book report on the great gats.docx

book report on the great gatsby“the orgastic future year by year recedes before us. it eluded us then, but thats no matter-tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out further.” this is the enchantment of dream. no matter how faint the dream is, it seems to be a pillar that supports our otherwise vague and elusive life. however, sometimes the dream we dedicated to is just an illusion. we willingly indulge into it, and then insensibly engulfed by it.this is the fate of gatsby, an ambitious and clever man from a poor rural family in mid-western america. he struggled to change his fate somehow and dreamed of winning back the love of daisy-his love when he was young and poor, who is now the wife of a wealthy man. however, daisy is not as perfect as he thought. she abandons him after she knows his real story and leaves him to take the responsibility for her car accident. finally gatsby dies lonely in the chilly autumn wind and rain. the great gatsby is a 1925 novel written by american author f. scott fitzgerald. it creates a portrait of the roaring twenties and it has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the american dream.the reasons of the fall of gatsbys dream1. the decline of american dream in the 1920sthe story is set in the summer of 1922, in the most prosperous city of america-new york, which is a highly symbolic reflection on 1920s america as a whole. in 1920s, the american economy soared, bringing unprecedented prosperity to the nation. the victorian social values declined and were replaced by materialism that is money-andpleasure oriented, especially when the brutal carnage of world war i shocked the generation. this is the decline of american dream. as fitzgerald saw it (and as nick explains in chapter 9), the american dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. in the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the east coast. the lavish, extravagant parties thrown by gatsby are vivid examples. people flooded into his vast house, wearing gorgeous clothes, enjoyed luxurious orgies, feasts, music and dance until past midnight. the life of luxury and dissipation reflects the generations unstrained desire for pleasure and money, and the emptiness of spiritual world. this inner state also exists in the main characters.daisy, stained and driven by the money-andpleasure oriented values, naturally couldnt have loyal and sincere love for gatsby. what she really loves is the luxurious, easy material life. she has always been a utilitarian person, which has never changed, even when she was young. she loved gatsby because she thought he was rich. she chooses to stop waiting for him and marries tom because she cant afford wasting her youth; she has to marry a wealthy man to ensure an enjoyable life. even after she meets gatsby again, she regards him as a person who could add pleasure to her boring life, and never thinks of running away with him. thus, when she knows that gatsby has made up his rich identity when he was young, she abandons him cruelly. besides, the desire for money finally leads to her moral deterioration, and turns daisy into a worldly woman who has no pursuit or noble spiritual world. having lived that kind of life for a long time, she eventually became the typical upper class-numb, shallow, insincere, indifferent and selfish. “they are careless people, tom and daisy-they mashed up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or their vast carelessness.” so after the car accident, she escaped for her own benefits, didnt care about gatsbys life at all. therefore, the decadence of american dream which leads to materialism and moral degradation, shapes daisy and ruined gatsbys dream of winning her love again.2. different social statusin america traditional values, everyone from any social backgrounds can make a fortune and become successful. however, the american aristocracy scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. there is a broad gap between the two classes.in the novel, gatsby and nick belong to newly rising fortune-makers, while daisy and tom stand for the “old money”. nick describes their attitude as “harsh, defiant and contempt”, which shows their superiority. because they despise the “new money”, they naturally cant understand the meaning of their dream and their striving to change their fates. consequently, when daisy knew that gatsby was from a poor family and struggled to become rich to marry her, she was not touched at all. instead, it was a total disillusion of his image. she felt that he couldnt match her and that it was a serious lie. her affection towards gatsby turned from admiration to detestation.moreover, their values are different because of their different social status. daisy is practical and utilitarian, yet gatsby is an idealist. as a man of lower class, gatsby is leaded by his dream of a higher status, and bravely fight for it at any costs. however, daisy seems to have nothing to pursue. her spiritual world is arid and soulless. when gatsby realizes that daisys voice is “full of money”, though he is unwilling to admit, he is disappointed at her. their love begins to die since then.3. gatsbys attitude towards dreamapart from the social factors, gatsbys own personality and his attitude towards dream are also important reasons that lead to his tragedy. he is too idealistic to realize that his dream is unworthy and unrealistic.gatsby has been highly ambitious and even pretentious since his youth. he has long desired for wealth and grace, despised poverty and humbleness. he is so crazy about his dream that he lives in the fantasy made by himself, rather than the reality. not only does he drop out of college, because he hates the job of janitorial with which he pays his tuition. he even thinks himself as the son of god, who is bound to live an elegant and splendid life. attracted by his platonic conception, he changed his name, lied to daisy about to his identity, concealed his way of making a fortune, disguised himself as a successful noble man. he has gone too far on his way pursuing his dream when he resorts to illegal methods. he has deluded himself into believing his successful image, nearly forgets that it isnt a realistic and feasible way. blind to the reality is a potential factor of his failure.the craziness also hindered him from seeing daisys limitations, which finally caused the disillusion of his dream. gatsbys love for daisy is not based on her good characters. instead, its based on the surface-beauty, grace, wealth, eminence, a girl pursued by many man-she is a symbol of noble life and success. these features are exactly gatsby admires. “then he kissed her. at his lips touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” in gatsbys long and difficult struggle to change his fate, she increasingly becomes the symbol of his dream, which encourages and supports him to carry on. at last, daisy means a spiritual symbol to gatsby more than a lover. all the values of daisy is implanted by gatsby, rather than represented by her real nature. actually, gatsby knows little about daisys ugly soul and her insincere love for him. it is tragic that gatsby dedicated all his life to a dream which is unworthy of him.besides, gatsby is resistant to change. the final goal he wanted is to come back to the beautiful days when he and daisy were happily together. he doesnt know that daisys affection for him has already gone. or he knows it but he refuse to admit it. he just constantly holds on to his old days memories, unwilling to let go those things that has already gone. to some extent, this is also resulted from his persistence of dream. as an idealistic man, he is unwilling to face the reality. he has to hold on to the dream, because only with its support can he have the impetus to live.just as oscar wilde once said, “in this world, there are only two tragedies. one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” as for gatsby, an idealistic man and zealous follower o