On the Shattering of American Dream in the 1920s

文档字数：4597
Abstract
 Fitzgerald is one of the representatives of the American “Lost Generation” and his writing career started in 1920s when The First World War just ended. What’s more, the 1920s is also the time of Renaissance in the USA. The name of the writer is one of the most outstanding writers in the 1920s America. The author described the 1920s America in his own viewpoint and called this time as “the most colorful and enjoyable time in American history”.
 American Dream is a specific word which has influenced the American people from generation to generation. The United States has once been the dream of the European people after Columbus discovered the new land.
 Just as mentioned above, the 1920s America is one of the best times in American history. People lived a better and richer life at that time. The whole people were encouraged by the American Dream. They believed that as long as they worked hard, they would change their life. The novel The Great Gatsby written by Fitzgerald has been vividly described that scenes especially the living condition of the rich.
 This thesis mainly focuses on the American dream of the Great Gatsby and mainly analyses the shattering of the American dream. Through the description of the novel, this thesis shows a vivid scene of the American dream. The first part of the thesis gives brief introduction of the novel as well as the author; the second part analyses the American Dream in this novel; the last and the most important part the thesis analyses why the American Dreams shatters these days.

Key Words: American Dream; shattering; freedom; fortune

摘要
 菲茨杰拉德是第一次世界大战后美国在20世纪20到30年代所兴起的“迷惘的一代”的杰出代表，同时，20年代还是美国文艺复兴运动的开始。第一次世界大战后，美国社会经济发展迅速，人们生活水平快速提高，美国进入了所谓的“喧嚣时代”，菲茨杰拉德正是这一时代美国作家中的佼佼者。
 
 “美国梦”是影响美国人们一代又一代的一个特定词汇。从最开始，美洲就是作为欧洲人的一个梦而存在的。自哥伦布发现新大陆开始，欧洲人就觊觎美洲这片沃土。他们希望能够在这片没有被现代文明开发过的处女地上建立自己的家园，清教徒更希望能在这里弘扬自己的宗教。他们打败了土著居民，不费吹灰之力就从土著人手中得到了这片土地。从那时起，美国梦就已经成为了人们生活中的一部分。美国梦简单来说就意味着人们可以在这片自由的土地上，通过自己的努力获取更多的财富和上进的机会。
 
 正如上文所说，20年代的美国是整个美国历史上最好的时代之一。在那时，人们过着更为富足、奢华的生活。整个美国都被“美国梦”所笼罩，人们相信只要努力工作就能够改变自己现在的生活。小说《了不起的盖茨比》正是通过作者菲茨杰拉德生动的笔触向读者展现了这样一幅画面，在这其中尤为突出的是当时美国富人的生活。20世纪20年代还被称为美国的“爵士时代”。
 
    本文主要关注的是《了不起的盖茨比》中的美国梦。笔者重点关注美国梦的幻灭过程，在对小说进行深刻分析的基础上，本文向人们展示了一幅生动的美国梦的画面。其中第一部分简要介绍了这部小说以及小说作者，第二部分分析了小说中的美国梦，第三部分同时也是最重要的一部分，笔者对于美国梦在今天的社会为何走向没落作出了分析论述。

关键词：美国梦，破灭，自由, 财富

Contents
Acknowledgements i
Abstract in English ii
Abstract in Chinese iii

Ⅰ.  Introduction 1
 Ⅱ.  Brief Introduction of The Great Gatsby and the Author 4
 2.1  Brief Introduction to the novel and Gatsby’s dream 4
 2.2  The Author Fitzgerald’s Experience and his Dream 5
Ⅲ.  The American Dream in the novel 11
 3.1  The Start of American Dream 11
 3.2  The “Realize” of American Dream 12
 3.3  The Shattering of American Dream 12
Ⅳ.  The Reason Why American Dream Shatters 14
 4.1 The Material “American Dream” 14
 4.2  Personal Feeling of Nowadays American Dream 15
 4.3  The social Condition of the 20th century 15
Ⅴ.  Conclusion 16

Bibliography 17