盖茨比失败的原因.doc

Factors of Contributing to Gatsbys Failure外国语学院 英语专升本1003班 杨婷婷 2010010100The Great is a novel written by the famous writer F. Scott.Fitzgerald in the 1920s， which is about disillusionment of American Dream, and it is still a piece of language endowed with deep connotations and full of metaphors and mottoes. This paper analyzes Gatsbys tragedy by examining the essence of Gatsbys dream, the potential destructiveness in Gatsbys characters and the social-historical backgrounds leading to Gatsbys destruction. Fitzgerald once summarized peoples characters at that time as “all Gods have died, all the wars have been over, and all the faiths have faded away.”(Fitzgerald, 1991: 253) American people living in Jazz Age looked down on the traditional faiths and betrayed moralities and customs that their ancestors used to abide by. At the end of the novel, Gatsbys lonely funeral ceremony and peoples indifference completely reflected humanities coolness and ugliness in the society of U.S.A in 1920s. At the very beginning, Gatsby was destined to be isolated helpless and to fail in the end in this society. Key WordsGatsby; the American dream; tragedy; personification Potential Destructiveness in Gatsbys Characters .The inevitability of Gatsbys tragedy was related to the potential destructiveness in his character, namely, some factors in his character caused his life and ideals destroyed.A. Obstinate CharacterGatsby was the believer and follower of American Dream who thought the opportunity was equal to everyone in the society and fantasized to prompt into upper class society like Daisy. Nevertheless, the upper class society which represented by Daisy and Tom never put up with Gatsby as well as his being. Gatsby would not accept the fact he never did it but Gatsby still struggled for his dream repeating the past with Daisy and got rich by hook or crook, especially by illegal methods. So he was obstinate in his mind, actually, he was not stupid but foolish. Doubtlessly, it is inevitable that his American Dream was disillusioned.B. Foolish CharacterActually, Gatsby is a real foolish gentleman, because he fantasized about getting a pure love, and thought of a worldly beauty as the symbol of perfect ideal. In order to get his ideal love, Gatsby struggled his feet from the low class society and devoted himself to Daisy. He innocently believed that as long as he got rich, he could repeat the past with Daisy. Different from other people in Jazz Age, Gatsby was a pure romantic gentleman.C. IgnoranceIn fact, Gatsby was serious ignorance of the upper class society for he did not recognize the essence of the upper class society clearly: For Gatsby, the realistic background of Daisys family and her social intercourse actually became a kind of ideal symbol that is beyond reality and agreement with the myth circumstances. As an unknown and penniless man, Gatsby was just beyond reach, so he spent all his energy struggling for and weaving his ideal and dream,so that he could not see through the hypocrisy and the ugliness hidden in beauty and luxuryC. InnocenceThe most obvious destructiveness in his characters is that Gatsby was very innocent. It is a poetic and romantic scene that hid serious facts. Under the wasted and luxurious surface hidden, Gatsbys inner heart went by crueltyhe must think and build desire for reality of ideals in the fantasy and impractical scene, and finally find someplace beneficial for him to become practical possibility.Therefore, the obstinate, foolish, ignorant and innocent characters are destructive characters, and they make Gatsbys tragedy become more possible.The Decadent and Ruthless Social RealitySuperficially, Gatsby was only the sacrifice of a tri-angle love,nonetheless, the author did not only describe fate that a young and penniless man spent all his energy earning enough money and then won the lost real love, but whats more important, deeply reacted to the social reality the author lived in, and revealed American complexmodern experience and sharp social contradiction, namely, it was the struggle between the New Bourgeoisie and the old bourgeoisie whose statuses were stable. Gatsby was one of typical representatives of American Dream that all generations of American people pursued. He was really penniless before he had fulfilled his ideals, but at last he was overwhelmed by decadent ruthless society. No matter how did Gatsby struggle for it, he could not get into the upper class society; no matter how did he do hard, he could not get Daisy and her heart; even if he tried his best effort to fulfill his dream, he was destined to fail at last.