电影《了不起的盖茨比》中的美国梦与中国梦的比较分析

Comparative Analysis of American Dream in the Movie The Great Gatsby and Chinese Dream

Abstract

The Great Gatsby is an American Dream-themed movie. The film has been favored by a large audience and once again brought American Dream to people's attention. On November 29, 2012, the term “Chinese Dream” was first proposed by President Xi Jinping. Chinese Dream has become a hot topic. So far there have been many studies which have studied American Dream and Chinese Dream. At the same time, there are many studies comparing the two, but most of them compare the two from political and economic perspectives and only emphasize the differences. Therefore, this paper, taking American Dream in the movie The Great Gatsby as the starting point, analyzes the similarities and differences of the two from a cultural point of view.

This paper is divided into five parts. The first part introduces the movie The Great Gatsby and American Dream in it, as well as the origin, development and connotation of American Dream. The second part analyzes the origin, development and connotation of Chinese Dream. The third part analyzes the similarities between American Dream and Chinese Dream. The fourth part compares the differences between American Dream and Chinese Dream. The fifth part analyzes how to draw lessons from American Dream to realize Chinese Dream as soon as possible.

Finally, this paper concludes that both American Dream and Chinese Dream are people's good expectations for the future, encouraging diligence in the work and respecting personal values. However, American Dream and Chinese Dream are different in historical and cultural backgrounds, values, and modes of implementation. The universally applicable truth in American Dream is worth learning from, such as encouraging the spirit of innovation, independence, and success through personal struggle. However, the inadequacy in American Dream merits our vigilance in realizing Chinese Dream. As The Great Gatsby depicts, American Dream which only emphasized the material once put America at risk. In the process of realizing Chinese Dream, both the material and the spiritual need to be valued.

Key words: American Dream; Chinese Dream; The Great Gatsby