Abstract

The Great Gatsby, the masterpiece of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, with Gatsby's tragic destiny as the main line, shows people’s flash and glamorous life in the "Jazz Age", foreseeing the twilight of this age. As the protagonist of the novel, Gatsby always makes people sigh with emotion and ponder for his struggle to get Daisy’s love and his tragic ending. At the end of the novel, Gatsby is killed falsely, while Daisy gets away. Therefore, Gatsby’s dream is broken down, and even no one shows up on his funeral. Nevertheless, the causes lead to this dismal ending is inseparable from Gatsby’s individual factors. Based on the interpretation of Gatsby's tragedy, this paper tries to find and analyze the diversiform individual factors contributing to Gatsby’s tragedy ranging from his educational background earlier with Dan Cody, Gatsby's stubbornness and blindness in character, idealistic pursuit in love and his decadent views on wealth and social status, to provide a reference for the struggle of contemporary youth in China.

Key Words: Gatsby；-Tragedy；Individual factor

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-4

2-The Interpretation of Gatsby’s Tragedy-7

2.1-The Broken “American Dream”-7

2.2 The Shattering of Love-8

2.3-The Lonely Ending-9

3-Individual Factors Contributing to the Tragedy-10

3.1 Gatsby’s Educational Experience with Dan Cody-10

3.2 Stubbornness and Blindness in Gatsby’s Personality-11

3.3 Idealistic Pursuit in Love-12

3.4 Corruptive Values on Wealth and Social Status-13

4  Enlightenment on Gatsby’s Tragedy-16

5-Conclusion-17

Bibliography-18

Acknowledgments-20