sadness of that generation. Nervous and disappointed, they lose themselves in that time and do not know where to go. Not wanting ot
137、hers to know, they act in an unusually crazy way. Then here comes Gatsby and Myrtle s show-off. In Gatsby s show-off to Daisy, we get to see beautiful wide lawn, splendid big 第 16 页 共 17 页mansion and wonderful shirts from Paris. In Myrtle s show-off, there is a woman continually boasting of herself.
138、 They are both showing off their wealth. People in the 1920 s have strong mind of pursuing money. One important purpose is to show off to others. They want to be admired and respected by others. They innocently believe that happiness lies in wealth and such admiration. But they are completely wrong.
139、 Respect can not be gained on the basis of wealth and money does not equal to happiness. There are so many things which can not be evaluated, can not be bought, such as “ love” . They pursue a kind of extravagant life which is attractive with beauties, champagne and expensive cars and clothes. Unfor
140、tunately, they lose everything in the end. Now, let s come to the contrast between the poor and the rich. In the novel, Gatsby s mansion costs “ twelve or fifteen thousand a season” while Nick s house costs “ eighty a month” . Gatsby s party can consume “ five crates of oranges and lemons”and Tom ca
141、n bring down “ a string of polo ponies ” for his movement, but Myrtle s living condition is very poor. Herbert Hoover declared, “ We shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation ”But the poverty is always there. Despite great economic success,
142、 wealth, power and privilege are not equalized. A few persons still monopolize the nation s wealth and enjoy the delights of affluence, living in luxurious way, but millions of Americans still live in the state of little prospect, no matter what they de, of improving their conditions. There is some
143、truth to the standard picture of the twenties as a time of prosperity and funthe Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties. Unemployment is down; the general level of wages for workers rise; some farmers make a lot of money. But prosperity is only concentrated at the top. While from 1922 to 1929 real wages in
144、manufacturing go up per capita 1.4 percent a year, the holders of common stocks gain 16.4 percent a year. Six million families (42 percent of the total) makes less than 1000 a year. At the end of the novel, there is Gatsby s funeral which is an ironic scene. Gatsby s funeral is a record of human col
145、dness. Nick has invited some people to come to Gatsby s funeral. These people are all Gatsby s so-called friends. They find a lot of excuses for their absence because they know clearly that Gatsby is no longer useful for them. It is a funeral with only three persons: Nick, Gatsby s father and a mini
146、ster. Gatsby s generous parties have not brought him even one friend. In the 1920 s, led by a kind of materialism, people pay too much attention to money, which is believed can bring them happiness. They forget or ignore something valuable. That is moral and humanity. They do not care others. They o
147、nly keep so-called friendship 第 17 页 共 17 页with the people who are useful for their own development. They avoid taking duties and run away after destroying something. Husband and wife are unfaithful to each other and true friends are difficult to find. That is a strange world with the only aim of pu
148、rsuing money and excitement, with the coldness and evil lying under the surface of prosperity. Conclusion: In fact, The Great Gatsby shows us a vivid picture of the 1920 s with its characters and details. The failure of American dreampursuit of money and excitement is reflected by the characters tra
149、gic lives. The women characters give us a picture of the 1920 sshort-skirted, short-haired, free-taking and free acting. Some other details such as the noisy parties, the cold funeral and the differences between the poor and the rich show us underlying sadness and crisis of values of the financially
150、 booming 1920 s. This unusual culture of the 1920 s roots himself in the social background of that time. The 1920 s is also in Fitzgeralds other novels as The Beautiful and Damned (1922), Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) and All the Sad Young Man (1926). There is, of course, real talent in Fitzgeralds n
151、ovel but he offers no suggestion for any possible change and gives no hint of any conceivable alternative. The conclusion of the great Gatsby only suggests a personal solution in Nick Carraway s retreat to a simple more stable place and time. References 1. Brian Phillips 导 读 ， 张 滨 江 翻 译， The Great GatsbyM.天 津 科 技 翻 译 出 版 公司,2003,p1-140 2. Chang Yaoxin A Survey of American LiteratureM.Nankai University Press,1990,p282-293 3.鄢忠秀Disillusion of American Dream 五邑大学学报J. vol.2 No.1,2000,p54-58 4.钱青美国文学名著精选（下）M.商务印书馆,1994,p305-358 5.吴建国菲茨杰拉德研究M.上海外语教育出版社,2002,p167-1
