了不起的蓋茨比中的美國夢 the American dream in The Great Gatsby

1、 了不起的蓋茨比中所折射出的美國夢摘要了不起的蓋茨比是菲茨杰拉德的一部名著。作者通過描寫蓋茨比個人的困境與失敗展現(xiàn)了那個時代的悲劇。在小說中，蓋茨比想要通過物質(zhì)上的成功來贏得愛情, 然而，他的夢想是建立于幻想，而不是現(xiàn)實，這是注定要失敗的。因為蓋茨比是美國夢的代表，從某種意義上說,蓋茨比的失敗也預(yù)示了美國夢本身的破滅。本論文首先介紹了作者與小說的主要情節(jié)，接著講述了美國夢的根源與本質(zhì)。第三部分分析了蓋茨比對財富夢及愛情夢的追求。最后分析了蓋茨比美國夢破碎的原因以及必然性。關(guān)鍵詞：美國夢；金錢；愛情；破滅AbstractThe Great Gatsby is one of Fitzgeralds

2、 masterpieces. The author presented the tragedy of that age by describing Gatsbys personal dilemma and failure. In this novel, Gatsby wants to win love through material success. However, his dream is based on illusion rather than reality, which is doomed to fail. Gatsby is the representative of the

3、American dream. In some senses, Gatsbys failure also predicts the shattering of the American dream itself. This paper begins with an introduction about the author and the brief plot of the novel The Great Gatsby. Then it tells the origin and the essence of the American dream. After that, it gives an

4、 analysis of Gatsbys pursuit of fortune and love dream. Finally, the paper points out the inevitable disillusion of Gatsbys American dream and presents the factors of the tragedy.Keywords: the American dream; fortune; love; disillusionContents1. Introduction12. The American Dream22.1The Origin of th

5、e American Dream and its Development32.2The essence of the American Dream and its Historical Background43. The American Dream Reflected in Gatsby53.1 Gatsbys Pursuit of Fortune Dream53.2 Gatsbys Pursuit of Love Dream64. Disillusion of Gatsbys American Dream74.1 Gatsbys American Dream and His Illegal

6、 Activities84.2 Gatsbys American Dream and the Social Environment94.3 Gatsbys American Dream and His Innocence105. Conclusion11References131. IntroductionF. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is one of the twentieth centurys greatest writers, whose works were the samples of the Jazz Age. He is widely rega

7、rded as the literary spokesman of the “Jazz Age”an age between the end of the First World War and the outbreak of the Great Depression. In many ways, he expressed in his stories the disillusionment of the young generation with “the American dream”. Fitzgerald is also considered a member of the “Lost

8、 Generation” of the 1920s. He was born into a middle-class family in St. Paul, Minnesota in the American Midwest. In his short life, Fitzgerald experienced overnight fame and wealth in 1920s but suffered a lot in the 1930s. His first novelThis Side of Paradise was published in 1920 and became a best

9、-seller, through which he got fame and commercial success. With a series of success of his writing, Fitzgerald had a high quality of life. In 1925, Fitzgerald managed to complete The Great Gatsby. This book brought him a critical comment and commercial failure. After that, with the pain of his perso

10、nal life and the disappearance of the writing inspiration, he never wrote a well-known book any more. In 1940, he died of a heart attack when he was only forty-four. Different from other American writers who also had the American dream as the subject of their works, Fitzgerald impressed his readers

11、from a new perspective. His works depicted the 1920s of America, the period of the high growth of America. With the richness of material, peoples spiritual life was corrupted, especially the life of the upper class. “Many critics have seen Fitzgeralds artistic achievement in terms of his ability to

12、depict the American society, its history and its people.”(Tang Sooping, 1992:7) The Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick, a man from the Mid-West, going to New York to do business. He heard about his neighbor, a mysterious man called Jay Gatsby, who always held fabulous parties at his house. Gatsby

13、was born in a poor family in the Middle West. During the time of serving in the army, Gatsby fell in love with Daisy, a wealthy girl. However, he was too poor to marry her. When the First World War broke out, Gatsby had to devote himself to the army. Daisy gave up waiting for him and got married wit

14、h a rich young man Tom Buchanan. However, Daisys marriage was not that happy because Tom has betrayed their marriage. He had a mistress after their daughter was born. All these things inspired Gatsbys desire to get married with Daisy. In order to win back his lost love, it took Gatsby just a few yea

15、rs to make a fortune through illegal business. He bought a mansion located on the opposite side of Daisys house with a river lying in between. Gatsby held parties every weekend, hoping that one day Daisy would come but she did not turn up even once. With the help of Nick, the cousin of Daisy, Gatsby

16、 met Daisy again five years after they broke away from each other. But now the lady in front of him was no longer the ideal lover in his dream. Instead, she became a selfish and vulgar woman. She refused to give up Tom but at the same time she did not refuse Gatsby. One day, Daisy drove Gatsbys car

17、after drinking and caused an accident in which Toms mistress, Myrtle Wilson was killed. In order to protect Daisy, Gatsby decided to assume the responsibility. Finally Gatsby was shot by Myrtles husband. Only Gatsbys poor father and Nick attended the funeral. Daisy did not feel any sadness and was o

18、n trip with Tom to Europe at that time.2. The American Dream and its Historical BackgroundThe American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals which includes freedom, the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. The ter

19、m American Dream was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America. He states, “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for

20、 the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innatel

21、y capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (Adams, 1931: 214) It means that everyone, no matter what class he is in, can be successful through his own efforts. This ideology is based on the principle that one should be

22、responsible for himself and seize every opportunity to gain success with courage and through hard work.The American dream has its own particular history background. Since Columbus found “the new continent”, the Europeans went to America for exploitation and colonialism. People in Europe got many kin

23、ds of harsh sufferings. They moved to the North American continent because they wanted to get rid of the sufferings in Europe, to be rich, and put into practice their values and philosophies of life. They wanted to escape the religious persecution and rebuild the religious belief. Going to America g

24、ave them the aspiration of freedom, the opportunity to be rich. Besides, many unthinkable things in the Old World may turn into reality in this piece of land. From the view of Xing Yan(Xing Yan, 2004:49), “Opportunity follows one after another, and almost everyone will cause a national madness, the

25、United States becomes a country of milk and honey. Therefore, a large number of people with an American dream swarmed here.” 2.1 The Origin of the American Dream and its Development“The American Dream arose in the colonial period and developed in the nineteenth century, based on the assumption of ea

26、ch person, no matter what his origin was, could succeed in changing their social positions and making their dreams come true through their own efforts, and getting new, free and better life. It is what is often referred to as American dream. ” (Zhao Hongwei, 2003: 2)The American dream is both a roma

27、ntic expectation and a belief that with toil and devotion people will achieve what their desire. The American dream at its early stage was a Puritan desire for the freedom in religion and creation. However, it becomes broader in meaning along with the expansion to the American West. It includes the

28、pursuit of happiness, the goal to be successful in career, love and wealth. After the Civil War, the American dream has even more concrete meanings as people strongly believe that with hard work, they can create miracles such as from poor to rich.2.2 The essence of the American DreamAs for the Ameri

29、can Dream, it is a belief that a better life could be achieved through hard work and strives. There are several notions behind the American Dreamequal opportunities provided for everyone; the success based on ones own talents and efforts, and equal opportunity to achieve success.The dream has its co

30、nstant element, but is ever-changing with the people and with the times. The American dream is seen as one for a better and richer life for everyone, a dream of having opportunities in terms of ones ability. According to Li Hongwen (黎紅雯, 2002:15), “For some, the American dream is a chance to build a

31、 successful business and become a millionaire. For others, the American dream is from the log cabin to the White House. For still other people, the American dream is the ladder from the rags to the riches. ” From Lis view, people may have their own dreams, of which some are small ambitions and other

32、s could be great ones.For young students today, the dream might include getting higher education and devoting oneself to helping others. For the middle-aged people today, the dream may include a very high-paying job which one could retire at an early age and have a more satisfying lifestyle. “Everyo

33、ne had a different idea for his or her American Dream; everyones American Dream may be totally different from each other; that is what makes them all individuals. The dream may differ in that some people wanted to work hard and had financial success, or others might just want to have enough food and

34、 income to survive, and make their life simple, healthy and happy. ” (鄧年剛，潭素欽, 1997:15)Almost every American has his own American Dream. Almost every American including immigrants and poor people has his desire for a better life. Such a life enables him to own a big house, have much money, delicious

35、 food and luxury cars, and enjoy freedom as well. No matter what his origin is, he could succeed in through his own efforts. With the success, he is able to get access to higher social position and better life. 3. The American Dream Reflected in GatsbyIn the novel, Gatsbys American dream was to win

36、daisys love, and he spared no effort to do everything to regain the love of Daisy. In order to make his American Dream come true, Gatsby got money by doing illegal trade of alcohol. Also, in the pursuit of his love, he did whatever Daisy asked him to do even at the sacrifice of his precious life.3.1

37、 Gatsbys Pursuit of Fortune DreamOne part of Gatsbys dream was to get rich. Gatsby was a man who lived in the lower class, he dreamed for getting recognition, he dreamed for social status, and the true love. But to improve his social status and gain recognition, he was in bad need of money. In his y

38、outh, he harbored the innocent wish to be successful by hard work. In order to succeed, he worked tirelessly to do many things and worked out a schedule, which bears the similarity of that of Benjamin Franklin. Gatsbys schedule displayed his imagination or illusion of his own future, through which a

39、 link between his dream and the American dream can be perceived. Gatsby dreamed of becoming a great man. Even when he was a boy, he had his aspirations. He was not content with things as they are and he just wanted to work hard to change the situation.He forced him to get up early in the morning at

40、6:00 and began to study electricity at 7:15, worked from 8:30A.M. to 4:30 P.M. “study needed inventions” (Fitzgerald,1993:176) in the evening. He also has a wonderful “general resolves”,(Fitzgerald ,1993:174) which set strict demands on himself, such as “no wasting time，no smoking, read one importan

41、t book or magazine per week and save $500 per week” .(Fitzgerald, 1993: 174)In the novel, Gatsby was born in a poor family in the Midwest Court. On the contrary, Daisy, the girl that he loved always lived a luxuriant life since she was born, so it was her habit to live a life with high quality. To D

42、aisy, it was hard to imagine how she could stand a difficult life without money. But Gatsby was just a poor soldier. If he had not pretended to be a man with great wealth to win Daisys love, Daisy would not have fallen in love with him at all five years ago. In Gatsbys view, he believed money could

43、buy him love and happiness. With such thought in mind, he did everything in order to make money. In just a few years, through illegal trade of alcohol and other dishonest businesses, he made a fortune. A poor young man turned into someone with wealth. Gatsbys success in fortune was great. To show of

44、f his wealth, Gatsby built a house in the old aristocratic style. In the huge and brilliant house, Gatsby would hold fabulous parties at the weekend, which people of status would be happy to attend. They admired his property and wanted to be friends of him. It may seem as if Gatsby had made his fort

45、une dream come true. However, he never succeeded in a real sense through his own hard work, courage, or his strong resolution. He just became rich by conducting illegal businesses, which defied the essence of the American dream.3.2 Gatsbys Pursuit of Love DreamAnother part of Gatsbys dream is his dr

46、eam of love. When he was a soldier in the Army, he fell in love with a rich girl Daisy. But he understood that he was not able to marry such a girl from a wealthy family and of higher social status. Daisy married Tom who had money and status though she did not love the man at all. Gatsby never stopp

47、ed his love for Daisy; instead, he could not help recalling her, his first love. The most significant to Gatsby was to repeat the past with Daisy day and night and to get the lost pure love. As soon as he had money, Gatsby started to be in chase of his love to repeat the past. To fulfill his love dr

48、eam, the first thing he did was to buy a luxurious house in front of Daisys house across the bay. Then he held parties every weekend night to draw Daisys attention. He believed that Daisy may come over to his mansion one day. However, Daisy never turned up. So Gatsby asked Nick to invite Daisy to hi

49、s house for a tea. At last he had a chance to express his love to Daisy and got Daisy back from Tom. In the novel, his love to Daisy is true and pure. When he saw Daisy again, he was even speechless. After Gatsby reappeared with his wealth and his loyal love for her, she seemed to be touched and tri

50、ed to resume her relationship with him, without any guilt to her husband. For Daisy, what she really wanted was not a romantic lover with no status, but a man who could give her a comfortable life and a respected social standing.Gatsby did not change his mind of marrying Daisy even when he became an

51、 adult. Daisy was the first and the only woman whom he loved in his life. His love for Daisy kept him away from other women and “he would never so much as look at a friends wife.”(Fitzgerald, 1993:47) Thats the reason why “no girls would swoon backward on Gatsby at his parties.” (Fitzgerald, 1993:33

52、) Gatsby had been so devoted to her. He loved her so much that he was simply blind of her essential defectDaisy gave more concern to status and luxury life.Gatsbys dream of love was closely associated with his dream of money. He believed that the money could help him get everything, but he did not r

53、egard the pursuit of money as the ultimate goal. The reason that he was after money was just for his love dream. The dream of being rich and the dream of winning the love of Daisy are integrated. The former is a means and the latter is his ultimate goal, without which the former may never become tru

54、e. Without money Gatsby and Daisy could never have the opportunity to rekindle old dreams. With a lot of money, Gatsby would be more confident in his pursuit of his love dream.4. Disillusion of Gatsbys American DreamJay Gatsby, the embodiment of the American dream，was doomed to fail because the Amer

55、ican political ideals contradicted the actual existing social systemIn the novel, Fitzgerald described and contrasted the difference between East and West Egg, showed the separation between the upper class and the lower class, Gatsby spent his whole life making money and winning status so that he co

56、uld win Daisy back. Thats what motivated him to move to West Egg, and made money by any means. After that, he held extravagant parties every weekend, did what Daisy asked him to. Gatsbys success in fortune was great. So was his strong will for love and to achieve his life goal. He finally became the

57、 upper classs deputy. No matter how wonderful his parties were, he could not change his poor family background.Gatsby did not know clearly what kind of girl Daisy was. What Daisy wanted was not love but a guarantee of comfort and wealth in life. Owing to his unrealistic dream, Gatsby ended up with t

58、ragedy. As for Gatsbys death, it may seem that he deserved the punishment for what he did. Yet he sacrificed himself for Daisy who did not even turn up at his funeral. And the saddest thing was that Daisy, did not feel any regret or sorrow for Gatsbys death, she went traveling with his husband Tom. There was nothing left for Gatsby. All the things he got have gone with his death, including his wealth and love. “Daisy goes together with her husband to another city happily while Gatsby is murdered mistakenly, impro