《了不起的盖茨比》中主人公盖茨比形象浅析

An Analysis of the Image of Gatsby in the Great Gatsby 《了不起的盖茨比》中主人公盖茨比形象浅析

Major: English

专业：英语

Author:

作者：

指导教师：曹晓玲

University: Eastern Liaoning University

学位授予单位：辽东学院

Time: June, 2014

完成时间： 2014年6月

辽东学院本科毕业论文原创性声明

本人郑重声明：此处所提交的本科毕业论文《<了不起的盖茨比>中主人公人物形象浅析》是本人在导师指导下，在辽东学院外语学院学习期间独立进行研究所取得的成果。据本人所知，论文中除已注明部分外不包含他人已发表或撰写过的研究成果，对本文的研究工作做出重要贡献的个人和集体均已注明。本声明的法律结果与导师无关，将完全由本人承担。

作者签名：日期：年月日

辽东学院本科毕业论文（设计）版权使用授权书

本论文作者及指导教师完全了解“辽东学院论文版权使用规定”，同意辽东学院保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交毕业论文的复印件和电子版，允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权辽东学院可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，也可采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编毕业论文。

作者签名：

导师签名：

年月

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Upon the completion of this paper,An Analysis of the Image of Gatsby in The Great Gatsby,I am grateful to the professor who offers my sincere encouragement and generous support during the course of my study for the Bachelor?s degree.

First and foremost I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Mrs. Cao Xiaoling, who guided me with academic expertise, critical insights throughout each stage of my study and initiated me into my research. Her instruction enabled me to express my idea in a better way. Without her patient and insightful supervision, this paper would not be possible.

What?s more, I also extend my heart-felt thanks to my classmates and friends, for their valuable guidance and sincere help.

Last but not least, I would like to express thanks to my parents, for their encouragement and support.

ABSTRACT

The topic that the thesis aims at researching is an analysis of the image of Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. By analyzing the image of Gatsby, the reasons resulting in his tragedy and his peculiar and persistent attitude towards love are known by us and the ridiculous thought that common people are eager to become rich through his own endeavor is naturally reflected. The people like Gatsby in Jazz Age are deeply influenced by the capitalism but are at the bottom of the society. The miserable ending of Gatsby at last brings much attention to those who want to make a great fortune by taking advantage of the illegal opportunity instead of hard work. At the same time, Gatsby's incorrect attitude towards love also alarms people that love is not to pay out blindly but to demand equally, love is mutual, and the blind love will allow people to lose their lives eventually.

The thesis is divided into five parts. The first part introduces the background of The Great Gatsby. The second part is the literature review. The third part mainly analyzes the image of Gatsby from three aspects and is also the main body of the thesis. The key points are the personal image of Gatsby in different ways and the reasons giving rise to his love and life tragedies. However, the fourth part puts emphasis on analyzing the deeper factors of Gatsby's death, from which we can know that it is his individual disadvantages and the tempestuous society that lead to his tragic ending. At last, the fifth part is the ending of the thesis. Although Gatsby is a very ordinary person at the bottom of the society in those days, his example represents defects of the generation and the time at the moment. Literature reflects the realistic society. We can better understand the unequal positions of people under the capitalist system through vivid characters written by the author. Moreover, we are in the hope of arousing the attention of the young generation: young people should earn money with legitimate means, should have a better understanding of the society, and don't follow blindly or become enthusiastic about unhealthy ways and customs in the society. More important, we should establish positive life view, value view and love view.

Keywords:The Great Gatsby; Gatsby; image

摘要

本论文要研究的课题是《了不起的盖茨比》中主人公盖茨比形象浅析，通过分析盖茨比的形象以及造成他悲剧命运形成的原因，以及别具一格对爱情执着的精神这几方面入手来体现爵士乐时代盖茨比一类深受资本主义思想毒害却处在社会最底层的普通老百姓想要通过自身的努力成为人上人的可笑想法，最终盖茨比的悲惨解决也给了现在社会中一些不想通过刻苦努力想要投机取巧发大财人们以深深的思索，与此同时，盖茨比错误的爱情观也给现在的年轻人一个警醒：爱情不是一味的付出而是对等的索取，爱是相互的。盲目的爱情会让人失去理智甚至失去生命。

本论文将分为五个部分。第一部分介绍《了不起的盖茨比》的背景。第二部分是文献回顾。第三部分主要从三个方面分析了盖茨比的形象。第三部分是文章的主要部分从不同方面描述了盖茨比的个人形象以及造成他爱情和生命悲剧的原因。第四部分分析了盖茨比死亡的深层因素，从中我们可以知道他的悲惨结局是自身个人缺陷和动乱的社会双方面的造就。第五部分是论文的结论，尽管盖茨比是当时社会底层中的一个很普通的人，但他的事例代表的是一代人和那个时代的污点。文学反映了现实的社会，从作者笔下那些鲜明的人物中，我们可以了解到资本主义社会制度下人们地位的不平等，同时希望引起现代年轻人的思索：要通过正当的手段获得财富，要有自己独立的见解，不要盲从或热衷于社会上的不良风气，最重要的是要树立正确的人生观，价值观以及爱情观。

关键词：《了不起的盖茨比》盖茨比形象

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ I Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... II 摘要.............................................................................................................................................. I II Contents...................................................................................................................................... I V

1 Introduction (1)

2 Literature review (1)

3 Analysis of the Image of Gatsby (2)

3.1 The different features of Gatsby (3)

3.1.1 The different background of Gatsby (4)

3.1.2 The different imagination of Gatsby (4)

3.2 The dreamful image of Gatsby (4)

3.2.1 Gatsby?s dream of love (5)

3.2.2 Gatsby?s dream of career (6)

3.3 The lonely image of Gatsby (6)

3.3.1 His lonely life (7)

3.3.2 His lonely death (7)

4 The roots of Gatsby?s tragedy (8)

4.1 The self-factors (8)

4.2 The social factors (9)

5 Conclusions (9)

Bibliography (11)

An Analysis of the Image of Gatsby in the Great Gatsby 1 Introduction

Francis Scott Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896-December 21, 1940) is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in America of the 20th century and is considered a member of the “Lost Generation” About one hundred short stories and four long novels including This side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, Tender is the Night and The Great Gatsby which have been published during his whole writing. Beyond that he left an uncompleted novel, The Last Tycoon before he died. Fitzgerald?s novels have been regarded as a sign for the …Jazz Age?and he is called “spokesman in the Jazz Age”. Not only Fitzgerald?s novels work on different levels, but also give us memorable characters and events, as well as referring to the issues of American wealth and spirituality”.

As one of the classics in American literature, The Great Gatsby reveals the moral inanity and shame under the booming of the Jazz Age. When the book was published in 1925, it was widely accepted in American literature because Fitzgerald criticized the thought of ultra-individualism in the contemporary American society.

The Great Gatsby shows a subject of how the American dream influences the American characters: each of them has their own wish for their life of future, but their wish is only around wealth. To enjoy happiness from money is the main part of their life. Fitzgerald unites his experiences with his nation?s experiences and reflects the time features through the novel. Fitzgerald proposes the rise and fall of Gatsby, cleverly choosing a first-person narrator, Nick Caraway?s point of view. The Great Gatsby has been the first progress made in the American novel. It has become a sign of the American literature.

2 Literature review

Written in 1925, The Great Gatsby is one of the best known literary documents of this period. Many scholars have studied Fitzgerald?s works from different perspectives, for example the personal background, the characteristics and the subject. Over the past years the research on The Great Gatsby in the word has went through a

long and excruciating process. Lots of researchers have proposed different conclusions from different fields and wrote critical essays. Many of them studied the American dream in The Great Gatsby. Bewley Marius(1985) claims that the failure of Gatsby who seeks the American dream madly and explores the changes that happens in the American society, indicating obstructions which cannot be get across on the way to Gatsby?s aspire of success. Meanwhile, Color Symbolism is very popular during the 1920s, and some of them studied the Symbolic Colors in The Great Gatsby to find out the dreams and thoughts of characters. Of course some studied The Great Gatsby from the matter of style of freshness. “The Great Gatsby seems to be so different from what has otherwise engaged the passions of other writers in form and content.”(George Garrett, 2007). T.S.Eliot, a most influential critic of English, praised the novel was “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James.” The famous critic H.L.Mencken declared this novel “to be no more than a glorified anecdote.”

The famous Professor Wu Kunning first translated The Great Gatsby into Chinese in 1983. Since then, more and more Chinese scholars began discussing this novel, analyzing its symbolic colors, its subject and its forms of art. What Zhang Lilong (1998) has said, “In fact, The Great Gatsby is a recall and summarize of the process development of the American dream practical and historical point of views.”Also some analyses Gatsby?s tragedy. Wang Weiping (2004) argues that the Gatsby is a romantic dreamer of the past, who dedicated his life to realize his dream. Wang Yujuan (1998) claims that “Gatsby?s dream is also all American dreams.”

From all researchers about Francis Scott Fitzgerald?s famous novel “The Great Gatsby” all over the word, we can conclude that The Great Gatsby is a great novel that different people can have different point of views. But we can see that these researchers mostly concentrate on the American dream, the Symbolic Colors and the language. Nevertheless, a few researchers have studied the image of Gatsby. In the following, I?ll analyses the different images of Gatsby and find out the roots of Gatsby?s tragedy.

3 Analysis of the Image of Gatsby

Gatsby is an idealist persisting in pursuing his dream. When he is a young boy,

he has a Platonic idea that he deem he is the son of the God, so that he should devote his life to the God and devote himself to the profound, vulgar and gaudy beauty. When he meets Daisy, a girl from a prominent family, he still decides to pursue Daisy recklessly even though he know perfectly that their social positions are totally different: one is an unknown and stony-broke young man, the other is a rich girl living in an elegant and pleasant atmosphere. He has devoted himself to pursuing the dream and the charming and elegant Daisy is the embodiment of his dream. In order to achieve the wonderful life of reviving an old dream with his first love-Daisy (however, Daisy has already been married with a rich man-Tom before Gatsby goes abroad due to oversea battles.), Gatsby risks his life to earn money under the condition that both his body and mind are tired.

After Gatsby makes great fortune overnight, he spends much time and energy in arranging plans so as to see Daisy for a moment and tell her his miss. He buys a villa opposite to the house of Daisy, often holds luxurious banquets in it and looks forwards to sudden presence of Daisy someday. For this, he has been waiting for 5 years. With the help of Nick, a distant relative of Daisy, Gatsby has the chance to meet Daisy. Therefore, he is mad with joy since his dreams come true. It is the motional excitement that makes him exhausted just like a clock with a spiral spring wound too tightly. What he does is just for Daisy. He is passionately devoted to her even willing to undertake murder for her.

Nevertheless, the dream he has built in his life with much effort is nothing but a vulgar, empty, extremely selfish and flirtatious lady in reality. Gatsby is a Faustian person who struggles against obstacles endlessly. His life course presents an automatic inner development. Changes in life are peaks resulting from his past choices and experience. He is eager for an infinite state and never gives up his dream even when he loses his life.

In a next part, the thesis will attach much importance to introduce different features of Gatsby including the dreamful image of Gatsby and the lonely image of Gatsby.

3.1 The different features of Gatsby

Gatsby is a person with different characteristics. As a young man mad about money and love, he has different background and different imagination.

3.1.1 The different background of Gatsby

In the novel, the description of Gatsby gives us a series of questions. There are rumors that Mr. Gatsby kills a man or Mr. Gatsby is a German spy. Some people deny the previous information and say Gatsby serves for USA army in World War II. Some people argue that Gatsby is a bootleg liquor dealer. Many people deem Gatsby is not Emperor William but the German field marshal Hindenburg's nephew. The complex contradictory information effectively spells a person a mysterious line or contour. In fact, so many people go to the Gatsby?s home but know nothing about Gatsby as if a subtle homage to Gatsby. In addition, the origin of Gatsby?s property is not clear. But his character is very obvious, it is a contradiction that as if thinking of something in noise or feeling something is missing when gambling at high stakes. Of course that he feels lonely after he gathers lots of guests to his party is another contradiction. He gathers guests but stays away from them. When the band plays the symphony for the guests, Gatsby stands alone on the marble steps. When the guests revel in his garden, Gatsby become more and more dignified.

3.1.2 The different imagination of Gatsby

First of all, we can see that Gatsby is an ordinary person through Nick?s eye because he has a remarkable talent for hope. In fact, “I never find this romantic passion in others and cannot find in the future”. From what Nick has said, we can feel Gatsby is extraordinary refined with his unique imagination. As a romantic idealist, this remarkable talent seems to be the cornerstone of Gatsby. Even though he is just a poor boy named James.Ghez, he creates a Jay Gatsby finally. The poor James.Ghez has become the ideal Jay Gatsby and he is no longer an ordinary people. He regards himself as “The son of the Gold”.

3.2 The dreamful image of Gatsby

Gatsby, as a literature character, represents a generation of the society. His personality is very colorful, so that his image is dreamful. This chapter emphasizes Gatsby?s dream of love and Gatsby?s dream of career which fully reflect that Gatsby