摘　要

菲茨杰拉德是二十世纪美国文坛上最著名的小说家之一。他的代表作《了不起的盖茨比》是一部以完美的艺术形式表现的关于“美国梦”的幻灭这一主题思想的力作。 本文对《了不起的盖茨比》中的人物，结构进行阐释，并揭示美国梦的破灭这一小说主题。论文的导言部分对菲茨杰拉德及其代表作《了不起的盖茨比》做介绍。第二部分介绍美国19世纪20年代以及菲茨杰拉德作为代言人所作出的成就。第三部分总结了了不起的盖茨比作为美国梦的自我反省所具有的社会和宗教意义。结论部分对全文的论述和分析做了系统的总结：作者通过再现特定环境中的历史原型，揭示了美国梦的破灭这一小说主题，并带给读者以历史和现实的思考。

关键词：菲茨杰拉德；代言人；盖茨比；社会意义
 
Abstract

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the greatest novelists in American literature. In 1925 he achieved splendid artistic success with his masterpiece The Great Gatsby. This paper, taking the archetypal criticism and The Bible as the theoretical bedrock, attempts to perform sufficient analysis on the mythological archetypes in this novel including the characters, the structure, the symbols and the theme in order to reveal the novel’s theme-the disenchantment of the American Dream. This thesis analyses the characters and structure of this novel. The disillusion of American Dream is the theme of this novel. The first chapter gives a brief introduction of Fitzgerald and the Great Gatsby. Then is the life experience of Fitzgerald and his achievement for the 20s. The third part talks about the social impact of the Great Gatsby and its relationship with the bible and religion. It is a novel of American Self-communion. American Dream’s disillusion gives people life long profound consideration. The impact of this novel last till now.

Key words: Fitzgerald; Spokesman; Gatsby; social significance

1.    Introduction
Fitzgerald's social insight in The Great Gatsby focuses on a select group: privileged young people between the ages of 20 and 30. In doing so, Fitzgerald provided a vision of the "youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves". Throughout the novel Nick found himself surrounded by lavish mansions, fancy cars, and an endless supply of material possessions. A drawback to the seemingly limitless excess Nick sees in the Buchanan’s, for instance, is a throwaway mentality extending past material goods. Nick explained, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made" According to the constitution of the United States of America, all people are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.