OntheSymbolisminTheGreatGats1

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1、了不起的盖茨比中的象征主义On the Symbolism in The Great GatsbyAbstract: The novel The Great Gatsby was written by Francis. Scott. Fitzgerald. In the novel, he portrayed characters and stressed the theme from a new point of view, by unique narrative techniques as well as appliance of images and symbols. So to som

2、e extent, he is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century in American literature. The novel reveals Gatsbys pursuit and disillusion of American Dream through the symbols of the color, main characters names and the name of places. The thesis will focus on the symbolism in The Great Gatsby; the

3、purpose is to let readers understand his novels and the age which he lived in. Key words: The Great Gatsby; symbolism; American Dream; 摘 要： 了不起的盖茨比是由弗兰西斯司各特菲茨杰拉德所写的一篇小说。在其作品了不起的盖茨比中，他不仅采用全新的视角，独特的叙述技巧， 而且运用大量的意向和象征主义书法来刻画人物、突出主题、统一结构。所以从某种程度上来说，可以认为他是20世纪美国文坛上最杰出的小说家之一。本文围绕颜色、主人公名字、地名等中心象征，分别从不同的方面表

4、现了盖茨比对“美国梦”的追求， 并揭示了“美国梦”的虚幻及其对人们灵魂的腐蚀。这篇论文将研究象征主义在了不起的盖茨比中的意义。目的是为了让更多的读者了解他的小说和他生活的时代。关键词：了不起的盖茨比；象征主义；美国梦；ContentsI. Introduction of the Author and the Novel The Great Gatsby1 A. Introduction of the author and his works.1B. Introduction of the novel The Great Gatsby.2II. Usage of Symbols in The G

5、reat Gatsby.4A. Some concepts about symbolism.4B. Different symbols in The Great Gatsby.5 1. Symbolic theme in the American Dream.52. Symbols about colors.83 Symbols about characters and their names.104. Other symbols in The Great Gatsby. .11III. Conclusion.12Works Cited14I. Introduction of the Auth

6、or and the Novel The Great GatsbyA. Introduction of the author and his works Francis Scott Fitzgerald is famous for novels and short stories in Jazz Age. He is mainly remembered as the spokesman and laureate of the Jazz Age and flaming youth. His life exhibits the failure of the American Dream. “The

7、 famous poet and critic Aerate said that The Great Gatsby took a great progress in American novels since Henry James.”(Donaldson 283) Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul Minnesota on September 24, 1896. The son of a failed wicker furniture salesman and an Irish immigrant with a large inheritance, Fitzge

8、rald grew up in a solidly Catholic and up-middle class environment. During the 1920s, he is a prominent novelist in the American literature, owned the title of the spokesman of the Jazz Age and the laurel of poet. Fitzgerald wrote the first novel The Side of Paradise. It is not really very good beca

9、use juvenile, but is historically interesting. It became immensely popular for the simple reason that it caught the tone of the age. Essentially autobiographical, the book describes Fitzgeralds sense of failure with his academic performance and the frustration of his dreams at Princeton. It portrays

10、 at the same time a generation, his generation, feeling frustrated with life in which all gods are dead, all wars are fought, all faith in man in shaken (Chang 214-215).On the strength of his one successful book, Fitzgerald won the expensive prize of Zelda, and began, in a sense, his onerous life of

11、 making money to support her. This affected his writing tremendously. The people who like Fitzgerald stormed into New York as the pattern of youth, wealth, and beauty and became the admiration of all who met them. In the early twenties, Fitzgerald wrote two collection: Flappers and Philosophers whic

12、h glittered with the image of the people who like Fitzgerald as the symbol of an American ideal (the word “flapper,” used to describe the new woman of the woman of the postwar period, became widespread henceforward), and Tales of the Jazz Age which, like Mark Twains The Gilded Age, gave its name to

13、an important historical period in the history of the country. The 1920s, or “the Jazz age,” was, in the words of Malcolm Cowley, “not so much a historical period as a legend of glitter, of recklessness, and of talent in such profusion that it was sown broadcast like wild oats.” It was a legend of “A

14、mericans adolescence before pain set in.” Fitzgerald became “the angel of the twenties” and his writings those of a man inside that legendary period. In 1922 Fitzgerald finished his second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned. The silhouette of Fitzgerald as the tragic hero of the period, first seen

15、in This Side of Paradise, became more definable here. And then his masterpiece The Great Gatsby is appeared in his mind. After this Fitzgerald wrote one more important book, Tender is Night, and some collections of short stories such All the Sad Young Men and Taps at Reveille. His last novel The Las

16、t Tycoon has not finished yet before he died. The author is in sure control of his powers, so that John Dos Passes sees “the beginning of a real grand style.” B. Introduction of the novel The Great Gatsby Fitzgeralds representative work is The Great Gatsby, one of the classics of modern American lit

17、erature. The story is told in the first person by Nick Carraway, a quite young Midwesterner. In the spring of 1922, Nick Carrway leaves his Midwestern home to enter the bond business in New York City. He rents a small house in West Egg, a village on Long Island made up largely of the summer mansion

18、of the newly rich. Next door to his house is the enormous home of Mr. Gatsby, whom Nick has yet to meet. One evening Nick dines with a distant cousin, Daisy Buchanan, who lives in nearby East Egg, the home of the long-established rich. Also present are her husband, Tom, and Jordan Baker, an attracti

19、ve young golfer. The Buchanans have been drifting aimlessly around the world for several years, and during his visit Nick learns that Tom has taken a mistress. Returning home, Nick sees Mr. Gatsby standing alone on his lawn, with his arms outstretched toward East Egg across the bay. Soon after, Tom

20、insists on introducing Nick to his mistress. A woman distinguished by “vitality” rather than prettiness, Myrtle Wilson lives with her husband over a gas station in a “valley of ashes” between Long Island and the city. Tom, Nick and Myrtle go to the city, where they are joined by Myrtles sister and a

21、 married couple living in the apartment below the one Tom keeps. Everyone gets drunk, and the party ends when Tom breaks Myrtles nose because she insists on uttering Daisy name. Nick is invited to one of Gatsbys parties and amidst the hordes of guests, he encounters Jordan Baker. They sit at a table

22、 and find their tablemats to be Mr. Gatsby himself. Later, Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby wants him to arrange a tea at his own little house, with only Gatsby, Nick and Daisy present. Nick learns that Gatsby and Daisy were in love before her marriage and that the mansion and the parties were all main

23、tained in the hope that she, or someone who knew her, would eventually arrive. The reunion takes place, and soon after, the parties cease. In the meantime, Nick has become involved with Jordan Baker, although he finds her “incurably dishonest.” One afternoon, Nick, Jordan and Gatsby have lunch at th

24、e Buchanans house, and in the course of the conversation Tom perceives that his wife is in love with Gatsby. They all go to the city, with Tom and Gatsby driving each others cars, and on the way Tom stops at Wilsons gas station. There he learns that Wilson has found out that Myrtle has a lover, alth

25、ough Wilson does not know the mans identity, and he is planning to take his wife away. The party rents a hotel room in the city, where Gatsby tries to force Daisy to tell Tom that she loves him and has never loved her husband. When she balks at this last demand Tom steps in to reveal Gatsbys crooked

26、 business dealings, browbeating his wife out of her insists that Daisy and Gatsby return to Long Island together in Gatsbys car. On their return trip, Daisy and Gatsby pass Wilsons gas station, with Daisy at wheel. Myrtle, who has been locked up by her distraught husband, recognizes Gatsbys car as t

27、he one Tom was driving earlier. She rushes onto the road and is killed. Daisy and Gatsby continue on, but Toms car stops. Tom tells Wilson secretly that the car he was in earlier was not his own. That night, Gatsby watches over the Buchanan house to see that no harm comes to Daisy. When Gatsby arriv

28、es home, Nick goes over to his house and hears and the true story of his past. Born James Gatsz, he was the son of an unsuccessful farm couple in the Middle West, but he has changed his name and way of life at 17, when he was taken up by a rich yachtsman named Dan Cody. When Cody died, Gatsby joined

29、 the army and was stationed near Daisys home in Louisville. He courted the wealthy 18-year-old under the pretence that he was her social equal and fell in love with her. Unable to return from the war and marry her before she wed Tom Buchanan, Gatsby determined eventually to have enough money to win

30、her back. After delivering this tale, Gatsby and Nick sit some more, Nick reluctant to leave Gatsby alone. Eventually, however, Nick catches the train to New York and his office. That afternoon George Wilson makes his way to Toms house in search of the yellow car. Tom maliciously tells him that the

31、car belongs to Gatsby and George immediately leaves for Gatsbys house. He finds Gatsby floating in the swimming pool and he shoots him. He then shoots himself. Nick discovers Gatsby dead in the pool when he returns from New York. Nick finds himself in charge of making all the funeral arrangements fo

32、r Gatsby. Although he wants to provide him with a decent funeral he is unable to find anyone willing to attend. The Buchanans have left the country without a word and others who had once attended Gatsbys parties now say that he got what he deserved. In the end, only Nick, the “Owl-Eyed” man, the ser

33、vant and Gatsbys father are there. A short time later, Nick meets Tom Buchanan on the street and learns that Daisy has never admitted her guilt. Tom still thinks that it was Gatsby who killed Myrtle and so he destructive, that it is part of their nature. Gatsby, he sees, really was “worth the whole

34、damn bunch of them put together.” II. Usage of Symbols in The Great GatsbyA. Some concepts about symbolismIn literature, a symbol is a thing that refers or suggests more than its literal meaning. There are quite a lot of symbols that appear in ordinary life, for the use of symbol is by no means limi

35、ted to literature and art. For instance, a dove is a symbol of peace, the flag is the symbol of a country, and the cross is the symbol of the Christian religion. There are symbols adopted by a whole society and recognized by all members of such a society. There are other kinds of symbols, such as th

36、e figure 3, which may be called abstract symbols. But symbols in literature works are different from either of the other types. Generally speaking, a literary symbol does not have a common social acceptance, as does the flag; it is, rather, a symbol the poet or the writer only in the context of that

37、 work. It differs from the kind of symbol illustrated by the figure 3 because it is concrete and specific. A poet or a writer uses symbols for the same reason he/she uses similes, metaphors, and images, etc: they help to express his/her meaning in a way that will appeal to the senses and to the emot

38、ions of the reader. Most symbols, in literature and everyday life as well, possess a tremendous condensing power. Their focusing on the relationships between the visible and what they suggest can kindle a flame of response from the heat the reader broods and they bring it into a single impact. Of co

39、urse, in literature works, symbols, unlike those in ordinary life, usually do not “stand for” any one meaning, not for anything absolutely definite; they point, they hint, or, as Henry James put it, they cast long shadows (Gu and He 98). Symbol is generally acknowledged to be one of fiction it is no

40、 less frequently and no less important. The fact is that, when a reader reads a work of fiction, his focus is mostly cast upon the plot, the character, and the language used, so that the symbols are automatically background on the readers part. But in some novels and stories, the symbolism looms so

41、large that the reader will fail to get a comprehensive understanding of the work without paying special attention to the symbols. In a broad literary sense, a symbol is trope that combines a literal and sensuous quality with an abstract or suggestive aspect (Yuan and Qian 62). It is anything which s

42、ignifies something; in this sense all words are symbols. In discussing literature, however, the term “symbol” is applied only to a word or phrase that signifies an object or event which in its turn signifies something, or has range of reference, beyond it. Some symbols are “conventional” or “public”

43、: thus “the Cross,” “the Red, White, and Blue,” and “the Good Shepherd” are terms that refer to symbolic objects of which the further significance is determinate within a particular culture. Poets, like all of us, use such conventional symbols; many poets, however, also use “privates” or “personal s

44、ymbols.” Often they do so by exploiting widely shred associations between an object or action and a particular concept; for example, the general association of a peacock with pride and of an eagle with heroic endeavor, or the rising sun with birth and the setting sun with death, or climbing with eff

45、ort or progress and descent with surrender or failure. Some poets, however, repeatedly use symbols whose significances they largely generates themselves, and these pose a more difficult problem in interpretation. B. Different symbols in The Great GatsbyThe deep meaning reflected by F. Schott Fitzger

46、alds descriptions in his masterpiece the Great Gatsby of the three major female characters, Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle are analyzed. In the text, all the three women are selfish, hollow, materialistic, and all of them have tragic ends. In a profound sense, Fitzgeralds description of them can be seen a

47、s a part of the symbolism used in the whole novel, and it deeply reflects the writers serious thinking on the American social value. The reason of the novels success is that different colors are adopted to portray different characters in the novel. 1. Symbolic theme of the American DreamThe American

48、 Dream is based on the ideology that each one can be successful through his own efforts and cultivating his qualities. It is the ideal of opportunity for all, of advancement in a career or society without regarding to ones origin. It is originally the dream has been ruined by the unworthiness of its

49、 object-money and pleasure. Traditionally, Americans has sought to realize the American dream of success, fate and wealth through thrift and hard work. Francis. Scott. Fitzgerald, in the 1920s, which is about disillusionment of American Dream, and it is still a piece of language endowed with deep co

50、nnotations and full of metaphors and mottoes. 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 253). American people living in Jazz Age looked down on the traditional faiths and betrayed m

51、oralities and customs that their ancestors used to abide by. The traditional model of American Dream, as many critics and writers pointed out, were full of falsity, especially under the condition of capitalism developed rapidly, and polarization intensified increasingly. It made a point of evidence

52、that Gatsby made a fortune, relying on personal virtues, diligence and frugality. It is the American dream, but it is the origin of Gatsbys dream. The story of The Great Gatsby is a good illusion to symbolize the failure of the American Dream. The dream of beings rich and winning Daisy back begins t

53、he story. But the novel end with Gatsbys death. The declining of the dream is well pictured. The Great Gatsby shows the ambition of one mans reach for his “American Dream”, the disappointment of losing this dream and the despair of his loss. The greatness of The Great Gatsby rests with the autobiogr

54、aphy of Fitzgerald himself, his experience and his reflection. Through the unfolding of a doomed romance of a fervent dreamer in the dreamless wasteland of American twenties, Fitzgerald realized that the era of dreaming and the American dream is over. At the end of the novel, Gatsbys lonely funeral

55、ceremony and peoples indifference completely reflected the American societys coolness and ugliness in 1920s. In this society, Gatsby was destined to be isolated helpless and to fail in all. Gatsby was one of typical representatives of American Dream that all generations of American people pursued. N

56、o 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. The tragedy of believer and followerGatsby persistently

57、seeking for American Dream asserted the bankruptcy of American Dream. Conclusion, Gatsbys final destructiveness was upper class society ruined his dream in spirit. “So we beat on, boats on against the current, born back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 215). Owing to his innocence, lacking of

58、discerning power and self-comprehension, Gatsby fell into the trap that the social evil power set for him. Owing to his kindness, determined beliefs, tense desire and firm decision, he believed that he could build a real fairy-land. Doubtlessly, the description of American Dream was perfect, but the

59、 realistic world represented by Tom and Daisy was too absurd to withstand a single blow. Gatsbys lack of mind and discerning power led to his final destructivenesshis destructiveness was not only in physic but also in spirit. It is human beings tragedy. To some extent, Gatsbys love to Daisy reflecte

60、d his wonderful memory of the past. Gatsby could not build his hope future on the basis of cruel reality. He uniquely recalled the past, only to make the past illusion take place of the reality and future. He could not face squarely the reality of uniting the past with the future in the realistic en

61、vironment. These reflect the essence of Gatsbys dream. He was obstinate in his mind; actually, he was not stupid but foolish. Doubtlessly, it is inevitable that his American Dream was disillusioned. Foolish character, actually, Gatsby is a real foolish gentleman, because he fantasized about getting

62、a pure love, and thought of a worldly beauty as the symbol of perfect ideal. 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. At last, the symbol meaning of Gatsby

63、s experiences and his broken dream is very clear: “Most of the big shore places were close now and there were hardly and lights except the shadowy more glow of a ferryboat across the sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the ol

64、d island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors eyes-a flesh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsbys house had once pandered in whispers too the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment, compelled into an aestheti

65、c contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder”.(Fitzgerald 219 ) Obviously, it ought to be tremendous irony for him to believe in American Dream. By all appearances, as were same with other magnates at that time, Gatsby still understood an