Abstract
 
Francis Scott Fitzgerald is a representative novelist of the “Lost Generation” in American literature. The Great Gatsby, one of Fitzgerald’s masterpieces, helps him establish his status in literature. This novel makes a vivid description of the disillusion of the hero--Gatsby’s love dream. This paper throws some deep insights into the theme of the novel, that is, the disillusion of American dream of the young generation. American dream makes the point that every American, poor or rich, has the equal right to pursue happiness and success, including wealth, career, love, etc. However, in the real society of America at that time, it was merely an unrealistic dream. In recent years, American Dream has been heatedly discussed again. Under the new historical and political background, American Dream has its new interpretations. Therefore, it is of great significance to the modern society to make a research on American dream of the early 1900s.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses rich symbolism from the characters to details and scene, which plays an important role in deepening the theme and strengthening the artistic expression. This paper mainly focuses on the symbols in the novel to explore the pursuit and disillusion of American Dream of Gatsby. It is hoped that the paper will be helpful to readers have a better understanding of the novel.

Keywords: American Dream; symbolism; pursuit; disillusion

摘要

弗•司各特•菲茨杰拉德是美国文学“迷惘的一代”中的代表小说家之一，《了不起的盖茨比》是菲茨杰拉德的一部巨作，也确立了他在文学史上的地位。小说生动地描述了主人公盖茨比的爱情梦想，深入洞察主题，即年轻一代人的美国梦的破灭。美国梦指出，每一个美国人，无论是贫穷还是富有，都有平等的权利去追求快乐和成功，包括财富，事业，爱情等。然而，在当时美国的现实社会里，这仅仅是一个不切实际的梦想。近年来，美国梦被再次热烈讨论。在新的历史和政治背景下，美国梦有了其新的阐释。因此，研究20世纪90年代初的美国梦是对当下社会具有重要的现实意义。
在《了不起的盖茨比》中，菲茨杰拉德运用了大量且丰富的象征手法，通过从人物，细节到背景象征的运用，来突出主题，加强艺术表达。本文分析象征主义的手法，有助于说明盖茨比对“美国梦”的追求以及“美国梦”的破灭。希望本文能对读者更好地理解小说有帮助。

关键词：美国梦；象征手法；追求；破灭