英语毕业论文TheDisillusionofAmericanDreamReflectedinTheGreatGatsby.doc

The Disillusion of American Dream Reflected in The Great GatsbyThe Disillusion of American Dream Reflectedin The Great Gatsby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 reflects 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 time 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 youths faith in American dream as the “great” Gatsbys whole life. And this thesis mainly analysis the vivid characters, symbols 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; personalityContentsAbstract.1Key words.1I. Introduction.21.1 Introduction to Fitzgerald21.2 Description of the Novel.3II. Literature Reviews.52.1 Analysis the Main Characters in The Great Gatsby.5 2.1.1Jay Gatsby.52.1.2 Daisy.62.1.3 Nick.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.8III. The Decline of the American Dream.93.1 The Disillusion of the American Dream.93.2 The Reasons of the Tragedy.11 IV. Conclusion134.1 Theme Analysis.13 4.2 A Mirror of America in the 1920s.15References.17I. Introduction 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 disaster. 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 was ,he was perceptive enough to understand, “a moon that never rose”. As much as he enjoyed the “roaring 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, 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 was 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 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 fathers home to rewrite his hovel. Six months later he surfaced again in Montgomery, this time triumphant with the news that his novel had 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 autobiographical, the book describes Fitzgeralds 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 the 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 1920s.In 1922 Fitzgerald 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 Scotts books and 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 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 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 that, 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 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 Fitzgeralds Personality. 1.2 Description of the NovelNick 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 made 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 the other inhabitants of West Egghe 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 husband, Tom, a classmate of Nicks at 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 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 responds by breaking her nose.As the summer progresses, Nick eventually gets an invitation to one of Gatsbys 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 Jordan 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 extravagant 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 Gatsby 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 such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby 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 Hotel. 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 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. The next day, Tom tells Myrtles 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 relationship 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 American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsbys power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him “great,” Nick reflects that the era of dreamingboth Gatsbys dream and the American dreamis over.II. Literature Reviews2.1 Analysis the Main Characters in The Great Gatsby.2.1.1 Jay Gatsby The 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 throughout the book, Gatsbys power to make his dreams real is what makes him “great.” In Chapter 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 Gatsbys 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 the 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 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 part “He had one of those rare smiles 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 just 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 character 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 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 that person out of “the whole external world,” reflecting that persons most optimistic conception of him-or herself.The tragic part of his character When Daisy drove Gatsbys car, killed Toms lover, Gatsbys 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 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 beautiful 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 Gatsbys funeral, she moves away with Tom. It is enough to describe Gatsbys tragic doom. In fact, his real dream, to some extent, never exists. When his dream crumbled, the only thing left to him is dead.2.1.2 DaisyDaisys 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 she introduced her only daughter, she said“I hope shell be a foolthats 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 novels main themes, 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 generation values thoughtless giddiness and pleasure-seeking. Daisys 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 beautiful 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 NickThe novels narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated 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 Nicks eyes; his thoughts and perceptions 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 to 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 because 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 LightThe color green represents hope, activeness, enthusiasm, youth, and dream. Maybe Fitzgerald uses it to describe Gatsbys dream quite properly.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 arms father. and then one fine morningSo we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”Gatsby reveals himself to be an