Research on Real Meaning of American Dream in Great Gatsby

哈爾濱工程大學外語系 150000

◆Abstract：The broadest meaning of the American Dream can be understood from two aspects. For individuals， great success in material wealth can be achieved through unremitting efforts. For nations， the United States has become a place of democracy， equality， and freedom that citizens around the world aspire to. However， Gatsby has always been regarded as a typical example of the disillusionment of the American Dream. Through his tragic life and the historical background at that time， it can be seen that the realization of the American Dream， for individuals， is not only the enrichment of material life， but also the enrichment of spiritual life. For the country， the realization of the American dream not only means the material prosperity of the United States， but also means that while realizing the American dream， more attention should be paid to the spiritual construction of the people and the solution of social problems.

◆Key words：American dream; Gatsby; spiritual life

1 Introduction

In the past decades， American Dream has always been a popularly discussed issue. According to some theories， this concept began from the arrival of May Flower， and in different historical periods， it is endowed with different meanings. F. Scott. Fitzgerald， as one of most popular writers in the world， not only tells a story about a man called Gatsby from rags to riches， but describes something profound about American Dream and its realization. In other words， he not only narrates dramatic life experience of Gatsby， but reveals the meaning of American dream through social life in 1920s， which reminds readers to think about real meaning of American Dream.

2 Basic introduction about Gatsby

Gatsby， a man who got his achievements from nothing， was thought as the typical character of realizing American dreams in 1920s. Immigrated from the old and poor west land to New York， he was educated to behave like a gentleman from a noble family by his “old sport”， an old sailor saved by him accidentally in a sea journey. After the death of his friend， Gatsby made his mind to serve for the army. Once in his visit to the local ball， he fell in love with Daisy at first sight， a girl of native noble family. Daisy was like an angel in Gatsbys eyes， charming， pure， pulchritudinous and perfect. He decided to succeed in any possible way to be qualified enough to marry her. Gatsby then thought marrying Daisy as his dream.

In America， the time Gatsby was living had been experiencing the great conflict between prohibition for alcohol and rapid growth of human material wealth. People held strong desire for pleasant sensation brought by drunkenness. Therefore， Gatsby found his golden boat and became a man of wealth. But when he came back to find his old lover， Daisy， he was shocked to be informed that she has married to Tom， a brawny， rich， brash dude from Chicago. Gatsby built his house across from Toms and had big parties every weekend holding hope for his “green light”， Daisy back. A short period of happiness and delight existed when Gatsby and Daisy held each other in their breasts again and that disappeared from the time when Daisy killed Myrtle accidentally， his husbands secret lover. Out of deep love and care for Daisy， Gatsby took the responsibility of car accident and made plans to go away together with her. However， things always change and Daisy betrayed him. Gatsby failed and that failure cost his life. He was killed by Myrtles husband.

Born from a poor family but not giving to the dilemma， Gatsby lived his remarkable， outstanding， hardworking but not perfect life. Daisy completed him but also killed him from the deep heart. To some degree， the tragedy was a must because the contradiction between Daisy and him was inevitable. Gatsby experienced as an idealist dreaming for his rich life with Daisy， but she had changed to a peacockish woman drunk in the sea of money， ostentation and cavity.

3 What American Dream means from a general point of view

For decades of years， most American citizens from lower classes are always deeply in faith of American Dream. F. Scott. Fitzgerald， a novelist and playwright who witnesses the “Jazz Age”（Fitzgerald 6）， not only narrates dramatic life experience of Gatsby in his greatest novel---the Great Gatsby， but reveals his understanding of American dream through social life in 1920s， peoples extravagance and hypocrisy， which reminds readers to think about real meaning of American dream.

For one thing， American Dream means to achieve a material success. The concept “American Dream” constantly encourages numerous immigrants to fight in an American way for themselves and their off-springs. “…the overwhelming majority of Americans still believe in the ideal of the American Dream---that is， if they work hard， they and their children can have a better life. And also， they still hope that the American Dream will exist again， if not for them， then for their children.” （Kearny 36-37）. According to Kearny， “If we look at the immigration patterns of the 1900s， we see that the greatest numbers came at the beginning and at the end of the century.” （Kearny 5） Therefore， more and more immigrants poured into this country dream of becoming rich and prosperous. This is the major reason that makes up the long history of American immigrants. And this is also why Gatsby works hard before he met Daisy. To some extent， realizing his American dream “from rags to riches”（Wang） is his holy mission because he thinks he was “a son of god”（Fitzgerald 54）. Gatsby is only one of the representatives of hard-working and diligent people. His strong desire for material success reflected real thoughts of common lower-class citizens at that time.

For another thing， American Dream should mean a psychological harmony. To achieve this dream not only means a material success， but the state of mental comfort. Once a person wants to be rich overnight， there must be something extremely lucky， such as winning a lottery， or extremely illegal and dangerous.Gatsby became rich by selling alcohol secretly. But his spiritual faith was nothing but Daisy. It is because Gatsby treated Daisy as the only spring of his efforts after he met Daisy that he couldnt retrieve his “green light”（Sun 33）， his real spiritual faith， though along with his numerously grand banquets and uncountably luxurious belongings. The imbalance between his loneliness in mind and his great success in material contributes to his destined failure with Daisy and tragic end. From a wider perspective， in the past decades， only a tiny fraction of the population from thousands of millions of ordinary people fighting for their American dreams achieved richness. But for those who cant be rich for sure， they just have been “alienated” （Deng 114） and became the cost of long fruitless sufferings. They are facing their biggest life tragic---blank minds. Therefore， American Dream should mean a psychological harmony. Its a concept that have been developed. Just as Chen proposed， “It is the emotional and psychological growth of individuals as well as material and spiritual growth of the nation.” （Chen 35）.

American Dream means self-achievement. Self-achievement is a process that one person finds his cultural identity about who you are and what you are fighting. For American culture， Dong called it a “Dream Culture” （Dong 12-13）. Because its a big dream consisting of millions of dreams of common people. And its a culture where any groups of people have an access to their cultural identities. “For the black， chasing equality is to realize their “American Dream”; for white homeless people， a practically warm family is their “American Dream”; for persons in power， “American Dream” means to spread their American values to every corner of the world; for the lower-class people， higher salary; for women， the liberation and for homosexuals， the legitimacy.”（Dong 12-13）Those groups are exploring more chances and possibilities to find their ecological niches in that “Melting pot” （ Kearny 5） and their values of existing and meanings of fighting. It is a compound word that highlights the personal blessedness. Out of natural pursuit for better life， they hold faiths and desires to go forward against sorrows and pains.

4 What American Dream means from a historical view

From a positive view， American was the greatest country in the world at that time， where people from all over the world came to pursue their self-achievements and realize their dreams. The 1920s was not only Fitzgeralds personal golden age， but for America as a whole.The 11 years from the end of the First World War in 1918 to the onset of the Great Depression as a result of the Wall Street crash in 1929 are known as the “Jazz Age” （Fitzgerald 6-7）or the“Roaring Twenties”（Fitzgerald 6-7）.During this period， the United States made great progress in all aspects of economy， society and culture. It was successfully promoted to be the richest country in the world and became the birthplace of modern consumerism. During this period， people not only enjoy the satisfaction brought by material abundance， but also enjoy the pleasure brought by mental anesthesia. People firmly believe that the realization of the American Dream is the realization of material wealth of great success.

From a passive perspective， the concept of America Dream was facing a danger with bad events that happened in the 20th century. Two world wars attack a huge blow to the spirit. “The lost generation” （Wang 163） could not find their faiths any more. Great Depression makes economic systems paralyzed and common grassroots jobless in the 1930s. Watergate reminds citizens of the revival of conspiracy theories， and the shortage of material resources and surge of environmental problems poses a threat to Americans confidence （Wang.164）. Therefore they began to be lost in their faith and the concept of American Dream is not as solid as before.

5Conclusion

After finishing reading Gatsbys story and witnessing his tragic ending， a fact that his American dream to some degree cant be achieved completely is self-evident. The reason why he was lost is he treated Daisy， the girl he thought keeps loving him as before， as his“green light”， his spring of fighting. His failure and tragic begins from the moment that he met Daisy again. He lost his spiritual guide. In a general way， American dream not only means a big success of materials， but fulfillments of souls. If not， a person is more likely to get blank and lost. If the process of realizing ones American Dream doesnt equal to that of ones self-realization， he will lose his own cultural identity finally. He might cant find his real place and his peace anymore. Therefore， Fitzgerald reminds people to introspect their dreams themselves. If they realizing their dreams without paying attention to their spiritual development， they might get tragical endings like Gatsby.

Works Cited

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[2]Deng，Niangang.Tuo，Li.“The Disillusionment of the Ideal Dream -- The Great Gatsby and the American Dream.”Foreign Literature Studies.03.（1997）. Print.

[3]Dong，Xiaochuan.American Culture.People Press： Liu Zhihua. 2006. Print.

[4]Edward.N.Kearny. American Ways.Pearson Education，Inc.Lisa Kearny. 2014. Printed.

[5]F.Scott.Fitzgerald. Great Gatsby. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Wang Fengyue.2010. Print.

[6]Sun，Zhangping.“The Withering of The American Dream---A New Reading of F.S.Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby.”（CNKI）.Nanjing Normal University.May.2005. Master dissertation.

[7]Wang，Weiping.“Interpretation of the American Dream.”Journal of Wuhan University of Technology （Social Sciences Edition）.30th.April.2001.164-167.Print.