ABSTRACT:The Great Gatsby tells us a love story about how the main character, Jay Gatsby, counts Daisy who is his first lover. It is a story about love and money, while also a tragedy about how a dream of love and money is to be broken. This paper first explores the definition of the American dream, that is, whether you are rich or poor, the opportunities are equal to everyone, and then analyses Gatsby’s Dream of being wealthy and gaining love to reveal the disillusionment of the American dream. The author shapes the protagonist as an ordinary person who gets into the upper class from the lowest class. However Gatsby doesn’t understand the real role that wealth plays in reality. In order to gain Daisy’s love and pursue his dream, he exerts all his efforts and spends all his money and eventually it costs his own life. His death is accompanied with the disillusionment of his “American dream”. Secondly, the paper analyses the supposed relationship between love and money in Gatsby’s American dream and compares Daisy’s epicurean values about Life with Gatsby’s Perfect and Illusionary Dream. Lastly, it explores the value embodied in the American dream. In conclusion, Gatsby is not attracted by the wealth itself. What he pursues is the various illusions which the wealth brings to him. Similarly, Daisy whom he wants to get is just an empty illusion that he looks forward to having that kind of life. What he really wants is a new social status and the mysterious feel of owning wealth, but the reality is not the one that he imagines to be. No matter how much money he has, he cannot reach the paradise which he envisions.
Key Words: American dream; love; money; disillusionment
摘要:《了不起的盖茨比》以主人公盖茨比对初恋情人黛西的热烈追求为主线，讲述的既是一个关于“爱情与金钱”的传统浪漫故事，又是一个“金钱与爱情”之梦如何破灭，最终演变成一场并不浪漫的悲剧性故事。本论文从以下两个方面入手：一是综述美国梦的定义，即人无论贫富贵贱，机会人人均等；并分述《了不起的盖茨比》中主人公杰伊·盖茨比的财富梦和爱情梦，揭示美国梦的扭曲过程，并反思美国梦的破灭及其原因。作者在作品中所塑造的主人公盖茨比从社会的最底层步入社会的上层，并获得了经济上的巨大成功，但他却不理解财富在现实社会中所真正起的作用。为了追求黛西——他心中至高无上的理想，他不惜花大价钱，甚至是自己的生命。更可悲的是，他到死也没有意识到美国梦和现实的格格不入，他的最终死亡也标志着美国梦的彻底毁灭。二是从美国梦想中金钱与爱情的关系入手，通过对比黛西金钱第一，物质至上的享乐主义人生观的具体体现和盖茨比所追求的浪漫，完美的梦幻式理想，再结合具体文本，阐述小说中所渗透的美国梦思想所体现的价值观。文章结论：盖茨比其实不是被财富本身吸引，他追求的更多的是财富所能带给他的各种幻想，同样包括他追求的戴西只是他所向往的生活的一个空虚的影像而已。他真正想要的是一个新的社会地位和拥有财富的神秘感，但现实并不是他所想象的那样，不管他拥有多少金钱仍然不能达到他所认为的“天堂”。
关键词：美国梦，爱情，金钱，破灭
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