试析《了不起的盖茨比》中的美国梦（英语专业）.docVIP

PAGE 16 Analysis of American Dream in The Great Gatsby Abstract Francis Scott Fitzgerald, a renowned novelist?in?the?20th?century?of America, exerts great influence upon many readers all over the world. Nearly all novels that he wrote win wide admiration, especially The Great Gatsby. The reason why many people praise The Great Gatsby, lies in not only its wonderful plots, but also its theme reflecting young Americans whose mental crisis in that special historical period. The book approaches to reveal the rise and degradation in American dream by describing the story of Gatsby who struggles for love but ends in tragedy. Gatsby, the hero of this book, pursues his dream from the beginning to end, but gets nothing, and in the end he even lost his life. Gatsby works hard all the time, but what is lacking is some insight into the essence of his own dream. Gatsby’s dream, can be said to be the embodiment of the American dream in 20th century, and Gatsby’s death just seems to imply that such American dream will be doomed to failure. The American dream originally refers to a national spirit that all men are equal, with opportunities for prosperity and success regardless of social class and family background. But with the development of economy in the United States, the essence of American dream has changed. After the World War I, the United States made a great development in its economy, bringing about moral and mental degeneration to people. It can be seen clearly from Gatsby’s tragedy that the essence of American dream in the 1920s has significantly changed, which is about what the fulfillment of a personal dream must be on basis of social class or background of birth. Therefore, by taking this book as an analysis subject, many scholars and researchers analyzed the developing course of the American dream. Based on these researches, this thesis aims to study the American dream in The Great Gatsby, as well as enlightenment from Gatsby’s tragedy. The introduction briefly in