Abstract

The Pursuit of Happiness is a movie adopted from the real life experience of Chris Gardner, a famous financial investment expert in the US. It tells that in the background of 1981, the time of the Great Depression, Being a salesman, Chris is so poor that his wife left him without the courage to bear the poverty. Later, he works in a stock investment company as a intern without salaries, and is driven away by the house lord for lack of money. He also sleeps in the public toilet and receives handouts from the church. Although embracing so many difficulties, Chris never gives up and finally gets success. The paper explores the individualism in American dream on the foundation of the Pursuit of Happiness. By analyzing the individualism reflected in the movie, the writer makes people to think about the significance of individualism in achieving one’s goals. This paper consists of three parts: in the first part, it gives a brief introduction to the pursuit of happiness, the American dream and the relationship between American dream and individualism; then it deals with the American individualism, including the definition, the origin and development of individualism and its impact on the development of America. And finally the paper states the individualism reflected from the movie by analyzing the main characters--- Chris Gardner and Christopher, the lines, and analyzing the spirit of individualism, including the spirit of self, respect to others and responsibility to families, pointing out the promotion of individualism in achieving one’s American dream. 

Key words: the Pursuit of Happiness; individualism; American dream

摘  要

电影《当幸福来敲门》是根据美国黑人投资专家克里斯.加纳的真实故事改编而来。它以1981年大萧条时期美国旧金山为背景，讲述了销售员克里斯.加纳生活潦倒，妻子琳达不堪忍受贫穷离他而去的故事。留下他与5岁儿子相依为命。在这之后，为了生存，他面对重重困难：在一个股票投资公司作无薪实习生、被房东赶出房间、在公共厕所睡觉、接受救济等等。这一切困难都未将克里斯.加纳打倒，相反，最终他取得了成功。本文以《当幸福来敲门》为基础，探究美国梦中的个人主义。笔者通过分析电影中所反映的个人主义，使人们了解个人主义在实现个人目标过程中所表现出的积极意义和重要性。
本文分为三部分：首先，简单介绍了电影《当幸福来敲门》、美国梦以及个人主义和美国梦的关系；然后介绍了个人主义，包括个人主义的内容、起源和发展以及其对美国社会发展的影响。最后，本文从电影出发，通过对电影主人公--克里斯.加纳和克里斯托弗及其台词的分析，通过对电影中个人主义精神--自我精神、对他人的尊重以及对家庭的责任这三方面进行阐述，指出电影中所反映的个人主义以及其在实现美国梦中所表现出的积极推动作用。

关键词：《当幸福来敲门》；个人主义；美国梦