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1、THE GREAT GATSBY F. Scott FitzgeraldKey FactsFULL TITLEThe Great GatsbyAUTHORF. Scott FitzgeraldTYPE OF WORKNovelGENREModernist novel, Jazz Age novel, novel of mannersTIME AND PLACE WRITTEN19231924, America and FranceDATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION1925NARRATORNick Carraway; Carraway not only narrates the
2、story but implies that he is the books authorPOINT OF VIEWNick Carraway narrates in both first and third person, presenting only what he himself observes. Nick alternates sections where he presents events objectively, as they appeared to him at the time, with sections where he gives his own interpre
3、tations of the storys meaning and of the motivations of the other characters.TONENicks attitudes toward Gatsby and Gatsbys story are ambivalent and contradictory. At times he seems to disapprove of Gatsbys excesses and breaches of manners and ethics, but he also romanticizes and admires Gatsby, desc
4、ribing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone.TENSEPastSETTING (TIME)Summer 1922SETTINGS (PLACE)Long Island and New York CityPROTAGONISTGatsby and/or NickMAJOR CONFLICTGatsby has amassed a vast fortune in order to win the affections of the upper-class Daisy Buchanan, but his mysteri
5、ous past stands in the way of his being accepted by her.RISING ACTIONGatsbys lavish parties, Gatsbys arrangement of a meeting with Daisy at NicksCLIMAXThere are two possible climaxes: Gatsbys reunion with Daisy in Chapters 56; the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom in the Plaza Hotel in Chapter 7.
6、FALLING ACTIONDaisys rejection of Gatsby, Myrtles death, Gatsbys murderTHEMESThe decline of the American dream, the spirit of the 1920s, the difference between social classes, the role of symbols in the human conception of meaning, the role of the past in dreams of the futureMOTIFSThe connection bet
7、ween events and weather, the connection between geographical location and social values, images of time, extravagant parties, the quest for wealthSYMBOLSThe green light on Daisys dock, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, the valley of ashes, Gatsbys parties, East Egg, West EggFORESHADOWINGThe car wr
8、eck after Gatsbys party in Chapter 3, Owl Eyess comments about the theatricality of Gatsbys life, the mysterious telephone calls Gatsby receives from Chicago and Philadelphia1. Analysis of Major CharactersJay GatsbyThe title character of The Great Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who
9、rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he achieved this lofty goal by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for weal
10、th and sophisticationhe dropped out of St. Olafs College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a
11、young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Gatsby immediately fell in love with Daisys aura of luxury, grace, and charm, and lied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her. Daisy promised to wait for him when he
12、 left for the war, but married Tom Buchanan in 1919, while Gatsby was studying at Oxford after the war in an attempt to gain an education. From that moment on, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, and his acquisition of millions of dollars, his purchase of a gaudy mansion on West Egg, and
13、 his lavish weekly parties are all merely means to that end.Fitzgerald delays the introduction of most of this information until fairly late in the novel. Gatsbys reputation precedes himGatsby himself does not appear in a speaking role until Chapter 3. Fitzgerald initially presents Gatsby as the alo
14、of, enigmatic host of the unbelievably opulent parties thrown every week at his mansion. He appears surrounded by spectacular luxury, courted by powerful men and beautiful women. He is the subject of a whirlwind of gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is
15、ever introduced to the reader. Fitzgerald propels the novel forward through the early chapters by shrouding Gatsbys background and the source of his wealth in mystery (the reader learns about Gatsbys childhood in Chapter 6 and receives definitive proof of his criminal dealings in Chapter 7). As a re
16、sult, the readers first, distant impressions of Gatsby strike quite a different note from that of the lovesick, naive young man who emerges during the later part of the novel.Fitzgerald uses this technique of delayed character revelation to emphasize the theatrical quality of Gatsbys approach to lif
17、e, which is an important part of his personality. Gatsby has literally created his own character, even changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby to represent his reinvention of himself. As his relentless quest for Daisy demonstrates, Gatsby has an extraordinary ability to transform his hopes a
18、nd dreams into reality; at the beginning of the novel, he appears to the reader just as he desires to appear to the world. This talent for self-invention is what gives Gatsby his quality of “greatness”: indeed, the title “The Great Gatsby” is reminiscent of billings for such vaudeville magicians as
19、“The Great Houdini” and “The Great Blackstone,” suggesting that the persona of Jay Gatsby is a masterful illusion.Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.(See Important Quotations Explained)As the novel progresses and Fitzgerald deconstructs Gatsby
20、s self-presentation, Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent, hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. Gatsby invests Daisy with an idealistic perfection that she cannot possibly attain in reality and pursues her with a passionate zea
21、l that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as Americas powerful optimism, vitality, and individualism become subordinate
22、d to the amoral pursuit of wealth.Gatsby is contrasted most consistently with Nick. Critics point out that the former, passionate and active, and the latter, sober and reflective, seem to represent two sides of Fitzgeralds personality. Additionally, whereas Tom is a cold-hearted, aristocratic bully,
23、 Gatsby is a loyal and good-hearted man. Though his lifestyle and attitude differ greatly from those of George Wilson, Gatsby and Wilson share the fact that they both lose their love interest to Tom.Nick CarrawayIf Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgeralds personality, the flashy celebrity who pursu
24、ed and glorified wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East. A young man (he turns thirty during the course of the novel) from Minnesota, Nick travels to New York in 1922 to learn the bond business. He
25、 lives in the West Egg district of Long Island, next door to Gatsby. Nick is also Daisys cousin, which enables him to observe and assist the resurgent love affair between Daisy and Gatsby. As a result of his relationship to these two characters, Nick is the perfect choice to narrate the novel, which
26、 functions as a personal memoir of his experiences with Gatsby in the summer of 1922.Nick is also well suited to narrating The Great Gatsby because of his temperament. As he tells the reader in Chapter 1, he is tolerant, open-minded, quiet, and a good listener, and, as a result, others tend to talk
27、to him and tell him their secrets. Gatsby, in particular, comes to trust him and treat him as a confidant. Nick generally assumes a secondary role throughout the novel, preferring to describe and comment on events rather than dominate the action. Often, however, he functions as Fitzgeralds voice, as
28、 in his extended meditation on time and the American dream at the end of Chapter 9.Insofar as Nick plays a role inside the narrative, he evidences a strongly mixed reaction to life on the East Coast, one that creates a powerful internal conflict that he does not resolve until the end of the book. On
29、 the one hand, Nick is attracted to the fast-paced, fun-driven lifestyle of New York. On the other hand, he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging. This inner conflict is symbolized throughout the book by Nicks romantic affair with Jordan Baker. He is attracted to her vivacity and her sophistic
30、ation just as he is repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people.Nick states that there is a “quality of distortion” to life in New York, and this lifestyle makes him lose his equilibrium, especially early in the novel, as when he gets drunk at Gatsbys party in Chapter 2
31、. After witnessing the unraveling of Gatsbys dream and presiding over the appalling spectacle of Gatsbys funeral, Nick realizes that the fast life of revelry on the East Coast is a cover for the terrifying moral emptiness that the valley of ashes symbolizes. Having gained the maturity that this insi
32、ght demonstrates, he returns to Minnesota in search of a quieter life structured by more traditional moral values.Daisy BuchananPartially based on Fitzgeralds wife, Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nicks cousin and the object of Gatsbys love. As a young debut
33、ante in Louisville, Daisy was extremely popular among the military officers stationed near her home, including Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy, claiming to be from a wealthy family in order to convince her that he was worthy of her. Eventually, Gatsby won Daisys heart, and they
34、 made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.After 1919, Gatsby dedicated himse
35、lf to winning Daisy back, making her the single goal of all of his dreams and the main motivation behind his acquisition of immense wealth through criminal activity. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfectionshe has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he
36、 longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsbys ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats
37、behind her money. Daisy proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby in Chapter 7, then allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself was driving the car. Finally, rather than attend Gatsbys funeral, Daisy and Tom move away, leaving no forwarding addres
38、s.Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. She is capable of affection (she seems genuinely fond of Nick and occasionally seems to love Gatsby sincerely), but not of sustained loyalty or care. She is indifferent even to her own infant daughter, never discussing
39、her and treating her as an afterthought when she is introduced in Chapter 7. In Fitzgeralds conception of America in the 1920s, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocratic East Egg set.2. Themes, Motifs & SymbolsThemesThemes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a lite
40、rary work.The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920sOn the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during
41、 the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess
42、.Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz musicepitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws ev
43、ery Saturday nightresulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage
44、that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began t
45、o spend and consume at unprecedented levels. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracyfamilies with old wealthscorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned
46、the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound
47、cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsbys parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. The clash between “old money” and “new money” manifests itself in the novels symbolic geography: East Egg represents the
48、established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich. Meyer Wolfshiem and Gatsbys fortune symbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging.As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter 9), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. In
49、 the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. The main plotline of the novel reflects this assessment, as Gatsbys dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in their respective social statuses, his resorting to crime to make enough money to impress her, a