摘　要

作为爵士时代的代言人，菲兹杰拉德根据自身的经验创作了《了不起的盖茨比》这一作品。通过大量的象征手法，菲兹杰拉德深刻地描绘了爵士时代的社会背景，以及成功地展现了十九世纪二十年代人们心中美国梦消逝的过程。美国梦有其独特的渊源，在不同的历史时代美国梦的核心价值和道德观都有所差别。本文通过比较盖茨比爱情至上的梦以及黛西金钱至上的梦，分析盖茨比所处的历史时代及其对美国梦认识，得出盖茨比美国梦破灭的原因，即历史时期的变化，世俗观念以及个人性格的悲剧因素，从而揭示了盖茨比本人的理想与现实世界之间的差距，表明在特定的历史阶段盖茨比美国梦破灭的必然性，也揭露了盖茨比对于美国梦认识的偏失。通过解析盖茨比美国梦的破灭，本文加深了读者对美国梦的理解，同时达到警示作用，在追求梦想的过程中不要迷失自我。

关键词：美国梦；道德观; 历史时代; 破灭
 
Abstract

As the spokesman of the Jazz Age, F.Scott Fitzgerald, based on his own experience, writes his masterpiece- The Great Gatsby. Through abundant symbols, Fitzgerald profoundly depicts the social prospect of Jazz Age and successfully displays the process of the doom of the American Dream which exists in most people of 1920s. The American dream has its unique origin, the core of values and ethics are different in different historical periods. This paper reveals the difference between the ideal and the reality of Gatsby’s goal, by comparison of Gatsby’s love-oriented dream and Daisy’s money-oriented dream, analyzing the historical period of Gatsby and his understanding of American dream. Then, the author drew a conclusion that the doom of Gatsby’s dream resulted from the change of historical periods, the profane concept and the tragedy of personal character. This paper also indicated the certainty of the doom of American dream in Gatsby’s historical stage by depicting the wrong understanding of American dream. By analyzing the doom of the Gatsby’s American Dream, this paper has deepen reader’s comprehension of American Dream, and reader can be alert that one do not get lost when pursuing dreams. 

Key words: American dream; ethics; historical period; doom

1 Introduction
  
1.1 Background of this paper
When human history developed into the twentieth century, the American Dream became the main aim of Americans. At the end of the First World War a most important literary development took place- the modernistic trend, in which a new group of writers called “the lost generation”rebel against former ideas and values, but replaced them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. American literature of 1920s was characterized by disillusionment with ideals and civilization that capitalist society advocates. The lost generation in the 1920s showed a sense of loss after the war.
Among American writers during the 1920s, F.Scott.Fitzgerald was crowned with the most credible achievement in the United States. His masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, conjured up the image of the roaring twenties, the age of flapper, and the Jazz Age. In The Great Gatsby F.Scott.Fitzgerald found a metaphor for an entire era when he portrays Gatsby’s world as an endless extravagant party, in which flappers seek frenetic pleasure. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a parody of the American Dream, because in the experience of Jay Gatsby we have the corruption of the Dream itself - that is, the traditional devotions wasted on spiritual gumdrops and material trivialities.