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Abstract
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by the famous writer F. Scott. Fitzgerald in the 1920’s， which is about disillusionment of American Dream, and it is still a piece of language endowed with deep connotations and full of metaphors and mottoes. This paper analyzes Gatsby’s tragedy by examining the essence of Gatsby’s dream, the potential destructiveness in Gatsby’s characters and the social-historical backgrounds leading to Gatsby’s destruction. Fitzgerald once summarized people’s characters at that time as “all Gods have died, all the wars have been over, and all the faiths have faded away.”(Fitzgerald, 1991: 253) American people living in Jazz Age looked down on the traditional faiths and betrayed moralities and customs that their ancestors used to abide by. At the end of the novel, Gatsby’s lonely funeral ceremony and people’s indifference completely reflected humanities coolness and ugliness in the society of U.S.A in 1920’s. At the very beginning, Gatsby was destined to be isolated helpless and to fail in the end in this society.
Key Words
Gatsby; the American dream; tragedy; personification
摘 要
《了不起的盖茨比》是20 世纪20 年代美国著名作家菲茨杰拉德的一部反映美国梦破灭的小说,也是一则被赋予了深刻含义,充满譬喻和警句的语言。本文从盖茨比之梦的实质、盖茨比性格中的不足以及社会原因等多方面探讨了导致盖茨比梦毁人亡这一悲剧必然因素。 菲茨杰拉德曾这样那个时代的特点：一切神明都统统死光，所有战争都已经统统打完，所有信念都已经统统完蛋。爵士乐时代的人蔑视一切传统的价值观念，反叛老一辈人所遵从的道德风范。 小说结尾，作者更是以人们的冷漠和盖茨比葬礼的冷冷清清彻底反映了20 世纪20 年代美国社会人性的冷酷与丑恶。在这样的社会，盖茨比从一开始就注定是孤立无助，注定是要失败的。 您可以访问中国科教评价网（www.NsEac.com）查看更多相关的文章。
关键词
盖茨比; 美国梦; 悲剧; 化身
Introduction
Scott. Fitzgerald is a prominent novelist in the American literature, owned the title of the spokesman of the Jazz Age and the laurel of poet. From the contents and thoughts, the creative traits, his book the Great Gatsby is a real masterpiece of Fitzgerald, which made him get success in writing. As soon as it was published publicly in 1925, the Great Gatsby gained many critics’ affirmation and praise, becoming as one of the most excellent works in the 20th century. “The famous poet and critic Aerate said that the Great Gatsby took a great progress in American novels since Henry James.”(Donaldson, 1984: 283) In this novel, with a brief and serious style, the author vividly described a tragedy caused by American Dream, and successfully molded a suffered figure Gatsby. He was the author’s favorite character, in that they had many things in common such as many experiences and spiritual virtues that are different from the comprehension and chase to American life of common people. Gatsby owned marvelous genius, incomparable resolute romantic volition to his dream as well as his loyalty to his ideal, which won high praise of the author. The essay, on one hand, gives deep sympathy to Gatsby about his tragedy, on the other hand, it indicates that it is vain and dangerous to seek American Dream at that time.
The paper is analyzing the inevitability of the hero Gatsby’s tragedy by examining the essence of Gatsby’s dream, the potential destructiveness in Gatsby’s characters and social-backgrounds that lead to Gatsby’s destruction.
I. Description of Gatsby’s Dream
A. Origin of Gatsby’s Dream
Gatsby’s dream originated from the American dream, and the so-called “American Dream”, in American society, especially in the period of exploiting the New Continent, formed and developed a rather commonly attracting ideal. It has long history dating from the period of European emigrants exploiting the New Continent, and this dream owns tremendous enough connotations of American desire and hope to spirits and materials. Consequently, many people defined it as the synthesis of Wealthy Dream, Transcendent Dream and Love Dream. Benjamin Franklin, the first and well-known embodiment and advocate of American Dream in the world, edified and encouraged people how to enrich their families and to fulfill American Dream by their struggle, especial in his Autobiography. From the birth of it to 1920s, American Dream of owing the success in materials to the individual virtues and struggles, was always publicized by the people as powerful as possible, and then without doubtness it became the ideal which average American people tried their best to struggle for day by day, and the fundental spiritual strength which prompted American Capitalism prosperity and maintained capitalism-social system generation by generation. Gatsby’s American Dream originated from his childhood: （科教范文网http://fw.NSEAC.com编辑发布）
“Then he returned the wallet and pulled from his pocket a ragged old copy of a book called Hopolong Cassidy “look here, this is a book he had when he was a boy. It just shows you.” He opened it at the back over and turned it around for me to see. On the last fly-leaf was printed the word SCHEDULE and the date September 12, 1906 and underneath:
Rise from be……………………………………… 6.00 A.M
Dumbbell exercise and wallscaling……….6.15-6.30A.M
Study electricity, etc……………………….7.15-8.15 A.M
Work …………………………………………8.30-4.30P.M
Baseball and sports…………………..4.30-5.00P.M
Practice elocution, poise and how to attain it 5.00-6.00P.M
Study needed inventions……………..7.00-9.00P.M” ( Fitzgerald, 2002: 206)
Above-mentioned shows that on the last fly-leaf of Hopolong Cassidy Gatsby used to read were recorded his transcending decision and a piece of strict timetable for working. Over so many years, Gatsby always persisted in it and observed it.
From the Schedule, as everyone knows, Franklin and Addison, giving a good example, depended on the struggle by themselves and got a success at last and their stories, which made every one believe that each youth could become a millionaire or the president of U.S in the future. In their age, the novels describing American Dream were best-sellers, but they gave the preaching contents: As long as one person was honest, patient and independent, he would have the equality with every one to do everything, namely, it is possible for him coming from the poor family to become a rich and noble person, while Gatsby was one of the believers of it. The dream which seemed to happen in fairy tales was the endless infinite power that encouraged Gatsby struggle for it. The author contact Gatsby’s pursuit with European emigrants’ ancient desire to New Continent, and Franklin, representing American Dream and its invert forms later, defined Gatsby’s tragedy as huge historical background and deep typical senses. The traditional model of American Dream, as many critics and writers pointed out, were full of falsity, especially under the condition of capitalism developed rapidly, and polarization intensified increasingly. It made a point of evidence that Gatsby made a fortune, relying on personal virtues, diligence and frugality. Since his childhood, Gatsby used to abide by Franklin’s teaching, and try to practice the main inquire of the traditional model, following his own comprehension and the background of 20-century society in U.S. it is vagary for one person to come to the fore, who only depended on virtues, diligence and frugality, however, Gatsby‘s story of getting rich just certified it. When he was young, Gatsby could not gain any appropriate consequence that he wanted to get, so that he was surrendered by his beloved lover Daisy, for he was penniless and fameless at that time. And later he absurdly became a millionaire. Obviously, it ought to be tremendous irony for him to believe in American Dream. By all appearances, as were same with other magnates at that time, Gatsby still understood and practiced following principles. Theoretically, borderland, (here referred to the whole American) were equal paradise to every one, and the reward completely owed to diligence, frugality and good luckiness, but in fact, the rewarding often depended on trickiness, greed and mercilessness, as well as cruel ruthlessness and completely rotten means. It is the American dream, but it is the origin of Gatsby’s dream. （科教范文网 fw.nseac.com整理）
B. Essence of Gatsby’s Dream
Even if his dream originated from American dream, the essence of Gatsby’s dream is the essence of American dream. With his growing, Gatsby’s American Dream went by an evolution when he was young. He dreamed making a good fortune, transcending common people and getting rid of poorness as much as the heroes written by Ben Franklin and Horatio Alger. Later he met Daisy by chance and then lost his heart to her, thus Daisy became the personification of his perfect ideal and the embodiment of concentrating his entire ideal, and the he endeavored to do everything in the direction of them. Because in his mind, Daisy represented all beautiful creatures of the upper class society in America, and in his memory, the first love between Daisy and him seemed to be a human fairyland, whereas, the cruel reality was that he lacked rich family supporting him and his love. The great disparity of their status made him sense that he had no right to touch her hand. “Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth impressions and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above hot struggles of the poor.” (Fitzgerald, 2002: 98)
So having lost Daisy, he desperately earned much more money, and fantasized about recapturing his beloved—Daisy with money when he was rich enough, afterwards, he really made a fortune. “Once I wrote down on the empty space of a timetable the names of those who came to Gatsby’s house that summer, including film stars, boarders, duke, prince, etc. (Fitzgerald, 2002: 13)” , while the narrator Nickel’s finn servant informed me that Gatsby dismissed every servant in his house a week ago and replaced them with half a dozen others. Gatsby became very rich beyond people’s imagination, nearly owned magical power, could gather all rich men and dismiss servants and employ any one, and even made West Egg become a constant magnificent feast. Surely, what have been finished was not to depend on the traditional teaching but illegal deals in gangdom or underworld, however, luxurious life could not bring Gatsby a little happiness, since in essence, he was different from those who sought for benefits and fames. In Jazz Age, wealth was not the most significant to Gatsby, while what he only recalled was to repeat the past with Daisy day and night and to get the lost pure love. After he got rich, he bought a luxurious mansion in front of Daisy’s house across the bay. “If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your house across the bay,” said Gatsby, you always have a green light that burns all nights at the end of your dock.” (Fitzgerald, 2002: 110) Almost five years, Gatsby never stopped recalling his first lover Daisy. “He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fine or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” (Fitzgerald, 2002: 113)
As a result, the more perfect his ideal became, the more far away reality was. （科教作文网 zw.nseac.com整理）
C. Symbol of Gatsby’s Dream
In the novel, the green light represented that innocent Gatsby looked forward to the future, and at the same time longed for the history, namely, the green light represents his dream.
“Gatsby believed the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther….And one fine morning. So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Fitzgerald, 2002: 188)
American Dream actually originated from the past, and made him sincerely persist in the traditional ideal foundation; however, when he was borne back ceaselessly into the past, he made efforts for exploring various possibility in the future. To some extent, Gatsby’s love to Daisy reflected his wonderful memory of the past. Four years before, he realized her and then loved her. It was deeply engraved on his mind of original love. In the long time, to the love of missing Daisy, Gatsby memorized that Daisy fantastically became a beautiful miracle story in his mind, a historical event with wonderful experiences and a fairy maiden in a mysterious Vail. He desired to make the historical past transform to the future with same historical meaning through his own persistent efforts. And this green light representing his good ideal echoed with a fresh green breast of the world mutually at the end of this novel, which made Gatsby’s experiences indicate the whole America’s ones; nevertheless, after five years when Gatsby met Daisy again, the miracle Daisy had lost her original glory. The distinction between ideal and reality was huge.
““And she doesn’t understand,” he said: “she used to be able to understand. We’d sit for hours—”He broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and discarded favors and crushed flowers.
“I wouldn’t ask too much for her,” I ventured, “you can’t repeat the past.”
“Can’t repeat the past?” He cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out reach of his hand. “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,” he said, “nodding determinedly she’ll see.””(Fitzgerald, 2002: 130-1)
“It was like that. Almost the last thing I remember was standing with Daisy and watching the movie picture director and his star. They are still under the white plum tree and their faces were touching except for a pale, thin ray of moonlight between them. It occurred to me that he had been very slowly bending toward to her all night this proximity, and even while I watched I saw him stoop one ultimate degree and kiss at her cheek. “I like her”, said Daisy, “I think she’s lovely.”” (Fitzgerald, 2002: 127) （转载自科教范文网http://fw.nseac.com）
But the rest offended her—and inarguably, because it wasn’t a gesture but an emotion. Daisy liked the movie picture star, because the star had no any virtual thought and connotation. She, who was just a furnishing, a prop, except for the image on the screen, had no any practical sense, and as for her, beauty meant a concrete body. In effect, she completely separated from the realistic environment in which human beings lived, and became a solid gesture. The narration and speaking was actually Daisy’s profession of the life belief, so here she asserted the attitude to emotions and the principles of actions. In essence, her emptiness and superficiality inevitably led to his indifference in emotion and corruption in morality. Daisy was not the figure that Gatsby described and chased perfectly in his mind, but a scrumptious representative in Jazz Age (When he wrote to Parkinson, F. Scott. Fitzgerald said that Jazz Age referred to the period of ten years during May 1st, 1919 and Oct. 1929 when the stock-market prices went down), and typically essential personification in the worldly society. Of love and marriage, she was also a failure, for her voice was full of money.
““She’s got and indiscreet voice,” I remarked. “It’s full of -----” I hesitated.
“Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly.
That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the symbols’ song of it……high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl……”(Fitzgerald, 2002: 143)
Without doubtness, Daisy was the concrete embodiment of epicurean: money first and material prominent.
B. Bad Virtue
Contrast with Gatsby’s hospitality, spoon and romantic, Daisy possessed neither romantic ideals like Gatsby nor the real sacrificial bravery of sacrificing for the ideal, only to desire for comfortable worldly life. It was true that she loved Gatsby, but later in order to enjoy magnificent and comfortable life, she married Tom against her wills.
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