了不起的盖茨比英语毕业论文

四川师范大学文理学院本科毕业论文

An Analysis of Disillusionment of American

Dream in The Great Gatsby

论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的破灭

学生姓名 张 燕 院系名称 外国语学院 专业名称 英语（师范） 班 级 2008级 1班 学 号 200814025224 指导教师 陈雪瑶（讲师） 答辩时间 2012-4-15

论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的破灭

学生：张燕 指导教师：陈雪瑶 讲师

摘要：美国著名作家菲兹杰拉德被称为“美国梦的代言人”，在他的小说中，我们难以区分是他的生活如一部小说还是他的小说就是他的一段真实的生活的写照，因为他已完全融入其中。尤其是《了不起的盖茨比》，文中主人公盖茨比是为追求美国梦而最终牺牲了自己的典例，他渴望以自己的信念和勇气来获取物质以及爱情上的收获，然而由于他的梦想是一种对虚幻的渴望而不是建立在现实的基础之上的追求，最终导致了他美国梦的破灭，文中通过时间发展及不同人物个性特征向我们阐述了这一梦想破灭的各种原因。

关键词：美国梦；破灭；原因

An Analysis of Disillusionment of American Dream in

The Great Gatsby

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.

Key words: American dream; disillusionment; reason

Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Part I The Introduction of F.Scott.Fitzgerald ................................................... 2 1.1The Life Expericence of Fitzgerald ............................................................ 2 1.1.1 Fitzgerald’s Background .................................................................. 2 1.1.2 Fitzgerald’s Marriage ....................................................................... 2 1.2 Literary Works of Fitzgerald ..................................................................... 3 PartII American Dream and its Disillusionment.............................................. 4 2.1 The American Dream ................................................................................ 4 2.1.1 The Definition of American Dream ................................................. 4 2.1.2 The Essence of American Dream ..................................................... 5 2.2 Disillusionment of American Dream Reflected in the Novel ................... 5 2.2.1 Gatsby’s American Dream ............................................................... 5 2.2.2 Nick Carraway’s American Dream .................................................. 7 2.2.3 Tom, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker’s American Dream .......... 7 Part III The Cause of Disillusionment of American Dream ............................ 9 3.1 The Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties ................................................... 9 3.2 Social Environment and People factors .................................................... 9 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 11 Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 12

Introduction

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in a not rich family, so he wanted to earn lots of money to become rich to enjoy high quality life. The tempo of his life slackened as his life was shredded by Zelda’s insanity and his own self-destructive alcoholism. Through years of emotional and physical collapse he struggled to repair his life by writing for Hollywood-producing at the same time a series of stories that exposed his humiliation there. He became one of the greatest writers in American literature and wrote many works in his lifetime to manifest the life reality of that time. He was a spokesman for the so-called Jazz Age.

The Great Gatsby is regarded as his masterpiece. First published on April 10, 1925, the story is set in Long Island's North Shore and New York City during the summer of 1922. The novel tells of Gatsby, an idealist, who tries to recapture his lost love but in vain and is finally destroyed by the influence of the wealthy people around him .The story deals with the failure of the American dream as personified in the rich and beautiful woman Daisy who belongs to corrupt society. The Great Gatsby evokes a haunting mood of a glamorous, wild time that seemingly will never come again. It is about the loss of an ideal and the disillusionment that comes with the failure is embodied fully in the personal tragedy of a young man (Gatsby) whose “incorruptible dream” is “smashed into pieces by the relentless reality” (Fitzgerald, 8).

Gatsby’s failure to realize his ideal symbolizes the disillusionment of his American Dream. Also, Gatsby’s intensity of dream represents a state of commitment which takes him in search of his personal grail; Gatsby’s failure magnifies to a great extent the end of the American Dream.

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