2023年全国1月高等教育外国文学作品选自考试题28636.doc

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1、本科生毕业论文论菲茨杰拉德在了不起的盖茨比中的道德观院 系 外国语学院 专 业 英语（教育方向） 班 级 06教本2 学 号 学 生 姓 名 李宁 联 系 方 式 指 导 教 师 赵佳 职称：讲师 2023年4月独 创 性 声 明本人郑重声明：所呈交的毕业论文是本人在指导老师指导下取得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以注释和致谢的地方外，论文中不包含其别人已经发表或撰写的研究成果。与本研究成果相关的所有人所做出的任何奉献均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表达了谢意。署名： 年月日授权声明本人完全了解许昌学院有关保存、使用本科生毕业论文的规定，即：有权保存并向国家有关部门或机构送交毕业论文的复印件和磁盘，允

2、许毕业论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权许昌学院可以将毕业论文的所有或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存、汇编论文。本人论文中有原创性数据需要保密的部分为： 署名： 年月日指导教师署名： 年月 F. Scott Fitzgeralds Morality In The Great GatsbyA Thesis Submittedto School of Foreign Languages, Xuchang Universityin Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Bachelor of

3、ArtsByLi NingSupervisor：Zhao Jia April 26, 2023AcknowledgementsI am greatly indebted to my thesis supervisor, Zhao Jia. Without her patient assistance and friendly encouragement, it would not be possible for me to complete this thesis in such a short period of time without reducing its scholarly qua

4、lity. Her willingness to give me her time so generously has been much appreciated. Truly, without her painstaking efforts in revising and polishing my drafts, the completion of the present thesis would not have been possible.Thanks are also due to my classmates and friends for their constant encoura

5、gement and their ways of assistance in the course of writing.Yet I have to acknowledge that I am independently responsible for the paper and I am the person to blame for any pitfalls, flaws and neglects in it.摘要了不起的盖茨比是美国小说家菲茨杰拉德的代表作之一，这部小说除思想性较强外，还取得了很高的艺术成就，本篇论文论菲兹杰拉德在中的道德观着重探讨作者在小说中体现的道德观。文章从三个角度

6、加以阐述。一方面，挖掘了菲茨杰拉德道德观形成的社会历史背景和理论背景。然后,分析了爵士时代人们道德堕落的因素,菲兹杰拉德认为爵士时代的人们深受美国梦的影响。美国梦是他们形成道德面貌的一个重要的思想意识上的因素。最后,通过作者的道德代言人来说明作家在小说中如何生动具体展现他的道德观。关键词：菲茨杰拉德；了不起的盖茨比；道德观；美国梦AbstractThe Great Gatsby is one of the twentieth centurys brilliant works, and also its writer F. Scott Fitzgeralds most outstanding w

7、orks.His novel wins for the writer a great deal of acclaim from a substantial number of researchers and scholars. This thesis aims to make a tentative study and exploration of the writers morality in this novel from three perspectives.At first, the focus is on the historical and theoretical backgrou

8、nd for Fitzgeralds morality. Which contains social-historical background and theoretical background.Then,the causes for moral degeneration in Jazz Age will be discussed,Fitzgerald holds the view that the morals of his contemporaries are greatly influenced by the American Dream. Based on the above an

9、alyses, the ways to preach his morality in the novel will be illustrated. In my opinion, the writer preaches his morality in the novel by the moral spokesman Nick Carraway.Key words: Fitzgerald; The Great Gatsby; morality; American DreamTable of ContentsAcknowledgement. 摘要. Abstract. Table of Conten

10、ts.Introduction.1Chapter One Background for Fitzgeralds Morality.31.1 Social-historical Background.31.2 Theoretical Background.4Chapter Two Causes for Moral Degeneration In Jazz Age.62.1 American Dream.62.2 Corruption of the American Dream in the Modern Society .62.3 Corruption of the American Dream

11、 and its Negative Effects on Morality and Humanity.7Chapter Three Ways to Preach Fitzgeralds Morality in The Great Gatsby.103.1 Nick Carraway: Fitzgeralds Moral Spokesman in the Novel .103.2 Ways to Preach Fitzgeralds Morality through Nick Carraway. .10Conclusion.14Works Cited.15IntroductionF. Scott

12、 Fitzgerald is widely known as the spokesman of American Jazz Age, an age when endless parties, alcoholic obsession and feverish pursuit of money are symbols of its carefree madness. However, the recognition of Fitzgerald has undergone a hard process. He did not attract much attention during his lif

13、etime, and was continuously criticized by his contemporary critics as a decadent and vulgar writer with decreasing fame. His literary talents and value were doubted, even by H. L. Mencken, one of the leading literary critics of the 1920s. Fitzgerald Renaissance begins with the publication of his unc

14、ompleted novel The Last Tycoon and his autobiographical works The Crack-up, compiled by one of his friends Edmund Wilson. From then on, his reputation roars among the readers, scholars and critics along with the sales volume of his best novel The Great Gatsby. Now, Fitzgerald is one of the most sign

15、ificant writers favored among academic critics and his novels and stories continue to attract a wide audience. His The Great Gatsby is regarded as the most widely taught and widely read American literary classic.But what has made this novel so famous that it receives wide popularity from generations

16、 of both academicians and general readers? Most critics and scholars focus their attention on Fitzgeralds social-historical criticism of America in the novel and on his spectacular artistic achievements such as symbolism and narration. However, Fitzgerald is more than these mentioned above. Not long

17、 after The Great Gatsby was published, Fitzgerald complained in his letters to both Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bishop, saying that “of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, no one has the slightest idea what the book is about ” (Hen Dan Piper,1970) . Many Fitzgerald critics view him as a so

18、cial observer of his times. They neglect the fact that he is often connected with the invisible and spiritual dimension of life, that is, he is a moral and even a religious writer. “Fitzgerald integrates his strong moral sense and his concern about humanity into his writing of The Great Gatsby”(Yang

19、, 2023). In his November 4, 1939 letter to his daughter, commenting on musical-comedy writers Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart, Fitzgerald admitted that he is essentially a moralist. “ Sometimes I wish I had gone along with that gang, but I guess I am too much a moralist at heart and re

20、ally want to preach at people in some acceptable form rather than to entertain them” (Karl AN,1999:47-48) . Just as Nick Carraway, Fitzgeralds moral spokesman in the novel, comments at the very beginning of the novel, “ When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be

21、in uniform and at a sort of moral attention for ever ” (F. Scott Fitzgerald,1993:3) . To my regret, I find that people, especially researchers and critics in China, seldom attached importance to Fitzgeralds morality. In this thesis, I will try my best to call peoples attention to his redeeming side

22、of being a moralist writer, which needs much more notice than it used to have received. The thesis begins with the summary of the general academic achievements made by former scholars and researchers, in an attempt to base the study and exploration of my subject on a research background. Then, the f

23、ocus is on the historical and theoretical background for Fitzgeralds morality. After that, detailed and specific analyses are made of the relationship between the writers morality and his social-historical criticism, and its embodiment in the novel, since the two are closely interrelated. Fitzgerald

24、 holds the view that the morals of his contemporaries are greatly influenced by the American Dream. Based on the above analyses, the ways to preach his morality in the novel will be illustrated. In my opinion, the writer preaches his morality in the novel by the moral spokesman Nick Carraway.Chapter

25、 One Background for Fitzgeralds Morality1.1 Social-historical BackgroundThe Great Gatsby can be looked on as a piece of social satire, making comment on the careless gaiety and moral decadence of the Jazz Age. The Jazz Age, the period immediately following the First World War, refers to the 1920s in

26、 America. One of the obvious features of the period is the economic boom. Firstly, America makes a large amount of money in the war, and thus, with the application of assembly lines and other techniques, the labor efficiency in American society had been greatly improved. As a result, endless consume

27、r goods had been manufactured through assembly lines and delivered to the markets, where the commodities were sufficient and the consumption was active. Meanwhile, American peoples income and living standard were also enormously improved. All these illustrated a vital, wealthy and prosperous scene o

28、f American society. The 1920s witnessed Americas transformation from production society to consumer society. World War I destroyed not only the old world order, but the traditional morals and social customs. Growing up under the shadow of war, the young Americans no longer believed the lie of “the w

29、ar to end all wars”. As the war ended, they surprisingly found “all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken”. Without faith, people found themselves living in a spiritual wasteland where life was meaningless, restless and devoid of purpose. They did not, as the elder generations did, ab

30、ide by the regulations of traditional Puritanism. Instead, they advocated freedom and independence, concerned the expression of unique personality, and purchased hedonism and materialism. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsbys flashy cars, his lavish parties and the reckless conduct of the party-goers are all

31、 part of this atmosphere of wild enjoyment and merrymaking.Secondly, accompanied with the atmosphere of wild merrymaking is the emergence of crimes and illegal activities, which leads to widely spread corruption. During the decade, the social world experienced a lot of change, and peoples morals see

32、n to be sharply looser and lower than before. It is an era of disorder and chaos. There is a great popular contempt for and defiance of law. The bootlegging business becomes very popular. Girls and young women start wearing more make-up and shorter skirts which only a few years ago was worn only by

33、women of ill repute. Many people begin to go to party and drink alcohol more. Another indicator of this change in morality was that people shows a much opener attitude towards sexual relationship. Even sports become occasions for bribery and cheating.In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents a harsh

34、picture of the society, which heads for disaster. The characters and the scenes in the novel are a truthful representation and vivid description of the innately corrupted and morally bankrupt Jazz age. On one hand, Fitzgerald points out that his contemporaries erroneously place their faith in superf

35、icial external means such as money and hedonism, while overlooking the cultivation of compassion and sensitivity that, in fact, separate humans from animals. On the other hand, the writers concern is with the corruption of values and the decline of spiritual life and moral standard. Like Nick Carraw

36、ay, Fitzgerald is both an outsider and an insider of the world. He is passionately attracted to its glamorous surface while being deeply conscious of the ugliness and suffering that underlie its tinsel, with his strong moral sense providing him with an insight into its inner nature and potential dis

37、aster. Whether on East or West Egg, we witness dissipated lives governed solely by instinct and desperate pleasure seeking, and common norms and social conscience are lacking there. Obviously, The Great Gatsby cannot be understood to be an effort at an objective depiction of the reality of America i

38、n the twenties. As a matter of fact, the writer draws upon his own experience, his values, and his sense of the direction of America in the writing of the novel.1.2 Theoretical Background In the contemporary history of the novel, Fitzgerald is a writer of strong moral sense. A deep attitude of moral

39、ity underlies his stories. The Great Gatsby is, in part, an expression of Fitzgeralds doubts about Americas moral direction, and through this novel, Fitzgerald is urging a reconsideration of where the society is and where it is going. Sklar, one of the critics of Fitzgerald, and according to him, Fi

40、tzgerald never remains content with his accomplished artistry, instead, he struggles all the time in his successive novels towards a firming and deeper understanding of moral qualities and values he dramatizes in the conflict of his novels. Sklar holds the view that Fitzgerald takes seriously his le

41、gacy of the Puritan tradition, which involves such qualities as chivalry and decency, and moreover, he devotes his life artistically to the search for a way to make this legacy morally defensible in a modern world where there are so many challenges to this tradition with all gods dead, all wars foug

42、ht, and all faiths in man shaken. For that, Fitzgerald creates in his novels some modern heroes who still retain their respective aspects of the tradition, and Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Dick Diver are the typical ones.In a materialistic society, in which his contemporaries are infatuated with m

43、aterialism and hedonism and show disregard to their moral improvement and inner perfection, he adheres to his simple and plain moral ideal, mixed with New England Humanism, Midwestern Egalitarianism, and Southern Gentility. However, what he preaches and advocates most is his Puritan belief, especial

44、 the well-known thirteen virtues of order, industry, frugality, temperance and so on, which are taken out from Puritan dogmas by Benjamin Franklin. “Susan Resneck Parr reads Gatsby as Fitzgeralds rather puritan commentary on the conditional of personal responsibility in America ”(Mc Adams,Tony,1993)

45、.Chapter Two The Cause of Moral Degeneration in Modern Society2.1 American DreamThe term the American dream was first introduced into contemporary social analysis in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, the American historian and quickly accepted by the American public. “In its broad sense American dream is referred to a broad cultural ethos that entails a commitment to goal of material success”(Tan, 1997). In its original sense, the American dream is the ideal of opportunity for all, of advancement in a career or society without regard to ones origin.