Abstract

“American Dream” means a kind of belief in the United States that through unremitting efforts and struggle will people have a rich life. In the beginning, “American Dream” emphasized more on the spiritual pursuit of freedom and democracy than the pursuit of money. However, people become more interested in the latter one which makes American Dream lose its real value.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald has been widely regarded as one of the great American writers in the Jazz Age. The Great Gatsby he wrote is widely considered as a seminal work on the fallibility of the American Dream. Through analyzing the character’s American Dream in this novel, this thesis is aimed at exploring the delusion process and reasons of American Dream. Firstly, it summarizes and comments on the works about American Dream and The Great Gatsby, and briefly analyzes their reflection on American Dream; secondly, it analyzes Gatsby, Daisy and Tom’s American Dream and the reasons why they deluded; thirdly, analyzing the symbols in this novel, like green light and Gatsby’s banquet, which might assist in demonstrating the theme; lastly, it concludes the main findings in this thesis.

Through analyzing the delusion of characters’ American Dream and some symbols, this thesis aims to explore that we should not pursue too much materials.

Key words: American Dream, The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, delusion, symbol

摘        要

“美国梦”让人们相信在美国只要通过自己不懈的努力和奋斗就能拥有富裕的生活。在“美国梦”诞生的早期，更多强调对自由和民主的精神追求。随着人们对物质享受的过度追求，“美国梦”开始变质。
菲茨杰拉德是“爵士时代”的发言人，他出版的《了不起的盖茨比》被誉为反映20年代“美国梦”破灭的最出色的小说。本文从该小说入手，以文章主要人物的美国梦为线索，探讨其美国梦破灭的过程和原因。本文首先评析关于“美国梦”和《了不起的盖茨比》的文章，简要指出其对“美国梦”的反映，其次分析主人公盖茨比、黛西和汤姆的美国梦及其破灭的原因。再次分析文章中有助于表现主题的象征事物，如绿光、盖茨比的派对。最后重申文章的主要结论。
本论文通过剖析小说中人物“美国梦”的破灭和一些象征着美国梦的事物，指出不能过度追求物质享受

关键词：美国梦，《了不起的盖茨比》，菲茨杰拉德，破灭，象征