最终定稿论文.doc

石河子大学毕业论文

题目： 浅析《了不起的盖茨比中》的美国梦
An Analysis of the American Dream
in The Great Gatsby

院 （系）： 外国语学院
专 业： 英 语
班 级： 200903
学 号： 2009051416
姓 名： 妥 丽 霞
指导教师： 叶 春 莉

完成日期： 2013年6月9日

Abstract
The great Gatsby is the most renowned masterpiece of F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. It describes a story happened in New York city and Long Island during the 1920s. Due to its birth, Fitzgerald has gained his reputation in contemporary American literature history. This paper consists of three parts. The first part of the paper introduces the plot of the great Gatsby, then leads to the theme —American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone. There are opportunities for each according to his ability or achievements. Then, the paper demonstrates the conflicts between the American Dream and the lower classes of American society, including the conflict between the American Dream and the lure of material world, and the conflicts between the American Dream and the change of moral standards of American lower class.
Key words: The Great Gatsby; American Dream；the lower class of American society
摘要
《了不起的盖茨比》是美国作家菲茨杰拉德1925年所写的以20世纪20年代的纽约市及长岛为背景的短篇小说。了不起的盖茨比的问世，奠定了菲茨杰拉德在现代美国文学史上的地位。本论文讨论了美国梦与美国下层阶级之间的关系。论文首先简单介绍了作品的情节，从而引出美国梦的主题。然后论文阐述了美国梦和美国下层阶级之间的矛盾，论述理想的美国梦和物质对美国下层阶级诱惑之间的矛盾，以及美国梦与美国下层阶级道德观念的改变之间的矛盾。
关键字： 《了不起的盖茨比》; 美国梦; 美国下层阶级.

Contents

I. Introduction 1
II. Literature Review 2
A .The American Dream 2
B. The Origin of the American Dream 2
III. An Analysis of Gatsby’s American Dream 4
A. Gatsby’s Pursuit of American Dream 4
B. Gatsby’s Efforts in Achieving his American Dream 4
C. Disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream 5
IV. The Contradiction Between American Dream and the American Lower Class in the 1920s 6
A. The Contradiction between Ideal of American Dream and Material Temptations for American Lower Class in the 1920s 7
B. The Contradiction Between American Dream and the Change of Moral Standards of American Lower Class in the 1920s 9
V.Conclusion 11
Works Cited 13

2013年毕业论文 An Analysis of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby
I. Introduction
Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was one of the most outstanding American novelists in the 1920s, which he dubbed the time of 1920s “Jazz Age”; he was also a spokesman of the “Lost Generation”. “His private life in both America and France became almost as celebrated as his novels”(Abel Darred 19). The “Jazz Age” was a period from the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Great Depression, which was the era that The Great Gatsby chronicled. It was the decade of the greatest social changes in American history.
The Great Gatsby is about a young man who pursues his love dream. The poor young, Gatsby, fell in love with a rich girl, Daisy. Because of the lack of money, they broke up. Daisy married a rich person, Tom. Daisy did not live a happy life, because Tom did not love Daisy, he often dated with a married woman. On the other side, in order to win his lover, Gatsby made his decision to be rich. He earns money including illegal ways so that he can realize his dream quickly. He simply thought that money could make Daisy return. Daisy has become his mental support and energy of his life. At last, Gatsby died of his unrealistic dream. The real criminal Daisy was still out of law and lived a happy life abroad. Gatsby’s love dream is one form of American Dream. By describing the ruined dream of the protagonist Gatsby in the novel, Fitzgerald reveals readers the social reality in the 1920s clearly and criticizes the ethics and values of postwar America sharply.
This novel reflected people’s views of American Dream in the 1920s. As the fast development of economy, people were attracted by the material life and ignored the reality and the essence of American Dream. This novel was a typical work on the reflection of American Dream. Through this thesis, readers can find that such kinds of incompatible American Dream like Gatsby’s love dream still exist in the modern society. This novel is a warning to wake up people and make people think over. This is the practical meaning of this thesis.
The thesis consists of three parts. In order to trace back to the reasons that give rise to the disillusionment of American Dream, the first part bases its explanation on the retrospect of American history and American Dream. Then, the second part will be primarily focused on the Gatsby’s American Dream and his efforts to pursuit his American Dream. The third part is the conflict between American Dream and the lower class of American society, including the conflict between the American Dream and reality, and that between American Dream and the lure of material world.
II. Literature Review
A .The American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom including the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility can be achieved through hard work. “American Dream” came from the James Truslow Adams’ book of The Epic of America in 1931. His 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.”(James 1931). The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims 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”(Kamp 36).
As time goes by, people pay more attention to the pursuit of material; American Dream has changed and lost its traditional meaning. The spirit today simply indicates the ability, through participation in the society and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. According to the dream, it includes the opportunity for one’s children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity.
B. The Origin of the American Dream
The American dream arose in the colonial period and developed in the 19th century. The earliest and general meaning of the Northern continent stood for the fresh starts and infinitive possibilities. People in Europe got many kinds of harsh sufferings. They wanted to get away, to be rich, to take their values and philosophies into practice. The first settlers who became the founding father of the America nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They moved to the North American continent because they wanted to escape the religious persecution and rebuild the religious that what they dreamed in the New World. To these people America represented a new life of freedom, holding a promise of spiritual and material happiness. For those settlers who were not so religiously inclined, America was still a fairyland, a land of possibilities. And so the first thirteen colonies came into being, amidst the religious and material hopes of the first settlers. Material prosperity and progress kept pace with religious and spiritual goals (Zhu 33-42).
When the Eastern Seaboard, comprising the thirteen colonies, became overcrowded, the settlers began to move west. The sense of hope and faith was increased by the opening of the Middle and Western States. And this looking forward beyond the immediate present, this belief in the future, has become a national characteristic that may partly explain the speed of American advancement in so many areas of activities. The democratic system, first voiced in Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” in 1776, may be traced to this basic attitude of hope and confidence. In Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” of 1776, it stated: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. During the 18th and 19th century, when the industrial revolution was coming, the dream was transformed into self-reliance or self-confidence. Success was seen in the proper position in society, people tried to realize their ideals as much as possible because realization was seen as an important condition for a proper social status.
The American Dream, however, originally relates to a desire for spiritual and material improvement. From one point of view, the material aspect of the dream was too easily and too quickly to be achieved, with the result that it outpaced and even obliterated the early spiritual ideals (Liu 8). So there emerged a state of material well-being but lacking in spiritual life or purpose. So that when Fitzgerald produced Gatsby, modeled no doubt on the writer’s own faith in life, he seemed to have created a character who represented an early American in whom the dream was still very much alive. From another point of view, the American dream has totally failed to bring any kind of fulfillment, whether material or spiritual. For all the progress and prosperity, for all the declaration of democratic principles, there are still poverty, discrimination and exploitation. And as for values and morality, there are also hypocrisy, corruption and suppression. In a way The Great Gatsby is also a comment on this condition.
In a word, American Dream was mostly Americans’ belief. Its point was equal opportunity. It encouraged people to work hard and to be rich by their own ability and labor. It was an active life attitude and belief. However, as time goes by, people lost the essence of American Dream. In modern society, such kinds of cases are here and there.. We should catch the heart and soul of American Dream. Only when people realize the reality and have a comprehensive understanding of their dream can we live in a happy life.
III. An Analysis of Gatsby’s American Dream
A. Gatsby’s Pursuit of American Dream
From the novel The Great Gatsby, there is a knowledge that Gatsby’s American Dream is to win daisy’s love. In order to make his American Dream come true, Gatsby not only gets money from illegal trade, and he also does everything Daisy asks him to do. So it is reasonable for him to pursue material wealth in order to win the love of Daisy (Chang 113).
Gatsby’s attempt to achieve his American Dream is to recapture the love of Daisy who he had known five years. When he is young and poor, Daisy is a young unmarried woman, who used to live a luxuriant life. And the only way should Gatsby make his American Dream come true is to get a lot of money. In order to win Daisy, Gatsby dare to have illegal trade to make a fortune, because he clearly knows that he must offer Daisy a better life. Through his great effort, he gets much money although it is from an illegal business.
However, the falling of his American Dream, that Daisy goes together with her husband to another city happily while Gatsby is murdered mistakenly, proves that all his great efforts means nothing. In other words, Gatsby’s American Dream, which is to win Daisy, is totally a failure.
From the above analysis of Gatsby’s American Dream, there is a conclusion that Gatsby’s American Dream is to get much money and then he can have the economical strength to achieve his final goal——win the love of Daisy.
B. Gatsby’s Efforts in Achieving his American Dream
Gatsby was born in a poor family in the Middle West, but when he is a boy he has an ambition to win wealth and position depending on his intelligence and diligence. During the time of serving in the army, Gatsby is in love with Daisy who is in a rich family. But the relationship between them are impossible, because he doesn’t have enough money to afford Daisy a luxuriant life, and later on Daisy gets married with the rich and influential Tom. Gatsby believes that it is money which makes her leave him, so he determines to be rich. After several years’ hardships, Gatsby becomes wealthy and successful, and his belief in ideal love is the symbol his American Dream（ Terkel 27）.When he could get the help of money, he buys a villa standing for wealth and in the opposite site of Daisy's mansion; he holds grand banquet in his villa day and night to attract Daisy to come and intends to regain Daisy's love. From the luxuriant ball, people could see the luxury of Gatsby's life. People from all around the world come to his house. They are drinking, singing and dancing, but most of them don't know why the party is held; some of them even don't know who the host is. And Gatsby is a mystery. However, Daisy in his heart is only an illusion and is as superficial as others. For such an American Dream, Gatsby spares no effort in achieving it. He tries every possible means including illegal trade to make money, and catches every chance to meet with Daisy, speaks out his feeling to her, tries his best to make Daisy believe in his love for her and gives Daisy everything he can.
C. The Disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream
Gatsby's success in fortune is great, his strong will of love and achieving life goal is also great; he becomes the big name of the society, and becomes the upper class's deputy. However, “the falling of his American Dream, that Daisy goes together with her husband to another city happily while Gatsby is murdered mistakenly, improves that all his great characterize means nothing. In other words, Gatsby’s final American Dream, which is to win Daisy, is totally a failure.”（Yang 37）In the novel, Fitzgerald describes and contrasts the difference between East and West Egg, shows the separation of the upper class and the lower class, and it provides some insight with the use of symbolism of color. West Egg, East Egg, and New York City correspond to a particular theme or type of character encountered in the story. West Egg is like Gatsby, full of garish extravagance, symbolizing the emergence of the new rich of the 1920s. East Egg is like Tom, wealthy, possessing high social status, and powerful, symbolizing the old establishment and aristocracy that continue to dominate the American social landscape.
Gatsby spends his whole life in attaining money and status so that he can reach a certain position and then he can win Daisy back. That is what motivates him to move to West Egg, and makes money by any means, holds extravagant parties in every weekend. The final goal for his American Dream is to get Daisy’s love. As the narrator of The Great Gatsby , Nick says about Daisy, "in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom