浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中的美国梦.doc

本科毕业论文 中文题目： 浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中的美国梦 外文题目： An Analysis of American Dream in The Great Gatsby 院 系 英语学院 专 业 英语（翻译） 年 级 2007级 学 号 学 生 指导教师 结稿日期 2011年5月7日 四川外语学院教务处制  浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中的美国梦 摘要：《了不起的盖茨比》是美国作家弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德1925年所写的一部以20世纪20年代的纽约市及长岛为背景的短篇小说。《了不起的盖茨比》的问世，奠定了弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德在现代美国文学史上的地位。本论文讨论了美国梦与美国下层阶级之间的关系。 论文首先介绍了美国梦的基本情况，即历史回顾、历史起源和它的发展，旨在找出美国梦在20世纪20年代失败的原因。随后论文阐述了美国梦和美国下层阶级的矛盾，论述理想美国梦和物质对美国下层阶级诱惑之间的矛盾,以及理想美国梦与美国下层阶级道德观的改变之间的矛盾。 关键词：《了不起的盖茨比》；美国梦；美国下层阶级 An Analysis of American Dream in The Great Gatsby Abstract The Great Gatsby is the most renowned masterpiece of F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, depicting a story that happened in New York city and Long Island during the 1920s. Due to its birth, Fitzgerald has gained his reputation in contemporary American literature history. This paper consists of two parts. The first part of the paper introduces American dream which concludes historical retrospect, historical origin and its development, aiming to trace back to the reasons that give rise to the failure of American dream. Then, the paper demonstrates the conflict between American dream and the lower classes of American society, including the conflict between American dream and the lure of material world real, and the conflict between American dream and change of moral standards of American lower class. Key words: The Great Gatsby; American Dream；American lower class Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Zuo, both for her intellectual guidance and for her warm and constant encouragement during the process of writing this thesis. With patience and prudence, she labored through drafts of this thesis and pointed out defects in my theorizing. Therefore, I owe all the merits in this thesis, if any, to her, though I am fully aware that the thesis might still contain some mistakes, for which I bear the whole responsibility. My cordial and sincere thanks go to all the teachers in the College of English, whose interesting and informative courses have benefited me a lot during my college years. The profit that I gained from their profound knowledge, remarkable expertise and intellectual ingenuity will be of everlasting significance to my future life and career. I am also very grateful to my classmates, who have given me a lot of help and courage during my stay in the University and throughout the process of writing this thesis. Last but not the least, big thanks go to my family who have shared with me my worries, frustrations, and hopefully my ultimate happiness in eventually finishing this thesis.Contents 中文摘要………………………………………………………………………………………ⅰ Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...ⅱ Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………...ⅲ Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….1 Ⅰ. The American Dream…………………………………………………………….3 Origin of American Dream……………………………………………….3 Development of American Dream………………………………………..5 Ⅱ. The Contradiction Between American Dream and the American Lower Class in the 1920s……………………………………………………………………….7 The Contradiction Between Ideal of American Dream and Material Temptation for American Lower Class in the 1920s………………………….8 B. The Contradiction Between American Dream and Change of Moral Standards of American Lower Class in the 1920s………………………...................…..12 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..…..15 Notes…………………………………………………………………………………18 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….19 An Analysis of American Dream in The Great Gatsby Introduction Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896. He was the only son of an upper middle class Catholic family. While he was at Princeton university, the young Fitzgerald developed his talent in writing. When the First World War broke out, he enlisted in the army, and in a training camp in Alabama, he met and felt in love with Zelda sayre, the southern belle who became his wife and who was the model for most of the beautiful and gay heroines of his fiction. His life with her was a mixture of great happiness and great misery and pain. In 1925, Fitzgerald published his most famous novel the Great Gatsby. Before long, his wife became mentally ill. Fitzgerald declined as a writer. He worked regularly as a script—writer in Hollywood from 1937 to 1939, when he succumbed to alcoholism. He died of heart attack in 1940. His wife, Zelda, was sent to a sanitarium and died in a fire started by herself in the sanitarium. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers, whose works were the samples of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. Many critics have seen Fitzgerald’s artistic achievement in terms of his ability to depict the American society, its history and its people1. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the Lost Generation of the 1920s. He finished four novels, This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and his most famous, the celebrated classic, The Great Gatsby—his masterpiece which is often taken as an account of the story of America. A fifth, unfinished novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon was published posthumously. Fitzgerald also wrote many short stories that treat themes of youth and promise along with despair and age. The thesis consists of two parts. In order to tracing back to the reasons that give rise to the degradation of American Dream, the first part bases its explanation on the retrospect of American history and American Dream. Then, the second part will be primarily focused on the conflict between American Dream and the lower classes of American society, including the conflict between American Dream and reality, and that between American Dream and the lure of material world.  = 1 \* ROMAN I. The American Dream One of the things that makes America such an unusual place is that it is perhaps the only society in history in which a vast number of its members are living their private dream. It is a world that teaches the primacy of the personal, of oneself, which ironically leaves people powerless.1 Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States mentioned in his inaugurated speech that This is our moment. This is our time----to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one. The American dream means that everyone, no matter what social status is, can achieve his goal through his own hard work. The ideology is based on the origin of the America, as a belief carved in people’s minds. The lifestyle of Americans provides infinitive possibilities for individuals on the basis of the political economy.2 The best example is Abraham Lincoln. He was a person who had nothing at his early years, but he became the 16th president of the United States through his own efforts. Origin of American Dream Because the Roman pope didn’t agree that the England king Henry Ⅷ divorced with his wife, he decided to break up with Roman pope in political relationship and establish new national church, England church. But this kind of new church didn’t reform in its meaning and ritual. This caused dissatisfaction of the protestant who wished to purify the state church, and then came the puritans. Puritans believed that one’s success on his work or career is the sign of God’s select. The moral principle of the puritans is diligent work and good qualities.3 But some ideas of puritans was a threat to the England state church which led to extreme persecution of some people. Some were thrown to jail, while others were punished to death. In order to escape from the political persecution or seek new life from new continent, some Englanders began their journey to the North America. In 1620, 35 puritans and 67 non-puritans drifted to North America in a ship called May Flower. Before they landed, 41 travelers signed a treaty—Mayflower Compact. The original text like this: “In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc. Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.”4 It was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony and the oldest historical document about immigrants towards North America. The compact not only regulates equality and justice, but also implies the spirit of hard work and struggling of the puritans. Even though American dream has different definitions in different periods, yet under political persecution, these Anglo-Saxons wished political equality to create new life. This is the origin of American dream. In this area with abundant resources which were not developed, people must work hard if they wanted to become wealthy and as long as they worked hard, they can improve their living standards. Since 1783, under the encouragement of federal government and state government, “ going to the West and going to the West to seek one’s American dream” has become urgent need and practical action for most of Americans. The abundant western land didn’t belong to government, didn’t belong to someone, but belonged to those who arrived earliest and developed it. Development of American Dream In the early 1930s, from 1929 to 1933 when the United States went through Economic Depression, Adam, a historian mentioned American dream in an article, that is, American dream is that common people can change their own future through their own efforts in this state. When this concept was put forward, most Americans were inspired, at the same time, many Europeans and people around the world poured to the United States and tried to become a part of the American culture. Some succeeded, but most people failed. Nevertheless, American dream was still goal for most Americans. If the early American society was agricultural economy, then after industrial revolution, the realization of American dream can be finished by commercial activities.5 Most of individual possessions in the United States were brought by those successful merchants and these merchants used less capital to start an enterprise. Compared with agriculture, Americans preferred business, because doing business was a quick way to make individual become wealthy. Before 100 years, the Americans established huge national industry, such as Morgan who founded bank, Fort who invented car production line whose common character was from a person with nothing to millionaire. These facts made most Americans adore these commercial heroes as heroes who developed an uncultivated land. In 1990s, people began to do business on Internet. Such companies as Amazon and Yahoo developed to big companies under the impact of the financial threat. Such successful entrepreneur as Steve Paul Jobs who invented apple computer and Bill Gates, the giant of Microsoft Corporation, their successful experiences encouraged most Americans invest to open their own companies. Americans like a word very much, that is, I’m my own boss. American dream has new connotation, that is, people can gain material success through one’s own efforts and by applying commercial wisdom. The core of American dream is high living standards. Nowadays, all kinds of immigrants with different background and skills have found ways to enter the United States. American dream still has huge attract to immigrants from different periods, and the United States is still the melt to attract immigrants around the world. The reality is that those immigrants with powerful economy and good educational background are easy to gain success in the United States. In the end of 2006, financial crisis caused by American subprime mortgage crisis stroke the whole world and the American economy began to decline. But for most Americans, America was still a place with equal opportunities and one can gain success through one’s own efforts.  = 2 \* ROMAN II. The Contradiction Between American Dream and the American Lower Class in the 1920s The American Dream is the national Dream of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.6 The concept of a lower class in the United States is used to describe those at or near the lower end of the socio-economic hierarchy. As with all social classes in the United States, the lower class is loosely defined and its boundaries and definitions subject to debate and ambiguous popular opinions. Sociologists such as W. Lloyd Warner, Dennis Gilbert and James Hensley divide the lower classes into two. The contemporary division used by Gilbert divides the lower class into the working poor and underclass. Service and low-rung manual laborers are commonly identified as being among the working poor. Those who do not participate in the labor force and rely on public assistance as their main source of income are commonly identified as members of the underclass. Overall the term describes those in easily-filled employment positions with little prestige or economic compensation who often lack a high school ed