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1、【标题】盖茨比所体现的“美国梦” 【作者】陈星蓉 【关键词】美国梦；幻灭；了不起的盖茨比 【指导老师】赵洪尹 翟赫 【专业】英语 【正文】I. IntroductionThe Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the famous American novelist in the 20th century, is known as the spokesman and laureate of the“Jazz Age”. Unlike the power and strength of Mark Twain or Jack
2、 London in their exposing and criticizing the dark side of capitalism, Fitzgerald has his own advantage，whose works give us an accurate depiction of the atmosphere of the American 1920s, He would rather tell a story or give an example, just as a stimulating injection that will spur people to think d
3、eeply. The Great Gatsby is thought to be his best work and is considered as a universal and timeless literary masterpiece，an icon of its time. As Tony Tanner even claimed, it is“the most perfectly crafted work of fiction to have come out of America”1 T.S Eliot has read this novel three times and con
4、cludes that it is“the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James2Materialism spread rapidly throughout the country since America did not involve in the World War I. Americans became more greedy and self-obsessed, and they changed the terms of traditional American value. The pursuit
5、 for material fulfillment and sensual enjoyment now became the dominance of most peoples life. Jay Gatsby is an embodiment of the time.In consquence, the phrase“the American Dream” became popular because of the novel. The American Dream describes an attitude of hope and faith that looks forward to t
6、he fulfillment of human wishes and desires. Traditionally, Americans have sought to realize the American Dream of success, fame and wealth through thrift and hard work. But the First World War influenced the American Dream which was handed down from the older generations, and people were suspicious
7、about the traditional notions and started breaking out them. The twenties was best known as a decade when American business was riding high and increasing its productivity. The United States produced mass commodities such as motorcars and radios that were filling peoples driveways and houses. In tha
8、t case money was more accessible, so peoples desire for money was expanded. The faith in religion and culture was reduced to the relentless pursuit of money and the shallow dreams. At that time, the state only for illusion and enjoyment were formed, and the pursuit of material-luxury made people fee
9、l different and cool. Youthful generation who lived in that period looked forward to a kind of luxuriant life; therefore, they bought cost things, took part in extravagant parties, and looked down upon others who were poor and so on.Actually, this novel can reflect the author Fitzgeralds life. We ca
10、n see that from the background of his family, and once he fell in love with a girl whose family was better than him and alt last, she left him because of his poverty. Since that time, he found that only money, material, and high society status can bring him the happiness and respect. All of these ar
11、e showed with techniques in the Great Gatsby. In other words, Fitzgerald is Gatsby.II. Gatsbys Efforts to Pursue His DreamGatsby, as a hero of this novel, and a represent of that time, has his own background, his own love and his own dream. In his short life, he did a lot of controversial deeds, whe
12、ther it is good or bad, it depends on whats your point, he also made a lot of efforts to gain his status and to win his love back, and all of those are in name of love. We call his ideal dream, The American Dream. In this novel, we can know Gatsby from the narration by a young kind man named Nick, a
13、s Nick gets familiar with Gastby; we uncover the mysterious veil of Gatsby gradually.A. His Efforts to Gain Higher Social StatusWhy did Gatsby make so much effort to gain a higher social status? The reasonis that he had a humble background. Jay Gatsby was born in rural North Dakota and spent his chi
14、ldhood there. Because he grew up in the rural area, he could bear the troubles and difficulties in his life. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication. He dropped out of St.olaf College after two weeks, because he couldnt bear the tiring and difficult job
15、 with which he was paying his tuition. He was hungry for wealth, but he just had the desire for those which did not need work.With such a desire, Gatsby began his road to wealth. The year after he dropped out, he worked on Lake Superior fishing for salmon and digging for clams. One day, he saw a yac
16、ht owned by Dan Cody who was a wealthy and famous copper businessman and rowed out to warn him about a coming storm. The grateful Cody took young Gats who gave his name as Jay Gatsby. On board, Gatsby worked as Codys personal assistant. Traveling with Cody to the Barbary Coast and the West. At that
17、time, Gatsby fell love with wealth and luxury. When Cody died, he left Gatsby$25,000. But Codys mistress prevented him from claiming his inheritance. Gatsby then dedicated himself to becoming a wealthy and successful man. At the same time, he had gained the skills of making money which was vital to
18、his success; however, his poor background and exorbitant desire for wealth and success were some obstacles to him.After World War I, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social moral
19、ity of early-twentieth-century America like the sleeping old. The dizzying rise of the social market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. A person from any soci
20、al background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocratic families with old wealth look down upon the newly rich industrialists and speculators. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld design
21、ed to satisfy the massive demand of bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.The ban was both opportunity and challenge to Gatsby, He could make money through illegal way, Of course, and he could make money through legal way with his intelligence. Unfortunately, he was influenced by the society, the
22、 way he chose was illegal which predicted his failure, because it was impossible for him to step on the ranking society which was what Daisy pursued.B. His Efforts to Regain Daisys LoveConcerning Gatsbys effort to regain Daisys love, there are several aspects: thefirst one is the place he chose to a
23、ttract Daisy.The narrator of the story Nick was lived at West Egg, the less fashionable of the two eggs, though this was a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. His house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squee
24、zed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on his right was a colossal affair by any standard-it was a factual imitation of some Hoel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool,
25、and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsbys mansion. That was a mansion, inhabited by a gentleman of that name. And on the other side of the lake, lived the rich couple from Chicago, thats the reason why Gatsby set his home there, he can overlook his loves place from a far distanceA
26、part from the place he choose for his dream, he also makes various magnificent parties. Nick described Gatsbys parties in the beginning as a great festival. He says that extra gardeners and waiters and maids arrive before the weekend starts and prepare to host the many expected guests. Huge amounts
27、of food are brought and processed so that the guests can be fed. Then Nick tells of the few invited guests arriving with the barrage of other people who just found themselves at Gatsbys party. He also elaborates on the way the lights shine day and night, and the yellow car that buses people to and f
28、rom the party. The people act as if they were at an amusement park and lounge here and there without even meeting the hosts sometimes. Before then, there are buffets and many drinks floating through the party. The image of alcohol proliferating threw the crowd is given. Guests that have met before d
29、o not even remember each other and the attitude of impersonality is dominant. This comes to end on Monday and the excitement is over. Eight servants, including an extra gardener, scrub and fix the estate to make is as perfect as it was before the weekend. Nick finally meets Gatsby and introduces him
30、self. He finds Gatsby to be one of the strange men who have something on their minds. Before Nick goes home Gatsby invites Nick to hydroplane with him and to return to the party anytime Nick wanted too. And actually, all the things are Gatsbys plan to meet Daisy again, beacause he knows Daisy loves
31、parties, and by the way, Nick was her relates.Within expectation, Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby would like him to arrange a meeting with Daisy. Nick agrees, and invites Daisy and Gatsby to his house. The reunion is initially awkward, Gatsby was so nervous and even turn over the clock, we have saw th
32、is side of him before. However, Daisy rediscovers her love with Gatsby because of his nice shirts and large house. Daisy has been well trained in a rich family. So,Gatsby and Daisy begin a love affair again.Finally Daisys husband Tom finds Gatsby and her affairs, and quarrels with him. In a hotel. D
33、aisy runs out of the hotel, with Gatsby following her, to Gatsbys car, where she insists on driving home as it will calm her nerves. By accident, she hit Toms mistress Myrtle. And they speed away. Later, Tom tells Myrtles husband Wilson that it was Gatsbys fault to kill his wife. Having tracked the
34、owner of the roadster, George appears at Gatsbys mansion with a gun. George finds Gatsby floating in his pool and kills him before committing suicide.Then Gatsby die for Daisy, die for his love and die for his dream.From the above analysis we can see Gatsbys effort to realize his dream, besides gain
35、ing higher status, he made elaborate plans including choosing a good place and making parties to attract Daisy, to win Daisys love, then finally died for her. However, this dream is just like a mirage, a totally fragile mirage.III. The Reasons behind Gatsbys PursuitEverything has its whys and wheref
36、ores, and everything has its value in the world. Gatsby pursues Daisy with so much effort also has some reasons. And these reasons come from his first meet with Daisy, his crazy love for her, he misunderstands the qualities of his love, and he also misunderstands the definition of his dream.A. Gatsb
37、ys Blind Love for DaisyWhy Gatsby was so crazy for Daisy, we can get a clue from their first meet.Daisy and Gatsby met for the first time in Louisville where he was stationed at Camp Taylor as a young officer before being shipped overseas during World War I. Daisy was very attractive and popular amo
38、ng the officers at Camp Taylor, and Gatsby went with some of them to visit Daisy, meeting her for the first time. After a while, Gatsby went to Daisys house without the others and had a relationship, since then, their love affair began and lasted for a month before he had to leave to go to the war.F
39、or Gatsby, Daisy was such a beautiful and charming lady in high society where he was long for, and she represented all the good qualities he desired. However Daisy was a beauty of exquisite charm that later underneath her outward existence was actually nothing on the inside but a woman who in the en
40、d winded up disgraced. This has declared the love from Gatsby to Daisy was blind. From anther point of view, Daisy Buchanan was a perfect example of how corruption affected American society and how good moral values were replaced with what becomes extreme selfishness and materialism. Daisy Buchanan
41、had absolutely no regard for moral values. She had an affair with Jay Gatsby, the man she used to love, at the joking expense of her unknowing husband Tom. As if putting her life on display in that way was not enough, Daisy married Tom for his money. Even though Daisy was in love with Gatsby, she st
42、ill married Tom, because he had the money to provide for her. Toms lifestyle that of New York high society was one that she needed to live. Daisy is shallow and superficial, meaning that she needs the things Toms money can provide for her. If Daisy was going to fall in love with anyone other than Ga
43、tsby, it had to be with someone who could give her the kind of life she required to live a luxurious life. Actually the world of New York high society is portrayed best by Daisy Buchanan.So, from the above analysis, it is safe for us to conclude that Gatsbys love for Daisy is the love for the first
44、sight.B. Gatsbys Misunderstanding of the DreamDuring Gatsby and Daisys courtship, Jay was sent off to the war. Upon returning from the war, Jay found out that Daisy had married a wealthy man by the name of Tom Buchannan. Jay then spends his life acquiring wealth to reach her economic standards, in h
45、ope that he can marry her and rekindle the happiness that he once had. His love for Daisy was impossible in society because he was at present a penniless young man without a comfortable family standing behind him. Gatsby encountered his dream of love at this point of his life. He knew that at that t
46、ime a relationship of love was impossible with Daisy due to his low social standing. Gatsby became determined to breach that gap between them in order to rekindle Daisys love for him.He did reach the physical circumstances necessary to love her, but he had focused too much on money and power the pre
47、vious five years of his life. He wanted his love with Daisy to flourish. Unfortunately, he had lost the ability to love. He no longer possessed moral integrity or the ability to handle a relationship. Society is often broken up into different social groups by their economic status. Those of lower cl
48、asses believe that their problems will go away if they can gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Many people believe that the American Dream is this joining of the upper class, and once reaching that point, not having to be concerned about money at all. The logic behind this is that being poo
49、r keeps people from being happy, and once you become rich, you do not have to struggle with the problems of life, and can therefore be happy. That is also Gatsbys misunderstanding of his dream.So, with the blind understanding of his love for Daisy, and misunderstanding of the happiness, Gatsby chose a wrong way to realize it. There is no doubt that he will make a tragedy for himself. Because when he is making lies himself, the others around are also doing the same