摘要

每个美国人至今都还存有美国梦，那就是他们希望自己可以取得财富和社会地位。在爵士乐时代，人们有他们那个年代的美国梦。而盖茨比的梦想就是变成有钱人然后和黛西结婚生活，但是他的梦想在当时太理想化以至于不能得以实现，令他很失望。使他在疯狂追求自己梦想的过程中逐渐丧失了道德，迷失了自我。通过分析盖茨比的故事，可以了解到生活在爵士乐时代的一部分人的价值观有了扭曲，逐渐迷失了人性。他们想要通过物质的成功证明自身的意义，但最终什么也没得到。

关键词：美国梦; 爵士乐时代; 人性; 物质; 迷失

Abstract

      Every American has a American dream today. They hope they can achieve wealth and social status. In Jazz Age, people also had their American dreams. Gatsby's dream is to become a very rich man and marry Daisy. But his dream seems too idealized to be realized. He becomes disillusioned. He gets lost in his dream during his crazy pursuit of dream. Through the story we find out that people who live in Jazz Age have their value distorted and lose their humanity. They want to prove their own value through material success, but even totally obtain nothing.

Key Words: American Dream; Jazz Age; Humanity; Material; Lost

1. Introduction

Fitzgerald is a famous American novelist, short story writer and scenarist. His current status in modern American literature is unshakable and indisputable.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1876 and he was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota from an Irish Catholic family of upper middle class. Fitzgerald attended Newman School, a prep school in Hackensack, New Jersey, and entered Princeton University in 1913 as a member of the Class of 1917. This experience makes great impact on Fitzgerald. At there, he became friends with Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bisho—future critics and writers. He also was a member of the University Cottage Club, there still displays Fitzgerald's desk and writing materials in its library. Despite being a mediocre student there, he managed to enroll at Princeton in 1913. Academic troubles and apathy plagued him throughout his time at college, and he never graduated until World War I end.