美梦还是噩梦-《愤怒的葡萄》的美国梦主题研究_英语论文

Good Dream or Nightmare——The Study of American Dream on The Grapes of Wrath

摘要

约翰·斯坦贝克是20世纪美国最伟大的作家之一。他一生经历坎坷却创作出了大量的优秀作品。《愤怒的葡萄》创作于1939年,一经问世，就得到了来自全世界的美誉。小说中乔德一家怀抱着“美国梦”到加利福利亚州寻找致富的机会，但是梦想破碎，等待他们的仍然是失业、饥饿和困苦。遭遇的这些失败让他们对心中一直幻想的“美国梦”渐渐地失去了信心，意识到唯有自己反抗才有出路。

 “美国梦”是一个亘古不变的话题。随着时代的发展，“美国梦”也在不断的变化着。“美国梦”究竟是什么？是美梦还是噩梦？不同的学者也从不同的角度进行了研究。有些人认为“美国梦”是一种美国精神，人们只要通过自己的努力就能获得成功的机会。而有些人则认为实现“美国梦”不仅要通过自己的努力和拼搏，还要有各种社会关系。

在《愤怒的葡萄》中，农民们虽然生活艰苦，但是他们至始至终团结一心，坚持奋斗，因为他们心中有着“美国梦”。一开始，这个美国梦是丰满的，给予人希望的，激励人的。但是随着面临的问题越来越多，他们发现这个美国梦是令人心碎的。本文将从经济、社会和自然因素来揭示下层人民的悲惨命运，分析造成美国梦破碎的具体原因。虽然最终梦想幻灭，造成了种种悲剧, 但是那种追求梦想、团结一致的精神永垂不朽。

关键词:  约翰·斯坦贝克；《愤怒的葡萄》；美国梦

Abstract

John Steinbeck was one of the most important American writers in the twentieth century. In his life, he experienced ups and downs and created a lot of work. His famous novel The Grapes of Wrath was created in 1939. When it was published, the novel enjoyed a great fame all over the world. Having the American Dream in their mind, the Joad went to California to look for opportunities to get rich. However, the American Dream was broken at last. They were still unemployed, hungry and miserable. The Joad gradually lost their confidence in American Dream due to these failures. They realized that success can only be achieved through revolt.

The American Dream is always a timeless topic. With the development of the society, the American Dream is constantly changing. What is the American Dream? Is it a good dream or a nightmare? Different scholars study from different angles. Some believe that the American Dream is the national spirit of the United States. Everyone has the opportunity to achieve success by hard work. Others argue that the realization of American Dream not only needs hard work, but also other social connections. 

In the The Grapes of Wrath, despite the tough life, the farmers untied to struggle for a better life because they had American Dream in their minds. At first, the American Dream was full, giving people hope and encouragement. Gradually, facing more and more problems, they found that the American dream was heartbreaking. This paper tries to reveal the tragic fate of the lower classes from the perspectives of economic, social and natural factors and analyze the reasons of the disillusion of the American Dream. Although the disillusion of the American Dream caused all sorts of tragedies, the spirit of pursuit and solidarity will be forever remembered.

Keywords:  John Steinbeck   The Grapes of Wrath   American Dream