Abstract
The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s greatest novel, exposed the essence of the American Dream. This novel portrays the leading character Gatsby who is a simple and unsophisticated young man with risky spirit in quest of his own dream. This paper analyses the disillusion of American Dream - on the theme of the Great Gatsby. In my paper, I will divide this theme to be three parts to analyze. Firstly, it is a brief introduction of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and the Great Gatsby. It is mainly an introduction of the author, the era of the novel. On this base, we can understand the theme better with the time background. Then is the overview of the American Dream. Through this chapter, we will know more about the definition of American Dream. In the end, it will analysis on the disillusionment of American Dream and its causes. It’s through the theme of this novel to represent the development of Gatsby’s dream-seeking and reveals the disillusionment of the American Dream. It describes the significance through the author himself and today’s life, and finally reveals the brutal realism and decline in morals and ethics in the Jazz Age.
The Great Gatsby is a criticism of the novel which has a great influence on society. It put forward a theme: how to grasp your own power to declare war against your fate and how to shatter the illusion of the American Dream, then into reality to live a better life.
Keywords：The Great Gatsby; the American Dream; disillusionment; Jazz Age
Contents
Abstract I
Contents I
Introduction 1
1. The Novel and the Brief Introduction about the Author 2
1.1. About Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and His Works 2
1.2. About Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s Novel -The Great Gatsby 2
1.3. The Creation Background of The Great Gatsby 2
2. The overview of the American Dream 3
2.1. American Dream’s Definition 3
2.2. The Social Environment in Pursuit of the American Dream 3
2.2.1 The Universality in Pursuit of the American Dream 3
2.2.2 The Causes of the American Dream’s Universality 4
3. The Analysis of the American Dream in the Novel 4
3.1The Development of Gatsby’s Dream 4
3.1.1 The Process of Gatsby’ Dream-Seeking 4
3.1.2 The Essence of Gatsby’s Dream 6
3.2 The Disillusionment of Gatsby’s Dream and Its Causes 6
3.2.1 The Disillusionment of Gatsby’s Dream 6
3.2.2 The Reasons for the Disillusionment 7
3.3 Social Significance of the American Dream 8
Conclusion 8
