F.ScottFitzgerald

(1896-1940)SpokesmanoftheJazzAgeContentsBackgroundFitzgeraldTheGreatGatsby

PlotlineCharacterAnalysis4.Themes.5.Discussion.

Aspokesmanofthe“JazzAge”The

Jazz

Age

TheJazzAgeisthenicknameinAmericaofthedecadeofthe1920’s,beginningfrom1919totheCrashattheendof1929.

Thesetenyearswere,forAmericans,atimeofcarefreeprosperity,isolatedfromtheworld’sproblem,bewilderinggreatsocialchange,andafeverishpursuitofpleasure.,

ThesewerethetenyearswhentheFirstWorldWarwasjustover,whennewinventionsandmanufacturingtechniquesgreatlychangedthewaypeoplelived;whenpeoplemovedfromthecountrysideingreatnumbers;whenwomenwontherighttovoteandmanystartedtoearntheirownmoney;whencars,washingmachines,radiosandvacuumcleanersbecamecommonplace;andwhenmillionsofpeoplelivedbeyondtheirmeansandwentintodebtinordertoobtainsuchthingswhilethemiddleclassfranticallypursuedindividual“success”andpersonalenjoyment.Theylivedarich,extravagant,frivolousmoneymakinglife,anditwasthisstyleoflivinggavethedecadeofthe1920’ssuchnicknameasthe“JazzAge”,the“DollarDecade”,andthe“RoaringTwenties.”Men’sFashionin1920Women’sFashionin1920Fitzgeraldwasbothaleadingparticipantinthetypicallyfrivolous,carefree,money-makinglifeofthedecadeand,atthesametime,adetachedobserverofit.Hewasthemostrepresentativenovelistofthe1920’s.2Nowlet’slearnaboutFitzgeraldLife

BorninSt.Paul,Minnesota

[?mini's?ut?]明尼蘇達(州名)onSeptember24,1896.HadanexpensiveeducationinprivateschoolsatPrinceton普林斯頓.Duetoillnessandneglectofacademicstudy,helefttheuniversityin1917withoutgraduation.

Hejoinedthearmy.Inhisarmydays,hemetZeldaSayre.Sheisabeautifulsoutherngirl,fromawealthyfamily.ShelovedsocialactivitiesverymuchandtoldFitzgeraldthatshelovedhimbutshewastooexpensiveforhim.InordertomarrywithZelda,FitzgeraldwenttoNYCityandworkedhard.LaterwhenhepublishedhisfirstnovelThisSideofParadise,Zeldamarriedhim."I'vefalleninlovewithawhirlwind旋風

,”declaredtheyounglieutenantFitzgerald,havingmetZeldaSayreatacountryclub.Itwasinthesummerof1918inMontgomery,Alabama."Shedanceslikeaflame火焰

."

Life

Zelda:theprototype原型

ofaseriesofrich,beautifulwomenwhofigureprominentlyinhisfiction.Theyoungcouplefrequentlywentabroadandlivedextravagantlyaluxurious

[l?g?zju?ri?s]life.Tokeepearningenoughmoney,Fitzgeraldwroteshortstoriesandnovelsatarapidspeed.Life

The1930sbroughtrelentlessdeclineforFitzgeraldwithaseriesofmisfortunes:hisreputationdeclined,hiswealthfell,hishealthfailed.Zeldahadsufferedfromsomeseriousmentalbreakdownswhichconfinedherinasanitarium

[?s?ni't??ri?m]療養院

fortherestofherlife.Alcoholism,lonelinessanddespaircombinedtoruinFitzgerald.Hediedin1940ofaheartattack.1947年3月11日凌晨，珊爾達所在的精神病院失火，珊爾達困在頂樓，被活活燒死，年僅四十七歲。

當年菲茲杰拉德從如日中天的二十年代每況愈下，文學圈里的朋友眾口一詞罵珊爾達毀了他。“珊爾達生活太鋪張了，他不得不寫那些不入流的小說糊口。”“珊爾達太古怪啦，太多變啦，他心腸真軟。”六十年代菲茲杰拉德被評論界再發現，各類學術研究風生水起，女權主義者掀起了研究珊爾達熱，珊爾達的書信日記一經公開，諸多女權主義者又異口同聲：“是傲慢自私的菲茲杰拉德毀了一個天才的作家、畫家、芭蕾舞演員。”

他毀了她，她毀了他，可這遠遠不能說清他和她之間最深沉的理解和沖突。他控制不住把她靈光四溢的日記抄襲進自己的小說，她控制不住在作家的妻子之外為自己尋找其他的身份。他和她都困惑了，哪一部分的生活是自己的，哪一部分的生活是對方的。即使在她最瘋狂最虛弱的日子他們還交換著炙熱的情書。她對他：“月亮像失落的錢幣掉進深山，草地陰沉而刺鼻，我想讓你靠近，我觸碰你，像秋天的平靜，甚至帶一點夏天最后的回聲。”他對她：“你是我見過的最精致最可愛最溫柔最美麗的人，即使這樣也言猶不及。你所忍受的我沒有其他人能忍受……”

3Nowlet’slearnthestoryPlotOverview—Gatsbyisapooryouth—fallinlovewithDaisy,awealthygirl—nomoney—Daisymarriedtoarichman—bootlegging（非法制造私酒）,“shady”activities—enoughmoney,dazzlingparties—alluringDaisy—meetagain,notquitetheidealloveofhisdream—asenseofloss—Daisykillsawomaninanaccident—shifttheblametoGatsby—GatsbyisshootandBuchanansescape.JayGatsby

TomBuchananDaisyBuchananTheWilson’s

Nick

CharacterAnalysis

NickCarrawayThedramaticnarrator.NickissuitedtonarratingTheGreatGatsbybecauseofhistemperament.Heistolerant,open-minded,quiet,andagoodlistener,and,asaresult,otherstendtotalktohimandtellhimtheirsecrets.Asaresultofhisrelationshiptothesetwocharacters,Nickistheperfectchoicetonarratethenovel,whichfunctionsasapersonalmemoirofhisexperienceswithGatsbyinthesummerof1922.NickCarrawayCarraway’slimitedomniscience(全知，無限的知識）determinethefactthathedealsoutinformationinsuchamannerthatheseemstowithholditfirst,thuscreatingasuperbeffectofmysteryandsuspense.Atlast,thewholesecretisunraveledandpastandpresentmingletobringthetragicdramatopathetic,significantfinish.NickTom,DaisyandfriendsWilsonsGatsby富有傲慢清高狂妄《星期六晚郵報》缺乏知性粗俗《閑談》瘋狂默默無聞不為人知的悲痛Threegroupsofpeoplesociallydistinctfromoneanotherinbehavior,languageandeverythingelse.Nickgenerallyassumesasecondaryrolethroughoutthenovel,preferringtodescribeandcommentoneventsratherthandominatetheaction.Often,however,hefunctionsasFitzgerald’svoice.InsofarasNickplaysaroleinsidethenarrative,heevidencesastronglymixedreactiontolifeontheEastCoast,onethatcreatesapowerfulinternalconflictthathedoesnotresolveuntiltheendofthebook.Ontheonehand,Nickisattractedtothefast-paced,fun-drivenlifestyleofNewYork.Ontheotherhand,hefindsthatlifestylegrotesqueanddamaging.Nickrealizesthatthefastlifeofrevelry(狂歡)ontheEastCoastisacoverfortheterrifyingmoralemptiness.Symbols1TheGreenLight2TheEyesofDoctorT.J.Eckleburg3TheEastEggandWestEgg1TheGreenLight

“Gatsbybelievedinthegreenlight,theorgastic極度興奮的futurethatyearbyyearrecedesbeforeus.Iteludedusthen,butthat’snomatter—tomorrowwewillrunfaster,stretchoutourarmsfarther....Andthenonefinemorning—”

“Sowebeaton,boatsagainstthecurrent,bornebackceaselesslyintothepast.”

蓋茨比信奉這盞綠燈，這個一年年在我們眼前漸漸遠去的極樂的未來。它從前逃脫了我們的追求，不過那沒關系——明天我們跑得更快一點，把胳臂伸得更遠一點……總有一天……

于是我們奮力向前劃，逆流向上的小舟，不停地倒退，進入過去。

1TheGreenLightThegreenlightisonlyagreenlightattheendofDaisy’sdock,buttoGatsbyitbecomestheembodiment體現;化身

ofhisdreamforthefuture,anditbeckonstohiminthenightlikeavisionofthefulfillmentofhisdesires.

“apairoffading,bespectacled帶眼鏡的eyespaintedonanoldadvertisingbillboardoverthevalleyofashes.”2TheeyesofDoctorT.J.Eckleburg“…blueandgigantic---theirretinas視網膜areoneyardhigh.Theylookoutofnoface,butfromapairofenormousyellowspectacleswhichpassoveranon-existentnose.…anoculistsetthemtheretofattenhispractice...”2TheeyesofDoctorT.J.EckleburgTheeyescouldmeananythingtoanyobserver,buttheytendtomakeobserversfeelasthoughtheyaretheonesbeingscrutinized.['skru:tinaiz]

仔細檢查,細看3EastEgg&WestEggWestEggislikeGatsby,fullofgarish耀眼的

extravagance,symbolizingtheemergenceofthenewrichalongsidetheestablishedaristocracy

[??ris?t?kr?si]貴族ofthe1920s.EastEggisliketheBuchanans,wealthy,possessinghighsocialstatus,andpowerful,symbolizingtheoldupperclassthatcontinuedtodominatetheAmericansociallandscape.Theme主題主旋律TheDeclineoftheAmericanDreaminthe1920sTheunrestraineddesireformoneyandpleasuresurpassedmorenoblegoals.WhenWorldWarIendedin1918,thegenerationofyoungAmericanswhohadfoughtthewarbecameintenselydisillusioned,asthebrutalcarnagethattheyhadjustfacedmadetheVictoriansocialmoralityofearly-twentieth-centuryAmericaseemlikestuffy,emptyhypocrisy(偽善）.EastEggrepresentstheestablishedaristocracy,WestEggtheself-maderich

Apersonfromanysocialbackgroundcould,potentially,makeafortune,buttheAmericanaristocracyscornedthenewlyrichindustrialistsandspeculators.ThevarioussocialclimbersandambitiousspeculatorswhoattendGatsby’spartiesevidencethegreedyscrambleforwealth.JustasAmericanshavegivenAmericameaningthroughtheirdreamsfortheirownlives,GatsbyinstillsDaisywithakindofidealizedperfectionthatsheneitherdeservesnorpossesses.Americandreaminthe1920sisruinedbytheunworthinessofitsobject—moneyandpleasure.Now,let'shaveadiscussionDoyouthinkGatsbydeservestobecalled“thegreat”?Itiscomplicatedtosay

Gatsbydeservestobe“great”ornot.Foronething,Gatsby’scapacitytodreammakeshim“great”.Gatsbywasambitious,hardworking,generousandpassionate.HewassoextremelyloyaltohisloveDaisythathecoulddoanythingtogetDaisyback:hedidshadybusinesstoearnmoneyandsocialposition;hethrewluxuriouspartiesjusttodrawDaisy’sattention;hecouldtaketheblameforadeaththathedidnotcause.Gatsbynevergaveuphisidealisticdreamwhilestrivingformaterialjoy.Gatsbykeptonmakingeffortstobalancethebothsides.Inthisrespect,heisgreat.

Foranotherthing,GatsbyneverrealizedthatDaisywasn’tthegirlhelovedanymore.Heisnotsowiseandhecannotseethepeopleclearly.Gatsbywassoinnocentthathestakedeverythingonhisdreams,notrealizingthathisdreamsareunworthyofhim.Inthisrespect,Hewasn’tsoberenoughtobegreat.ThescheduleisareflectionofGatsby’s

determinationandamb