Abstract

As an American short-story writer and novelist, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is famous for his depictions of the Jazz Age (the 1920s). His most brilliant novel The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, during a period when the economy in America was soaring after World War I. Literally, The Great Gatsby depicts a thwarted love story between Gatsby and Daisy. However, the theme of the novel, contains a much larger, less romantic extent, of which, family might be one. All the characters are from different families and they end up with different outcomes. The rich are still living luxurious life, while the poor turn out to be dead. To some degree, family is the potential reason that has caused their tragedy.
So, this thesis is based on the analysis of characters’ family in the novel, aiming to explore the family’s influence on an individual. This paper includes four parts. It firstly gives an overview of the story and its historical background. Secondly, by analyzing family wealth and family education，the paper sums up the influence of family on an individual. Then it looks back at the characters’ fate in the story and contrasts the influence of family with the characters’ fate. Finally, the author’s view on family’s influence in socio-cultural environment will be presented.

Key words: family; wealth; education; characters’ fate

摘  要

作为美国短篇小说家，菲茨杰拉德因描写19世纪20年的爵士时代而出名。他最著名的小说《了不起的盖茨比》出版于1925年，刚好是美国在一战后经济螺旋式上升的时期。从表面上看，《了不起的盖茨比》讲述的是盖茨比和黛西两人之间被挫败的爱情故事。然后，小说的主题远远超出爱情的范围，其中有一个就是家庭。所有的人物来自于不同的家庭，他们的结局也不同。富人们继续过着他们奢侈的生活，然后穷人们最后都丢掉了自己性命。某种程度上来说，家庭是造成他们悲剧的原因。
因此本论文基于分析小说中人物的家庭，来探索家庭对个人影响。论文由四部分组成。首先，论文介绍小说内容及其历史背景。接着通过分析家庭财富和家庭教育，来得出家庭对个人的影响。然后，论文回顾小说中人物的特点，分析家庭对人物的影响。最后从社会文化环境下，表达我对家庭影响的观点，作为论文的结尾。

关键词: 家庭；财富；教育；人物命运