论《了不起的盖茨比》中盖茨比美国梦的破灭.doc

The Disillusionment of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby
by

A thesis presented to the School of English Studies of
Xi’an International Studies University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Bachelor of Arts

May 18, 2015

Class: 2012-13

Advisor:

西安外国语大学
毕 业 论 文 开 题 报 告

姓名
孙少康
性别
男
班级
2012-13
学号
1201011322
论文题目：
论《了不起的盖茨比》中盖茨比美国梦的破灭
The Disillusionment of the American Dream of Gatsby in the Great Gatsby
任务起止日期: 2015 年8 月29 日 至 2016 年 5 月18 日
论文主要内容及参考文献：
弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德被广泛的认为是美国梦的文学代言人，他的小说包含了 这一时期他个人独特的经历，对于分辨他的小说作品和他的真实的人生经历是不一的，尤其是他的作品已经注入了他精神价值观。在他的著作中，尤其是1925年出版的了不起的盖茨比将他的精神表达的淋漓尽致。本将研究1920年代时期美国梦破灭的必然性从而揭开美国梦的本质。

Suzanne, Del Gizzo. “The American Dream Unhinged: Romance and Reality in The Great Gatsby and Fight Club.” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review. 6.1(2008): 142+. Print.
Tony, Adams. “The Great Gatsby as a business ethics inquiry.” Journal of Business Ethics. 12. 8 (1993): 652-660. Print.
Zhao, Jie. “The Disillusion of American Dream—Essay On “The Great Gatsby.” Overseas English. 21. 2 May. 2013: 243-245. Print.
黄艳芳：《<了不起的盖茨比>中美国梦的幻灭与升华——新历史主义解读》， 载《中南大学学报》 ，2010年5期。
牟学麟：《了不起的盖茨比中绿光的象征意义》， 载《海外英语》，2011年。

指导教师 (签名)
2015 年 9 月 2 日

论盖茨比中美国梦的破灭

摘要：
弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德被广泛的认为是美国梦的文学代言人，他的小说包含了这一时期他个人独特的经历，对于分辨他的小说作品和他的真实的人生经历是不一的，尤其是他的作品已经注入了他精神价值观。在他的著作中，尤其是1925年出版的了不起的盖茨比将他的精神表达的淋漓尽致。在这本小说中，盖茨比这一人物揭示了那些壮志林云想要追求美国梦不惜牺牲自己的典范人物。尽管他幻想通过勇敢与勤劳取得物质财富和爱情，但是所部的外部因素都不可避免的使他的美国梦走向破灭。通过人物故事与性格的发展，菲兹杰拉德精心描绘了一幅美国梦破灭的画卷。

关键词：
弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德；美国梦；破灭

Abstract:
F. Scott Fitzgerald, is widely considered as the literary spokesman of the "American Dream". His novels include many aspects of his unique experiences in that period of time. It is not easy to distinguish his novel and the real life, which has already involved him physically and mentally in it. Especially in his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, which was published in 1925. In the novel, the hero revealed a typical example of those who were eager to pursue the American Dream but finally ended by sacrificing themselves. Though he dreamed of achieving material wealth and love through his courage and hard working, all the factors from outside world and the indelibility of his dream led to the disillusionment of it. Through the development of the story and characteristics of heroes, Fitzgerald elaborated a vivid picture of the disillusionment of American Dream.

Keywords:
F. Scott Fitzgerald; American Dream; disillusionment

Table of Contents

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………….……… 1
1.1 Literature Review
1.2 The Definition and Introduction of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby
2. The American Social Background and Values in 1920s..........................................3
2.1 The Introduction of Roaring Times in American in 1920s
2.2 People’s Fever to Wealth and Social Status in 1920s
3. The Relationship and Love Story between Gatsby and Daisy....... .………………2
2.2 Daisy’s Personalities and Values about Love and Wealth
2.3 The Turns and Twists of Their Relationship
4. The Relationship Between Gatsby and Daisy...…..……………………….……... 5
4.1 The Brief of Their Love Story………………..……..……...................….….. 5
4.2 Daisy’s Personalities and Values……...………..............……….….…...……. 6
4.3 The Ending of Their Love Affairs......................................................................9
5. The Ironic Meaning of Gatsby’s Death and the Reveal of Capitalism’s Cruelty...10
5.1 The Inevitability of the Disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream ....… 15
Works Cited………………………………………….……………………….……... 1

Introduction
1.1 A brief introduction of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896-December 21, 1940) is an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigmatic writings of the Jazz Age. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century and considered as a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s. He finished four novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby (his best known), and Tender Is the Night.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, is widely considered as the literary spokesman of the "American Dream". His novels include many aspects of his unique experiences in that period of time. It is not easy to distinguish his novel and the real life, which has already involved him physically and mentally in it. Especially in his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, which was published in 1925. In the novel, the hero revealed a typical example of those who were eager to pursue the American Dream but finally ended by sacrificing themselves. Though he dreamed of achieving material wealth and love through his courage and hard working, all the factors from outside world and the indelibility of his dream led to the disillusionment of it. Through the development of the story and characteristics of heroes, Fitzgerald elaborated a vivid picture of the disillusionment of American Dream.
The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, is one of the greatest literacy documents of this period as well as a masterpiece related with irony and pathos to the “American Dream.” It is a picture of the unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Many critics have made a lot of studies on it and wrote numerous critical essays. The English famous poet and critic T.S. Eliot who has never had a hasty and extravagant critic, read The Great Gatsby three times and praised the novel was “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James. In 1983, The Great Gatsby was translated into Chinese by Professor Wu Kunning, after that many Chinese scholars began study on The Great Gatsby, analyzing its artistic forms, theme and symbols. To Zhang Lilong, “The Great Gatsby is actually a recall and summary of the process of evolvement of the American dream historical and realistic perspectives.” Wang Yujuan argues that “the dream of Gatsby is also the dream of all Americans. The defeat of Gatsby is also the loss of the generation.” From all researches both domestic and abroad, we can see that The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.

1. Introduction
This Chapter aims to give a brief and necessary introduction to readers, which contains two parts. This first section introduces the basic information about the author Scott Fitzgerald and his novel. Then the second section presents the purpose of this paper. It give the definition of the American dreams to readers that help them better understand the meaning of the novel The Great Gatsby and American dream.

1.1 Literature Review
Scott Fitzgerald was born in a St .Paul middle –class family in 1896. His father was gentlemanly but unsuccessful in business. Scott had an expensive education first in private schools ,and then at Princeton ,where he became part of the intellectual set ,the Triangle Club ,which included ,among others ,Edmund Wilson. He began to write for the shows of the club, became editor of a university magazine, and was developing a reputation .He felt that he was heading for the upper class life in which he would play a leading part as a writer. Then he had to leave Princeton ,probably partly because of his academic record that had suffered from his illness and from too heavy an extra-curriculum schedule and also because the First World War that was going on offered him a good excuse to stay away for a while. A year’s absence from the university wounded his pride and ambition so that it ironed itself into his consciousness as one of the major disappointments he suffered in his short, unhappy life .He returned to Princeton only to stay for another year in which he managed to finish the draft of his first novel, the Side of Paradise. Then in 1922, Fitzgerald finished his second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned. The Beautiful and the Damned is interesting especially as a sort of first attempt as writing is not as great .Meanwhile, the Fitzgerald were living, on the proceeds of Scott’s books and stories, the life of the people who go to Gatsby’s crazy parties. In 1925, he wrote his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby in Pairs. The Fitzgerald had gone there from York and met Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, among others.

The Definition and Introduction of American Dream in the Great Gatsby
" The Great Gatsby" is one of the most representative works of Fitzgerald. At the end of 20th Century, the United States academic authority selected the one hundred best novels in hundreds of years of history of English Literature," The Great Gatsby" enjoyed popular confidence, topping the second, and were proudly among the contemporary and classic ranks. The novel is use of impressionistic description, its style is of both warm and cool, and it has played an indispensable role in the history of literature of the world for the status of Fitzgerald. This novel is narrated by Nick, a young bachelor who returns to the Midwest before setting to the New York City. Daisy, the heroine, is Nick’s second cousin and Nick knows of her husband, Tom. With the development of the novel, Nick knows that his next-door neighbor is the wealthy Gatsby，who always hosting lavish parties of hundreds of peoples, Jordan Baker takes interests in Nick, and he reveals that In 1917 Gatsby as Army Lieutenant stationed near Daisy’s hometown and then had fallen in love with Daisy. But Gatsby had no money to marry Daisy, so Daisy was married to the wealthy Tom, after that Gatsby is aiming to be a millionaire. With few years of smuggling, Gatsby accumulates a great amount of wealth. He would like Nick to arrange a meeting with Daisy, and Nick agrees to invite Gatsby and Daisy to his house, so they begin a love affair again. But actually, Daisy only treats this relationship as an exciting game. Daisy invites Gatsby and Nick to her mansion and Tom finds that Gatsby loves Daisy. Tom knows Daisy’s nature very well. And by taking away Daisy’s financial security, Tom thinks that Daisy is now beyond his reach. Because of the situation between them, Daisy runs out of the hotel and Gatsby follows her into his car. Daisy insists on driving because it will calm her moods. But in the later Daisy knocks down and kills Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Gatsby absolve Daisy from her guilty to protect her. After that Tom talks into Myrtle’s husband to shoot Gatsby dead. So the magic bubble of love and dreams broke up. Despite Nick’s efforts, only Gatsby’s father, a woman and Nick attend his funeral. Discussing with Tom and Daisy, Nick returns to his hometown, reflecting on Gatsby’s dreams and cyclical nature of the past.
The term, "American dream" was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book "The Epic of American" which was written in 1931. The American Dream is a dream that had land where everyone could live a better and richer and fuller life. What’s more, everyone had opportunity to match ability with achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us have grown wearily and mistrusted it. It is not merely a dream of motor cars or high wages, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain the fullest stature and be recognized by others for who they are, regardless of the condition or position of birth."
The so-called American Dream is a kind of belief that as long as people went through a hard struggle in the United States, they will be able to achieve a better ideal life. That is, people must work diligently, courageously, creatively, and have determination to success, rather than rely on a particular social class and the assistance of others. This usually showed the economic success of people or entrepreneur’s spirit. Many European immigrants which having the ideal of American dream moved towards the United States. Despite some criticized the American dream excessively emphasized on the role of material wealth played in the measure of victory and happiness. But many Americans really believed that such an opportunity to get success cannot be found in the world. As different from the most other countries, the United States had considerable economic freedom; the role of government is limited, making the U.S. has a great social mobility. Any person may go towards the top through their own efforts. From Independence of the United States to the end of the 19th century, large areas of land were uninhabited and unoccupied by people. Anyone could occupy, invest and reclaim to lands. By the time of the Industrial Revolution, the huge natural resources of United States and advanced industrial technology made rapid social mobility possible, and this trend is still increasing day by day. According to the historians, they think that the reason why the economy of the United States rapidly develops and industry expand is not just because the United States has rich natural resources, but also because everyone has the opportunity to get wealth through their own struggle .
In 1920s, the American society enjoyed economic prosperity after the World War I. Such as automobiles, moving pictures and radio, these new inventions and discoveries were made significant changes to lifestyle and culture. Unprecedented industrial growth and accelerated consumer demand made the era known as “the Roaring Twenties”. The American Dream at that time has gradually changed into money-making.
The American Social Background and Values in 1920s
The Introduction of Roaring Times in American in 1920s
In 1920s, the American society enjoyed economic prosperity after the World War I. Such as automobiles, moving pictures and radio, these new inventions and discoveries were made significant changes to lifestyle and culture. Unprecedented industrial growth and accelerated consumer demand made the era known as “the Roaring Twenties”. The American Dream at that time has gradually changed into money-making. The Roaring Twenties is an age of explosion f social wealth and billionaire, but also is an age of spiritual poverty. Young generations suffered from the trauma of body and spirit; because of war they lose confidence to future. The urban society is full of depravity and corruption, consumerism and materialism become the major theme of the American Dream. People like Gatsby used all means to make money despite of moral and legal standards. From all that mentioned above, the definition of the "American Dream" has changed over the development of history. But it still acts as a core value in America and influences people from generation to generation.

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