美国文学之《了不起的盖茨比》中英文PPT.pptVIP

2.Quest for the promised land: Gatsby involves into the illegal bootlegging business just for earning money to get rid of his original bondage of low birth to pursue his Promised Land—upper class, but dies prematurely similar to Moses.Archetype of Moses: Moses, which means “pull out of water” in Hebrew (Exodus2:8), is one of the posterity of Israelite people living Egypt but growing up among the rich around the Egyptian Pharaoh. Although he is well-nursed in the grandeur of king’s palace, he has never forgotten his true national identity and always keeps eyeing on his miserable people who have been suffering the maltreatment and cruel slavery from Egyptians. One day he kills an Egyptian out of rage who is then beating one of those Israelite slaves and has to escape to Midian, where God manifests himself to Moses at the bottom of Mount Sinai. In a flame from the middle of a bush comes the call of God for Moses: “I am the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt, so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land…Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of this country.”Thus Moses shoulders the responsibility to bring Israelites out of Egypt for “a rich and fertile land” (Exodus 3:7). After forcing Pharaoh to allow them to leave with their lands and flocks by performing some miracles endowed by God, their quest for the Promised Land begins. However, it is really a long and hard journey. They get rid of the Egyptian pursuing troops, travel through the vast desert, cross the Red Sea, overcome the crisis of flood and water deficiency, win the battles with other tribes, and finally cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land—Canaan but without Moses, who died right before their final victory. The parallel between Moses and Gatsby:For Moses he tries his best to learn both language and history of his