The Social Perspective of "American Dream"

Disillusionment

1. Author

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896– December 21, 1940) was an American author of novel sand short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s. He finished four novels, This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and his most famous, The Great Gatsby. A fifth, unfinished novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon was published posthumously. Fitzgerald also wrote many short stories that treat themes of youth and promise along with despair and age.[1]

In 1925, the publication of his masterpiece" The Great Gatsby" established his position in literary history. "The Great Gatsby" is a performance of the "American Dream" disillusionment. The novel condemns the Unite States privilege’s selfish and rude. Fitzgerald sympathetic description of Gatsby’s tragedy, and point out that the tragedy comes from his fantasy of love of life. In 1934, Fitzgerald published another novel "Tender Is the Night", successful performance the upper-bourgeois' selfishness and corruption.[2]

2. Jazz Age

The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has lived on in American pop culture for decades. With the introduction of jazz came an entirely new cultural movement in places like the United States, France and England.

3. Lost Generation

The "Lost Generation" is a term used to refer to the generation, actually an age cohort that came of age during World War I. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway who used it as one of two contrasting epigraphs for his novel, "The Sun Also Rises." In that volume Hemingway credits the phrase to Gertrude Stein, who was then his mentor and patron.

In "A Movable Feast," which was published after Hemingway and Stein had had a

famous feud and fallen apart, and indeed after they were both dead, Hemingway reveals that the phrase was actually originated by the garage owner who serviced Stein's car. When a young mechanic failed to repair the car in a way satisfactory to Stein, the owner shouted at him, "You are all a generation perdue." Stein, in telling Hemingway the story, added, "That is what you are. That's what you all are...All of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation."

The term, therefore, does not refer to all of the expatriate artists who lived in Paris after World War I. It clearly, as is seen from the original quote as reported by Hemingway, refers to his generation, those who were members of the age classes called to duty in the "Great War." This generation included distinguished artists such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, John Dos Passos, Waldo Peirce, Alan Seeger, and, Erich Maria Remarque. It has alternately been used to describe the generation which participated in the Cultural Revolution in China.

4. Brief Introduction

Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island. Nick’s next-door neighbor in is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a gigantic Gothic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening for dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker. Nick also learns a bit about Daisy and Tom’s marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson. As the summer progresses, Nick garners an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself. Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsby tells Jordan that he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him if she knows that he still loves her. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. Their love rekindled, they begin an affair. After a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Gatsby. He is deeply outraged by the thought that his wife could be unfaithful to him. Tom announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal—his fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom. When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, they discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the

conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby’s life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick reflects that just as Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsby’s power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him ―great,‖ Nick reflects that the era of dreaming—both Gatsby’s dream and the American dream—is over.

5. Gatsby’s two dreams

Gatsby was born in a poor peasant family in the Midwest Court, during his childhood worship of Franklin and excited by the story of though hard struggle to achieve personal goal. However, because of the status and wealth, Gatsby eventually lost his lover Daisy. One of Gatsby's dreams is "getting rich". Gatsby believed "equal opportunity", in order to succeed, he work tirelessly to do many things. He do anything to earn money ,in just a few years, though work by illegal trade and other dishonesty things, a poor young man changed into a "nouveau riche." Although he is rich, his heart is extremely empty; he bought luxury homes, fine cars, seaplane and beautiful clothes, only to squander his money to fill the inner emptiness. This is a common feature of young people of that era.

Gatsby's another dream is "love dream." Served in the Army, he fell in love with rich girl Daisy, but he understands that he can't marry her. He is just a poor boy. In the eyes of Gatsby, Daisy represents the realization of all dreams, her house a symbol of Gatsby aspire to wealth and status. For him, Daisy is elusive. Realized that they have great gap in the wealth and social statue, Gatsby knew that this is not a solid foundation of love, is just fantasy. After Gatsby went to oversea, Daisy married Tom who is with money and rank, but she does not love him. They lived a glamorous life. Gatsby, however, believe that money can get Daisy back, relive the days of their passing away, determined to fight to achieve their dreams.

6. Dreams shattered and its root causes

Gatsby's dream is actually a combination of love and money. He believes that the money can get everything, but he is not the pursuit of money as the ultimate goal of the vulgar dream, he chased the money --- only for his ideal love fantasy. In the term of Gatsby the "dream of getting rich" and "Love Dream" are inseparable. The former is a means; the latter is a goal, as the latter without the former will never become true. Without money Gatsby and Daisy could never have the opportunity to rekindle old dreams, with a lot of money, Gatsby will be more confidence. Nick and Gatsby have

such a dialogue in the novel. Nick: "You can not rekindle old dreams." Gatsby: ―Of course I can!" Gatsby dare say so, because at this time he has strong material wealth. He is very confident that he can win Daisy back. But in reality in the United States, who only has enough money, can not achieve the American dream. Although Gatsby realized the dream of getting rich, he and Daisy are in different social classes. In the novel, the author says: "Even a rich person are no longer rich, he is also different from the poor"[3], obviously there is a unbridgeable gap between the upper class and lower class , suggesting that Gatsby's dream will inevitably burst.

The root of Gatsby's tragedy is the darkness and emptiness of capitalist society. "American dream" is essentially a spirit to inspire people to make progress, it has a positive meaning. From the 18th century to the 1920s, it created a brilliant material civilization and the United States Spiritual civilization. But in the 1920s, after the World War I, the American dream has been decadent, corrupt, and the original hard work, frugality, temperance and other values are weak; they were replaced by hedonism, extravagance and waste. After the World War I the U.S. youth realize the war is just a fight for the upper -class' interests, but bring millions of families death and grief. They feel cheated, and so disappointed, confusion, extreme spiritual emptiness, they then blind pursuit of material wealth, the formation of "money first" mentality. The "American Dream" that depend on the success of pure personal struggle was no longer exist.

7. Cycle theory and "The Great Gatsby"

There are three main areas in Frye's archetypal criticism: literary prototype, the overall literary theory and literary circle concept. One of the most representatives of the theory is ―literary circle theory".

Inspired by the form of nature life cycle, Fry knows that the evolution and development of literature and the development of nature life cycle are similar. In other words, people have birth and death, nature has alternating seasons, change of sunrise and sunset. Fry thinks that the form of literature has a similar with the life cycle, and even human civilization has to follow the law that germination, growth, prosperity and decline, and ultimately extinction.

In terms of the story structure, cycle theory is fully reflected in "The Great Gatsby". Nick is the narrator of the novel, the story begins with in the spring of 1922 Nick came from the eastern part of the Midwest home. Spring is the season of planting; all things are recovering from the silence of winter. In the warm and full of vitality of the spring, with a vision of a better future

Nick went to the east. Frye's cycle theory, as mentioned, the spring is the prototype of legend and fantasy poetry. The story of Gatsby began in the summer. Summer is a season of passionate, romantic, and has limitless possibilities. In the summer Gatsby revisit romantic with Daisy. The end of the summer, Gatsby dead for Daisy, The Fall came, in Frye's cycle theory, the fall and death are linked to the tragedy. The main line of the novel's plot development is in accordance with the order of season.

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