盖茨比美国梦的幻灭—透视现实生活中的爱情 英语专业毕业论文.doc

盖茨比美国梦的幻灭透视现实生活中的爱情abstractthe great gatsby lived in the period of the first world war, when people were suspicious about the traditional notions and intended to break out them. in the novel, daisy is a woman who was born in a rich family, and she always lives a luxuriant life of the upper class. obviously, the person who wants to get her love must have enough money to offer her a luxuriant life. in order to make his american dream come true, which is to win daisy, gatsby tries every possible means including illegal trade of alcohol to make a fortune. however, when gatsby helps daisy to escape from the accident successfully, and mistakenly be murdered by the husband of toms mistress, his american dream is broken. there is nothing left to him after his death, his wealth no longer means anything, and daisy does not come back to him, either. this thesis based on an analysis of the break of gatsbys american dream in the novel the great gatsby which was written by fitzgerald and published in 1925. from the analysis, we can have a view about the relationship between love and money of the characters in the novellove is closely connected with money. and then according to the status quo in reality, it draws a conclusion that there is a close relationship between love and money in reality. in sum, it is an analysis of the relationship between love and money in reality according to the break of gatsbys american dream.key wordsthe american dream; love; money; disillusionment摘要了不起的盖茨比生活在一战期间，这时候人民对传统观念持怀疑态度并且在渐渐的打破这些观念，传统意义上的美国梦也被歪曲了。在小说中，戴西是个出身富裕家庭，从小过着舒适的生活的女人,要想获得她的爱情，就必须有足够的金钱为她提供一个美好的生活。为了实现自己的美国梦，赢得戴西，盖茨比通过各种手段赚钱，包括在禁酒期间非法运酒。但是，当盖茨比帮助戴西成功逃脱那场车祸，并被误认为是凶手被杀害的时候，他的美国梦破灭了。在他死后，没有任何东西是属于他的，他所有的财富对他来说已经没有任何意义，而戴西也没有回到他身边。从盖茨比美国梦的幻灭，可以得出一个结论，他们的爱情和金钱是密切联系着的。这篇文章通过对菲次杰瑞德于1925年出版的小说了不起的盖茨比中盖茨比美国梦的幻灭的分析，对小说人物间的爱情和金钱的关系有了一个初步的认识爱情和金钱是紧密联系的。本文结合小说和现实中存在的现状，得出在现实生活中，爱情和金钱是密不可分的结论。总的来说，文章是在对了不起的盖茨比美国梦的幻灭的分析的基础上，透视了现实中的爱情和金钱的关系。关键词美国梦，爱情，金钱，破灭introductionthe first world war influenced the american dream which was handed down from the older generations, and people were suspicious about the traditional notions and started breaking out them. at that time, nihilism and hedonism were formed, and the pursuit of material-luxury made people feel alien 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. the great gatsby is a love story written by f. fitzgerald about the life which the youth lead at that time, and it mainly describes gatsbys quixotic passion for daisy buchanan, which is the symbol of his american dream. in the novel, the character gatsby is overwhelmed by only one thing that he does not possess, that is to be loved. gatsbys love for daisy is real and strong, and he can do everything to win daisy. the great gatsby is a realistic demonstration of the ruin of the american dream, because gatsbys american dream is to have more money than tomdaisys husband who is so rich that he can do everything he likes and he can also offer daisy a better life, and finally wins daisys love. the reason that gatsby can not make his american dream come true is not because that he doesnt do his best, but the american dream he pursues is the love of daisy, who was born in a rich family and always lives a luxuriant life from the time she was born. however, gatsby comes from an unfortunate farm family in north dakota, and it is not easy for him to live a higher standard life, not mention to afford the extravagant life of daisy. when gatsby becomes a millionaire and he has the financial ability to give daisy a better life, daisy takes much notice of him indeed and she really has the thought to be in love with him again. unfortunately, gatsbys american dream is broken quickly when he is dead and daisy, does not feel any sadness but only happiness, leaves for another city with his husband. there is something separates them from each other, and it is wealth and social status. if gatsby has much money in the very beginning, they may have been together and lives happily ever after. according to the break of gatsbys american dream, there is a truth in reality that love and money have a close relationship. . i. introduction to fitzgeraldf. scott fitzgerald (1896-1940) is best known for his novels and short stories which chronicle the excesses of americas jazz age during the 1920s, and he was born in st. paul, whose family was considered socially prominent and genteelly poor. fitzgerald was both a victim and a keen onlooker, of the extravagant gaudy of the jazz age. his fictional world was the best embodiment of the spirit of the american society in which he showed a particular interest in the upper class, since they felt excused from seeking the common good. to plug into their personal adventures, they not only engaged themselves in casual sex and heavy drinking, but also spent money extravagantly and enjoyed themselves to their hearts content. however, beneathing their masks of relaxation and joviality there was only sterility, meaninglessness and futility and amid the grandeur and extravagance, a deniable junta position of appearance with reality, of the pretence of gaiety with the tension underneath, is easily recognizable in fitzgeralds novels and stories. (吴建国, 2002,6: 17）first published in 1925, the great gatsby met with excellent reviews, with t.s.eliot being among the first to comment on the book, calling it the first step that american fiction has taken since henry james. f. scott fitzgerald died believing himself a failure. the obituaries were condescending, and he seemed destined for literary obscurity. the first phase of the fitzgerald resurrection-revival does not properly describe the process-occurred between 1945 and 1950. by 1960, he had achieved a secure place among americas enduring writers: the great gatsby, a work that seriously examines the theme of aspiration in an american setting, defines the classic american novel.almost every one of american writers has touched on the theme of american dream, but as far as the breadth and depth, no one is equal to f. s. fitzgerald. the great gatsby is the model of american dream in the history of american literature.ii. analysis of gatsbys american dreamin different social and historical backgrounds, the concepts of american dream are different, and for different people, they have different understandings of american dream and the ways to pursue their american dream are also various. as for gatsby, the symbol of his final american dream is to win the love of daisy. however, owing to the fact that gatsby is subject to their different social status and life styles, his american dream is doomed to be a failure.a. american dream in different social and historical backgroundsthe american dream arose in the colonial period and developed in the nineteenth century, based on the assumption of each person, no matter what his origin was, could succeed in changing their social positions and making their dreams come true through their own efforts, and getting new, free and better life. this is what often called american dream.（zhao hongwei,2003,6:2）american dream is a popular belief that hard work will bring forth americas bounty in the form of material well-being, a counter culture that rejects traditional thinking while promoting their own causes, information explosion, reverse discrimination-in the workplace because so many employers are hiring women and minorities. its the idea that the american way of life offers the equal possibility of unlimited economic, social, etc. one can always work their way up from the rags to riches just like abraham lincoln, 16th president of the us. in brief, the main content of american culture was emphasis on individuals value, optimistic, pursuing of democracy and freedom, the promotion of deportation and competition and the need of realism and practicality. however, in different historical backgrounds, the meanings of american dream are also different from each other. in colonial period, american dream was the crying for wealth; and in the later 18th century, peoples american dream was to fight for democracy; americans had a great fantasy for expansion in the civil war period; in the first world war, the american dream is to pursue luxuriant life, and in the 2nd world war, the american dream is to achieve higher standard of life.the world war i cast the young men into an age of alienation and dissentient. they entered the war with naive and blind patriotism and under the slogan of world peace and democracy. returning from the war, these idealized intellectuals felt separated by their war experience from conventional ideals and values of their homes. the economic bloom has deception affluence on the promising young men, not only destroyed their lives, but also destroyed their early innocent believes. many excellent young men found its difficult to adapt to the after-war overflow of materialism. scientific advances caused increase in industry, which brought vast changes to the character of american society. millions of americans were no longer content to follow former patterns and there was a rebellion against the falseness of society as represented by victorian generation. to many people, world war i was a tragic failure of old values, of old politics, of old ideas. the social mood was often one of confusion and despair. yet, americans entered a decade of proprietary and exhibitionism that prohibit the legal ban against alcoholic beverages, did more to encourage than to curb. fashions were extravagant; more and more automobiles crowed the roads, advertising flourished; and nearly every american home had a radio in it. roads swept the nation, people danced the charleston, and they sat upon the flagpoles. the only thing for the youth who lived in that period to pursue was material wealth, and luxuriant life.in order to show off the wealth, many people in upper class also held big parties in weekends. in those parties, there were every kind of people who were also famous or rich, and such kind of party were so extravagant that the reason people took part in it was to know more rich people and indulged them in luxuriant life. they were looking forward to having more money and then lived a better life, which was much more extravagant. in such a special period, there was a fact that the person who had more money and lived a more extravagant life would be respected much more and have more friends. on the other hand, the person, who neither had money nor fame, would be looked down upon by others, not mention to live a better life or have a true love from another. whatever their american dream was, the only way and first thing they should do was to earn enough money. without money, there was no achievement, including love.self-made and self-invented millionaire jay gatsby who lived in the period of the first world war embodies some of fitzgeralds, and his countries, most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed and the promise of new beginnings. at that time, almost every one of the youth had an american dream for themselves. and all the people including immigration and poor people had a desire and regard for a perfect life. such a perfect life should be full of big house, much money, delicious food, cost cars, as well as freedom. everyone had a different idea for his or her american dream; everyones american dream may be totally different from each other; that is what makes them all individuals. the dream may differ in that some people wanted to work hard and had financial success, or others might just want to have enough food and income to survive, and made their life simple, healthy and happy.（邓年刚，潭素钦, 1997, 1: 1）however, there was a common truth that everyone who lived in that period actually had an american dream and eager to achieve it and everyone has an american dream which is to have a good opportunity to realize personal dream.b. gatsbys pursuit of american dreamfrom the novel the great gatsby, there is a knowledge that gatsbys american dream is to win daisys love, and everything he spares no effort to do is to regain the love of daisy. in order to make his american dream come true, gatsby not only gets money from illegal trade of alcohol, and he also does everything daisy asks him to do including scarify his precious life.1. gatsbys american dreamas for the great gatsby, his american dream is to have much money and then win daisy, who is in love with gatsby five years ago but now is the wife of rich tom. gatsby thinks that only if he has much money, at least has more money than tom, should he win daisys love. so it is reasonable for him to pursue material wealth in order to win the love of daisy.（克罗蒂亚罗思皮埃罗庞, 2004, 7: 2）gatsby is a young millionaire, but he has an unsavory reputation of the past and he is much suspicious by many people who have enjoyed in his parties about his wealth. gatsby has little connection with the social stratum which he contacts, and nobody knows the ways he gets so much money. some say he did illegal trade, some say he had killed someone, or he is the nephew of william second. however, he is always a lonely person, although he has extravagant parties frequently and there are so many rich and famous people from all around the world come to take part in his parties and even they are proud of having seen him once. but the only thing he really wants to achieve is to regain the past when he is in love with daisy, and this is the symbol of his american dream, too. （zheng chenggong, 2002,3: 5） gatsbys attempt to achieve his american dream which is to recapture the love of daisy buchanan whom he had known five years before the action of the novel begins, when he is a young and poor officer in the united states army and daisy is a young unmarried woman, who used to live a luxuriant life with much money and great fame. and the only way should gatsby make his american dream come true is to get a lot of money which is much difficulty for a normal soldier to earn. he does all the things daisy asks him to do. and nobody can do this out of reason. in order to win daisy, gatsby dare to have illegal trade of alcohol to make a fortune, because he clearly knows that he must offer daisy a better life which is luxuriant if he wants to win daisy. through his great effort, he gets much money authentically although it is from illegal business.gatsbys success in fortune is great, his strong will of love and achieving life goal is also great; he becomes the big name of the society, and becomes the upper classs deputy. everyone is glad to come to his party, everyone admires his property, and everyone wants to be his friend, even daisy has taken much notice of him and falls in love with him again. gatsby is also great when he loses his life in order to protect daisy from the accident. however, the falling of his american dream, that daisy goes together with her husband to another city happily while gatsby is murdered mistakenly, improves that all his great characterizes means nothing. in other words, gatsbys final american dream, which is to win daisy, is totally a failure.（杨慧群, 2002, 5: 3）furthermore, when gatsby died, no one turns up for his funeral, though hundreds of people have eaten at his place. it is a sad comment on human nature that when a man dies, he is alone, absolutely alone. the only things that accompany him are his good deeds especially those done spontaneously and without expectations. and the saddest thing is that daisy, doesnt feel any regret or sorrow for gatsbys death, has gone traveling with his husband tom. there is nothing left for gatsby. all the things of his life have gone with his death, including his wealth and love.from the above analysis of gatsbys american dream, there is a conclusion that whatever it is broken or not, gatsbys american dream is to get as much money as he can even through every illegal means, and then he can have the economical strength to achieve his final goalwin the love of daisy.2. gatsbys efforts in achieving his american dreamgatsby was born in a poor family in the middle west, but when he is a boy he has an ambition to win wealth and position depending on his intelligence and diligence. during the time of serving in the army, gatsby is in love with daisy who is in a big and rich family. and in his eyes, daisys living style and her beauty are the very ideal incarnation that gatsby is dreaming of. but the relationship between them are not possible, because he doesnt have enough money to afford daisy a luxuriant life, and later on daisy gets married with the rich and influential tom buchanan. gatsby believes that it is money which makes her leave him, so he determines to be rich. after several years self-imposed hardships, gatsby become wealthy and successful by illegal operations, and his faithful belief in ideal love which is the symbol his american dream. when he could get the admission with the help of money, he buys a villa standing for wealth and in the opposite site of daisys mansion; also its a kind of silence call of daisy. he holds grand banquet in his villa day and night to attract daisy to come and intends to regain their past loving days, and succeeds in retrieving daisys love again. from the luxuriant ball, people could see the luxury and squander of gatsbys life. people from all around the world come to his house. they are drinking, singing and dancing, and they come for fun, for enjoyment. but most of them dont know why the party is held; some of them even dont know who the host is. and gatsby is a mystery. however, daisy in his heart is only an illusion and is as superficial as others in her ranking and she wi