分类号
单位代码
学号 00907066
密级
本科毕业论文
院系名称外国语学院
专业名称英语语言文学
年级 2009级
学生姓名李林源
指导老师常慧
2013年4月20日
中文摘要
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。尤其是其代表作《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，本论文通过对美国梦和小说创作历史背景的研究向我们阐述了这一梦想破灭的各种原因，从而展现作品中体现的社会意义。
关键词：美国梦；了不起的盖茨比；破灭；原因
ABSTRACT
F. Scott Fitzgerald is the literary spokesman of the “American Dream”. His novels include many aspects of his unique experiences in that period. It is not easy to distinguish his novels with his real life, because his works have already involved himself physically and mentally. Especially in his masterpiece The Great Gatsby, the hero reveals a typical example of those who were eager to achieve the American Dream but finally sacrificed themselves. Although Gatsby dreams of achieving material wealth and love through his courage and hard work, all kinds of external and internal factors lead to the disillusionment of his hope. Through the analysis of American Dream and the historical background of the novel, this thesis elaborates a vivid picture of the reasons leading to the disillusionment of American Dream in order to show the social significance of this work.
Key words: American dream; The Great Gatsby; disillusionment; reason
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION (1)
Chapter ⅠBACKGROUND INFORMATION (2)
1.1 Fitzgerald and His Literary Works (2)
1.2 Lost Generation and the Jazz Age (2)
1.3 The Main Plot of the Novel (3)
1.4 American Dream (4)
Chapter ⅡTHE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF Gatsby’s AMERICAN DREAM (5)
2.1 The Establishment of Gatsby’s American Dream (5)
2.1.1 Gats by’s Dream of Wealth (6)
2.1.2 Gatsby’s Dream of High Social Position (6)
2.1.3 Gatsby’s Dream of Love (7)
2.2 The Disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream (7)
Chapter ⅢTHE REASONS FOR THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF Gatsby’s AMERICAN DREAM (9)
3.1 Hypocritical Interpersonal Relationship (9)
3.2 The Worship of Money (10)
3.3 Unrealistic Dream of High Social Position (11)
3.4 The Wrong Understanding of Love (12)
CONCLUSION (13)
Bibliography (14)
Notes (14)
An Analysis of American Dream in The Great Gatsby: From the Establishment to the
Disillusionment
INTRODUCTION
The thesis is a brief longitudinal study of American Dream in the novel The Great Gatsby. This thesis analyzes the establishment of Gat sby’s American Dream and the reasons leading to his American Dream’s disillusionment. Through this thesis, we can have a dialectical view of the reasons why Gatsby can not realize his American Dream. The main body of the thesis is made up of three parts. The first part is a general introduction to the great author Fitzgerald, his novel The Great Gatsby and its writing background. In order to trace back to the reasons that result in the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream, the second part reviews the establishment and the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream. The third part focuses on analyzing the reasons for his American Dream’s disillusionment. In the end, the thesis comes to a conclusion that the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream is unavoidable.
Chapter ⅠBACKGROUND INFORMATION
1.1 Fitzgerald and His Literary Works
Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 and St. Paul Minnesota was his hometown. While he was a student in Princeton University, the young man developed his hobby and skill in writing. When the First World War broke out, he became a soldier. In a training camp in Alabama, he met and fell in love with Zelda Sayre. This woman finally married Fitzgerald and became the model for most of the beautiful female characters in his novels.
This Side of Paradise, the Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and The Great Gatsby were his four well-known novels. The last one The Great Gatsby, which established Fitzgerald’s significant position in American modern literature, is often viewed as a mirror of American society in the 1920s.
In 1925, Fitzgerald published his most famous novel The Great Gatsby. The novel reflected the selfishness and bossy of American vested interest groups represented by Tom and pointed out that Gatsby’s tragedy is caused by his fantasy of life and his lack of comprehension of the uppertendom’s essence.
1.2 Lost Generation and the Jazz Age
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was one of the greatest writers in the twentieth century, and his works reflected the Jazz Age. He is regarded as a member of the Lost Generation in the
1920s.
Lost Generation is a term used to refer to the generation appeared after World War I. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway who used it for his novel The Sun Also Rises. Lost Generation were characterized by being pessimistic about the society and losing confidence for the future. Influenced by the First World War, they could not tolerate and accept the cruel reality. They lived a hopeless and degenerate life.
The Jazz Age refers to the period starting from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression during which jazz became popular. In this period, the traditional puritan moral standards collapsed and hedonism was very popular. Fitzgerald once said that this is an age full of miracles, arts, luxury and irony. And due to this, Fitzgerald was titled as the representative of the Jazz Age.
1.3 The Main Plot of the Novel
The Great Gatsby is a very profound and moving novel, and the main plot of the story is as following. A young man named Nick Caraway comes to New York City in the spring of 1922. He is involved in the life of his new neighbor Jay Gatsby who lives at Long Island. Gatsby is a very rich man and regularly holds parties visited by hundreds of people.
Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy is his lover before the First World War. Although at that time he is very poor, Gatsby still loves her. Gatsby tries to persuade Daisy to break up with her present husband Tom. On the contrary, Tom reveals that Gatsby earns money by bootlegging. Daisy gets so impetuous that she drives Gatsby's car and accidentally kills Myrtle Wilson who is Tom's mistress.
Tom intentionally tells Myrtle's husband Wilson that Gatsby hits Myrtle when driving his car. Gatsby keeps silent to protect Daisy. At last, Wilson kills Gatsby and then commits suicide. Nick prepares a funeral for Gatsby. Although he wants to make a decent funeral, nobody wants to attend the funeral except Gatsby's father and one former guest. Nick goes back to his Midwest hometown, reflecting on Gatsby's dream and the cynical nature of the past.
1.4 American Dream
In order to escape from the political persecution and seek freedom on a new continent, some Englanders started their voyage to the North America. In 1620, 35 Puritans and 67 Non-Puritans drifted to North America in a famous ship called May Flower. Before they landed, 41 travelers signed a treaty—Mayflower Compact.
It was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony and the oldest historical document recording those people immigrating towards the North America. The Compact not only regulated equality and justice but also implied the struggling spirit of the Puritans. Even though American Dream has different definitions in different times, yet under political persecution these Anglo-Saxons hoped to create new life with political equality. This is the beginning of American Dream.
Different people have different understandings of American Dream and the ways to achieve their American Dream are also various. The definition of American Dream can be introduced in broad sense and narrow sense respectively. For the former one, American Dream means the equality, freedom and democracy on the land of the United States. The latter one means that everyone in America who works hard and never gives up can achieve his or her dream and live a better life in this piece of land. That is to say, people should make efforts to realize their dreams rather than depend on the help from others.
James Truslow Adams was the first person who put forward the term American Dream in his book The Epic of America written in 1931. “It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”①This ideology is based on the principle that one should be responsible for oneself, and hold every opportunity to gain success by courage and hard work.
Chapter ⅡTHE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF Gatsby’s AMERICAN DREAM
2.1 The Establishment of Gatsby’s American Dream
As for the American Dream, it is a belief that a better life could be achieved through hard work and strives. “There are several factors lying in the American Dream: equal chances for each person; success is obtained by efforts, not the social background and extraction; everyone is equal; and everyone has his own rights to pursue success.”②
There is no doubt that everyone living on that land actually has an American Dream and is eager to achieve it. “E veryone can work their way up from the rags to riches just like Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the US. In other words, American culture focuses on values of individuals, opportunity, pursuing of democracy and freedom, the promotion of deportation and competition and the need of realism and practicality.”③
After the Industrial Revolution, American Dream can be realized by commercial activities. Most of individual possessions in the United States were brought by those successful businessmen and these merchants used some capital to build up corporations. Compared with agriculture, Americans preferred business, because engaging in business was a quicker way to make individuals gain wealth. And Gatsby is one of those Americans that pursue American Dream by engaging in the field of business. Obtaining wealth, social position and love are his three goals.
2.1.1 Gatsby’s Dream of Wealth
Becoming wealthy is the most basic element in Gatsby’s American Dream.Gatsby’s dream of wealth reflects the gold rush in the new continent America.
Born with a humble family background, Gatsby is a young person who has ambitions and dreams. In order to realize his personal ideals, he changes his original name Gatz into Gatsby that has the meaning “the son of god” and Gatsby's ambition can be seen here clearly.
Gatsby is a practical, active and perseverant person. We can see from his schedule that he is an ambitious youth who does things in a planned and orderly way. His plan to realize his dream is arranged very well and he takes getting rich dream as the first step. He believes that if there is a material base, he can live a wealthy life of high social status.
Therefore, in order to make the dream of wealth come true, Gatsby is willing to suffer and bear pains. He even runs risks to commit smuggling. In the end, he can hold grand banquets in his blue garden, the guests generally laughing and chatting.
2.1.2 Gatsby’s Dream of High Social Position
With enough money and wealth, the next dream of Gatsby is to become a member of the upper class in the society. And the method he uses is constantly holding a large banquet to show off his wealth and to get acquainted with characters belonging to the upper social class at the same time.
Gatsby hopes that the society can accept him, and therefore feel at ease when enjoying everything that the upper classes enjoy. This kind of idea can also be considered as a microcosm of American Dream, because from the beginning of the establishment of the American society, equal opportunity and people’s subjective initiative were advocated.
However, the upper classes still look down upon those who have a humble background such as Gatsby. A lot of new upstarts like these people are only smuggling guys. It is easy for us to see that Gatsby, through every struggle, can not be accepted by the society either from his appearance or from his inner world.
2.1.3 Gatsby’s Dream of Love
Gatsby's first two dreams are the basis of the third one. The realization of his dreams of wealth and high social position is only to make preparation for winning back his love that is once lost because of poor economic conditions and low position.
Gatsby regards Daisy as the embodiment of beauty, kindness and truth that he pursues. In this case, getting married with Daisy and living together with her forever is an important goal in his life and also one of the motive forces of his struggle. However, his pursuit is doomed to be in vain, because Daisy is just superficially beautiful but empty inside. She is a shallow and selfish girl of the bourgeoisie. All day long, the ultimate goal of her life is to seek money and enjoy pleasure.
Gatsby can sacrifice his own life in order to protect her, but Daisy refuses to pay any cost for Gatsby. This is the fundamental difference between the two characters. It is also doomed that Gatsby’s dream of love cannot be realized.
2.2 The Disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream
In this novel the protagonist Gatsby is single-minded in love, ambitious and strong-willed in career, and persistent in the pursue of dreams. The establishment of his dreams is a good beginning, but during the process of achieving the dreams he gradually takes the wrong way. He is a typical victim of the Jazz Age. All of his three dreams fail to be realized.
First of all, all of his wealth that he gains through hardships is gone with the loss of his life. The original values of American Dream such as hard work, thrift and moderation are weaker and weaker, and they are replaced by money worship. The real world is an empty shell, and everyone is fond of the immediate pleasure. Gatsby cannot escape from the fashion of luxury. He spends all his money on meaningless things and gets nothing valuable. In other words, he loses his dream of wealth.
Secondly, he dies without the acceptance by the upper class. He does not get his ideal social position and his death has little influence on others. Gatsby is a very idealistic person. This kind of people often seem naive or run counter to the reality, because they are not aware of their own condition correctly and the psychology of upper class clearly. He does not know
the real attitude of others towards himself. People are always living in certain social groups. When one’s behavior is not consistent with the social mainstream, he or she will be sacrificed. Gatsby belongs to this type. He just pretends to be a person with high social position through such superficial methods as squandering money and making contact with decent people. However, he is no more than a speculator in essence. His behavior and his essence do not match.
Thirdly, his dream of love is disillusioned before he has any chance to get Daisy’s sympathy. All the time, Daisy, the perfect girl in the mind of Gatsby, is his unrealistic dream. Deeply attracting Gatsby, she seems pure, beautiful and innocent. Gatsby’s love for Daisy is selfless, and he always wants to protect his beloved person. Even though his own life is threatened, he is willing to sacrifice for her in the end. On the contrary, Daisy's love is selfish, because it is based on material benefits and her own interests. Daisy and Gatsby’s values of love are not balanced. Although after Gatsby becomes wealthy, with Nick’s help, he could be able to meet his lover, his dream to stay with her together for a lifetime fails to be realized. When he tells Nick that “of course the past can be repeated” (Fitzgerald.F.S, 2009: 133) or that “Tom’s love for Daisy was just personal” (Fitzgerald.F.S, 2009:182), he may be just finding some excuses for his inability to recapture his former lover Daisy.
His dreams are distant and unreal, and no one can touch it. The disillusionment of Gatsby's dreams is closely associated with the society he lives in, his characteristics, and his lover Daisy's personality.
Chapter ⅢTHE REASONS FOR THE DISILLUSIONMENT OF Gatsby’s AMERICAN DREAM
The Great Gatsby is a well-known novel in the history of American literature. Many scholars both home and abroad have analyzed and commented on this work from different perspectives. And the reasons leading to the disillusionment of Gatsby’s dream has always been a hot topic to discuss. Different people have different ideas. In general, those reasons can be divided into external reasons and internal ones, which depend on each other. Both the two kinds of reasons play an important role in Gatsby’s tragedy. Gatsby’s struggle for the realization of his dreams can not avoid the influence of social environment, and his personality is also one of the important reasons leading his dream to fail.
3.1 Hypocritical Interpersonal Relationship
This is the most important external reason leading to the final disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream.
In the 1920s, most people wanted to enter the upper classes and pursue material enjoyment. They were very cynical to seek superficial enjoyment and greedy for material wealth. During that period, treasure and collapsed moral standards made the pursuit of freedom and happiness gradually impossible.
The society was so cruel that a person like Gatsby could not break up the bondage. There was little sympathy in the relationship among people. And there was no doubt that people
were indifferent and ruthless. The relationship among people was based on money and real love did not exist. If you did not have money, nobody would pay much attention to you.
A friend indeed is a friend in need. It means that a true friend is someone who can share both happiness and sorrow together with you. However, Gatsby has no real friends, he only has friends who can share happiness together, but can not tolerate pains together. When Gatsby is rich, everyone comes to his party and curries favor with him. However, when he dies, few people attend his funeral.
In the capitalist society, the relationship among people just depends on money and people do not care about one another. There are no permanent friends or enemies. There are only permanent interests. In order to make benefits, people take advantage of others.
The hypocritical interpersonal relationship can also be reflected in the relationship of classes in American society where class prejudice is a very critical problem.
The contradiction between upper classes and lower classes is the reason why Gatsby can not realize his dream of social position. The vested interest groups who have already stabilized their social position and gained a lot of economic benefits will not allow any poor person without high social background to share wealth and pleasure with them.
Although he makes an effort to obtain a good position in the society, he still does not belong to the upper classes. He opens his mind to everyone, but others do not open to him. The old aristocrat Tom hates the new speculator Gatsby, so Tom oppresses Gatsby. In other words, there is a contradiction between Tom and Gatsby, because they are not only love rivals but also belong to different classes.
Although the visitors to his parties are strangers, he is still friendly to them. Meanwhile, his guests attend the parties just for fun and wealth. They are not real friends. He is just a victim of that period. His death is a great tragedy of the age. And nobody cares about him.
3.2 The Worship of Money
This is the internal reason why Gatsby’s dream of wealth fails.Gatsby represents those who have a wrong idea of the relationship between money and love. The novel reflects the social reality vividly. They think money talks. However, not everything can be obtained by money. The best things in life do not cost money.
The most important point for realizing the dream of wealth is that one should increase income and decrease expenditure, but Gatsby earns money and consumes wealth in an irrational way.
In order to win back his lost love eagerly, becoming wealthy is the most important and necessary thing for Gatsby. However, he uses a wrong way to get money. A large amount of fortune cannot be obtained honestly and legally. Gatsby earns a large amount of money by selling illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities.
After getting the money, he lives an extravagant life. He wastes a lot of wealth just to pursue fashions and high-quality material life. First of all, he gets a large house and an expensive car. Secondly, he holds parties day and night every weekend at home. He becomes famous around New York. The parties are nearly incredibly luxurious. “It looks like World Fair” (Fitzgerald.F.S, 2009: 50) He makes “friends” with famous people and makes himself elegant and noble. In general, he squanders his money.
3.3 Unrealistic Dream of High Social Position
The impossibility of realization of Gatsby’s dreams is the underlying cause resulting in the failure of Gatsby. Since Gatsby has an unrealistic idea about himself and the society he lives in, this is also the general internal reason why he can not realize his dream of high social position.
Gatsby’s dream is to become a member of upper classes, but it is far away from him. Firstly, the love between Gatsby and Daisy has become the past, and there is a gap between them. It is impossible to return to the past, because all the things have changed. Secondly, Tom is his biggest enemy, because he has less money than Tom does. Tom is more ambitious than Gatsby according to their personalities. Thirdly, when Gatsby has the necessary condition to obtain a decent social position, the other people do not really accept him.
In general, his unpractical dream is based on fantasy instead of reality. In the 1920s, American Dream was materialized. The inner essence of American Dream was changed. Becoming materially rich and pursuing the former spiritual principles of American Dream became a dilemma for the lower classes. He must admit the fact, because the postwar world in which he lives is meaningless and almost wholly loveless.
3.4 The Wrong Understanding of Love
The internal reason why Gatsby’s dream of love fails is that he has a wrong understanding of love itself. As it is known to all, we can not buy love by money.But Gatsby thinks he can not get Daisy’s love only because of money.
Gatsby has no vigilance and trusts everyone. When he knows Daisy’s gown has been torn, he gives her a new one. He pursues his dream bravely, but he is too innocent to understand his dream which is impossible to realize. He is so loyal to Daisy and loves her all the time. However, he never knows what his dream is on earth and he does not know Daisy clearly.
At the very beginning, Gatsby tells a lie to Daisy. He hopes to make her believe that he can let her live a happy life. Gatsby does everything he can to make his life and possession perfect only for winning back the love between Daisy and him. In his opinion, to be rich is the easiest way. However, it can derail one’s conscience into corruption. The way would deteriorate the true meaning of life and love. Gatsby loses sight of it, so it is unavoidable for him to corrupt.
CONCLUSION
After collecting information and completing this thesis, we can understand better the beginning, development and disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream. Now we can not only feel empathetic with Gatsby’s intricate and tragic life, but also see the inhumanity and cruelty of the society during that period.
Through this novel, Fitzgerald shows the collapse and disillusionment of American Dream in the 1920s. Here, heroes and heroines including Gatsby, Daisy and Tom together serve as metaphors by Fitzgerald to reveal the deviation of American Dream in the 1920s. This thesis generalizes the reasons why Gatsby fails in the pursuing of his dream. Due to all kinds of factors, the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American Dream is unavoidable.
All in all, this novel The Great Gatsby can be absolutely termed as the masterpiece of Fitzgerald, and it actually strengthens the famous and talented American author Fitzgerald’s honor. It takes up an important position in the history of American literature even in the whole world literature.
Bibliography
Burnham, T. A Re-Examination of The Great Gatsby. College English, 1952.
Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby. Penguin Classics, 1994.
Malcolm, Cowley. What is the Meaning of the Jazz Age. New York University Press, 1986 Miller, James E. F. Scott Fitzgerald: His Art and Technique. New York University Press, 1964. James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America. New York University Press, 1931
Wang Qiong. The Narrative Technique in “The Great Gatsby” from the Point View of Narration. Journal of Huzhou Teachers College, 1996.
Wu Dingbai. An Outline of American Literature. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.
Yang Qishen. Selected Readings in American Literature, V olume 2. Shanghai Translation Press, 1987.
Zhao Hongwei. The Definition of American Dream. Shanghai Language Education Press, 1998.
陈胜利, 英美文化中含“国家名”的复合词解析, 盐城师范学院学报：人文社会科学版,2010
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杨慧群, 菲兹杰拉德的小说了不起的盖茨比浅析.江苏广播电视大学学报, 2002.
赵红石, Characters’ Lives in The Great Gatsby.《科技信息》2010.
Notes
①James Truslow, The Epic of Ameri ca, Page 27~28
②葛靓, Doom of American Dream in Great Gatsby. 《文学界(理论版)》2012. Page 12~13
③赵红石, Characters’ Lives in The Great Gatsby. 《科技信息》2010. Page 19~21