阶级决定命运-从角色阶级的角度分析《了不起的盖茨比》_英语论文

Class Determines Fate—the Analysis of The Great Gatsby from the Perspective of Characters’ Class

摘要

《了不起的盖茨比》是美国文学史上一部杰出的文学作品，它的问世奠定了其作者弗·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德在美国文学史上不可撼动的地位，同时也让菲茨杰拉德成为了“迷惘的一代”和“爵士时代”的代言人。《了不起的盖茨比》通过对盖茨比这位“美国梦”的追随者从追梦到幻灭的描写，揭示了“美国梦”浮华下的虚无及其注定走向破灭的本质。

《了不起的盖茨比》不仅是菲茨杰拉德的代表作，也代表了美国整个二十世纪二十年代。一经出版，此书就引起了巨大的轰动，引来了无数的关注。因此，自出版以来，一直不乏对该小说进行的深入分析。直至现在，国内外学者已从各种角度对该小说进行了剖析和研究。本文则从角色阶级的角度分析《了不起的盖茨比》一书。通过对阶级的思考、主要角色的深入分析及命运对比，本文揭示了在二十世纪二十年代的美国社会中，阶级决定命运这一现象及其产生的原因。同时，本文也指出随着时代的变化，阶级与命运的关系发生了转变。

关键词：了不起的盖茨比 阶级 命运

Abstract

The Great Gatsby is a brilliant work in American literature. It earns F. Scott Fitzgerald an unshakable position in the history of American literature. Meanwhile, it makes Fitzgerald the spokesman of “The Lost Generation” and “Jazz Age”. The Great Gatsby depicts Gatsby, pursuer of the American dream, his experiences from dream pursuance to disillusionment, which exposes the nihility hidden behind the sumptuous American dream. It also reveals that American dream is doomed to be shattered.

The Great Gatsby is not only the representative of Fitzgerald’s literary work, but also the representation of America during the whole 1920s. Once published, the book aroused great sensation, attracting countless attention. Thus, the thorough study on this book has never been scarce since its publication. Until now, scholars at home and abroad have worked on this book from various perspectives. This paper prefers to analyze this book from the perspective of characters’ class. Through the reflection on class, in-depth analysis of the main characters and the contrast of their fates, this paper uncovers the phenomenon that class determines fate in 1920s American society and explores the reason behind it. Meanwhile, this paper also points out that the relation between class and fate has changed with time.

Key words: The Great Gatsby class fate

Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER ONE  THE DIFFERENCE IN CLASS 3

1.1. TWO TRADITIONAL THEORIES OF CLASS 3

1.2 THE CLASSIFICATION OF MAIN CHARACTERS’ CLASS 4

CHAPTER TWO  THE SKETCH OF MAIN CHARACTERS’ RELATION 6

2.1 THE INTERRELATION OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS 6

2.2 THE INTERACTION OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS 8

CHAPTER THREE  CLASS DETERMINES FATE 12

3.1 CLASS DETERMINES DIFFERENT FATES 12

3.2 WHY CLASS DETERMINES FATE 15

3.3 CHANGING RELATION BETWEEN CLASS AND FATE IN PRESENT AMERICA 17

CONCLUSION 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY 20

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 21