Urgent! Does anyone know anything about the "American Dream"?

Abstract The unique "American Dream" provides the most novel and exciting themes for American literature. American works of all periods have touched on this eternal theme without exception, but the difference is that the tone has changed: from initial hope and optimism to later doubt and worry to final disillusionment and criticism. Especially in the 1920s, the "American Dream" lost its magnificent color and became "a blissful future that fades away before our eyes year by year."

Keywords "American Dream" Works of Disillusioned Writers

The first batch of European immigrants crossed the ocean and came to this new continent full of longing for freedom and happiness; since then, there has been a steady stream The immigrants marched westward with the fanatical desire to make a fortune and opened up this new continent. So from the very beginning, people have placed countless hopes and dreams on the land of America. The rich resources without owners and the harsh and vast environment make family background and social status of little practical significance. Therefore, success here through personal struggle has become a rule for people to follow; every hard-working and brave person has the hope of achieving success. Make a career, even create an era. The "American Dream" came into being. Franklin himself is the embodiment of this dream, and his "Autobiography" summarizing his struggle can be called a manifesto of the American Dream. However, with the shaping of society, the high development of material civilization, and the intensification of polarization, the magnificent halo surrounding the American Dream has gradually lost its former glory. Keen writers noticed this phenomenon, and the theme of disillusionment began to appear in different forms of American works, creating a new landscape for world literature.

As the first realist writer in American literature, Mark Twain used the "Gilded Age" to point out the illusory nature of the American Dream. In the 1870s, an era full of deception and speculation was described as a "golden age" by some imperial literati, advocating that as long as they knew how to make money, every pauper would have "infinite opportunities" to become a millionaire. As a result, people are intoxicated with the dream of getting rich instead of doing their real work. The mentality of luck, degenerate morality, and self-serving activities have made the entire United States a mess. Twain naturally could not remain silent about these disturbing phenomena. Therefore, he used a general approach and the use of satire to dedicate this "demon mirror" work, profoundly pointing out to readers that the American people are not living in a golden age, but a gilded age.

If it was Mark Twain who made the first strong voice in this field and kicked off the disillusionment of the "American Dream", then another great American writer Theodore De Lesser stood on the shoulders of his predecessors and criticized the illusion of the American Dream in a deeper level. American capitalism in the 20th century has developed to the monopoly stage. Out of the sensitivity of a writer, Dreiser made a major discovery at this time, that is, American society has evolved into a "walled world" and monopoly groups have become the same as those in the Middle Ages. A privileged class with strict gates like the nobility, no outsiders are allowed to get involved. So the writer used the book "American Tragedy" to reveal the opposite theme to the much-publicized American dream, that is, "happiness in the Jinyuan Empire is nothing but a fantasy."

When Clete, the protagonist of the novel, first meets the readers, he is still just a sensitive teenager. After entering the society, he gradually discovered that having money is a privilege, and you can enjoy it as much as you have money. At first, this thought was not too dangerous and would not lead him to become a murderer, because it was just the instinctive reaction of a materialistic boy to a materialistic society. But two things that happened later profoundly affected his thinking and character, leading him completely to the abyss of sin.

The first was working as a waiter at the luxurious Davison Hotel. The magnificent Danvison Hotel is actually a microcosm of the colorful American society. The luxurious furnishings here and the life of wealthy businessmen eating, drinking, having fun and spending money made Clete "dumbfounded and envious"; the eloquent talks of people of all kinds from all walks of life, the philosophy of life that benefits others at the expense of others, and the deceitful ways of making money opened his eyes. , "The benefits are huge." In short, the real life here taught him his first big life lesson and gave him a "higher" education in which money is everything. It not only greatly stimulated his vanity and desire to get rich, but also promoted the rapid formation of his hedonism and extreme egoistic outlook on life.

The second thing is to take refuge with his uncle. In his uncle's house, Clete felt the disparity between rich and poor firsthand. Compared with his own family, one side is a mansion with fountains and pools, and the other side is a slum with bare walls. His uncle believed that "there should be some noble classes in society who can be admired by the lower classes"; his cousin was even more indifferent to him and was not worthy of attention, so he bitterly felt the lowliness of his status. . He often murmured in his heart: "Without money and status, I cannot enjoy life to my heart's content." Poverty was like a terrible devil playing with every sensitive nerve in his mind, causing him endless pain and making him realize further. "Everything depends on having money." This desire for money continued to expand to dominate all his emotions, further developing his extremely egoistic outlook on life.

When Santra appeared in front of him representing property, status, enjoyment and everything he dreamed of, Lopez became an obstacle to his bright future and pursuit of a happy life. So for Clete at this time , it becomes inevitable to clear this obstacle.

The author uses Clete's death to demonstrate that in a "walled world", a poor boy's pursuit of the "American Dream" is in vain, and may even be self-destructive. As it is said in the novel, "The boundary between the rich and the poor is as clear as a knife." It is even more difficult for the poor to cross this dividing line than to climb to the sky! Because of this, even though Clete still had some talents; even though Clete was ambitious and cruel, he failed to enter the "wall" and fell into the electric chair.

If Clete's death leaves us with a vague feeling that we deserved it, thus weakening our profound appreciation of the sadness of a shattered dream, Fitzgerald, the supreme writer, brought his The Great Gatsby is here. Gatsby was a man from a humble background. After he made a fortune through illegal means, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money and used material means to attract his former lover Daisy, whose voice was full of money. He wanted to relive his old dream with her. However, the sweet dream cannot last forever. Daisy's husband Tom has evil intentions. In the end, the two of them kill each other with a knife, leaving Gatsby in a deep sleep. What makes this book a great work is that it does not belong to the type of romance novels that focus on boring love triangles. The conflict that the author focuses on portraying is not actually between the jealousy of the two love rivals, but between Gatsby's dream and the impossibility of realizing this dream. In addition, Fitzgerald is a writer known for his "double vision", so the "American Dream" pursued by his protagonist contains two aspects that are both related and different: the "dream of getting rich" and the "dream of getting rich". "Love Dream", in this way, Gatsby is different from other protagonists in similar themes. First of all, in the eyes of this genius dreamer, Daisy, with her charming voice and elegant manners, is the highest embodiment of his "love dream" in life, embodying all his fantasies about life in her. He naively believed that a woman with such a beautiful appearance must be equally beautiful on the inside, so he firmly believed that Daisy would stay with him until death. Once he has the conditions to marry her, she can't wait to throw herself into his arms. Secondly, Gatsby also has sufficient understanding of the magic of money. So he used illegal means to realize his dream of getting rich, and then he spent a lot of money to buy a luxurious villa on the bay opposite Daisy's house. He often held extravagant dances and banquets to attract Daisy, and also wanted to spend money to buy her off. Nick arrives to arrange his meeting with Daisy. After Daisy arrived, he quickly let her visit his palace-like beautiful house and admire his indescribably exquisite clothes. Under the magic of money, Daisy really couldn't control herself: she picked up pure gold toiletries to comb her hair, held gorgeous clothes and cried, because although she married a rich man, such luxury was not common... Isn’t this dream about to come true? Why is it still just a game and a dream in the end? This is the profound meaning of the novel.

The key reason why Gatsby cannot relive his old dream is that he and Daisy are two completely different types of people, and there is a huge difference in their social status. From Dreiser, we have learned that "walls" have appeared in American society. It is not easy for poor people to change their status. Even if someone like Gatsby got rich by chance and sneaked in through a loophole, he would still have to go through the cracks. Being discriminated against and attacked by the upper class society. Therefore, the "nouveau riche" like Gatsby, although rich, cannot be on an equal footing with the hereditary privileged class like Tom. In their eyes, he was at heart a poor boy from the west and was not worthy of being associated with them. The arrangement of the novel also reflects this: Daisy lives in the wealthy area of ??East Egg, while Gatsby lives in the less fashionable West Egg like a "lone goose". Although upper-class figures like Tom still went to Gatsby's banquets every week and enjoyed the entertainment he provided for free, they "cursed at Gatsby after they drank enough of Gatsby's wine." "In fact, in essence, what is the difference between Gatsby's illegally earned money and Tom's inheritance money? Bernard Shaw has long pointed out that the origins of these two kinds of money are equally dirty. Gatsby It was just a violation of the so-called "rules of competition" and took advantage of others' unpreparedness. This aroused the public indignation of the competitors. Their contempt and hatred for Gatsby were not based on any legal and moral concepts, but on others. Out of consideration for her own vital interests, out of instinctive hostility towards those who are not of my kind." (Fu Xiuyan, 1996) However, Daisy has long been integrated with this class and belongs to that group without exception*. **Some social attributes and corrupt nature. So when Tom had a showdown with Gatsby in person and told Daisy the truth about Gatsby, she was "scared" and never saw Gatsby again, let alone condescended to him. Come to Gatsby's position and relive his old dreams. The reason why Gatsby is not accepted in the upper class society is that he always has a "pure dream" hidden deep in his heart. His goal in life is to make this dream a reality.

Therefore, American critics say that Gatsby has a "corrupted pure essence"; the author himself also believes that Gatsby's "greatness" lies in his natural immunity that "can emerge from the mud without being stained": he is very Money, but he did not think that money was the purpose of his life, but a means to realize his love dream; he had lied to cover up his identity, but he was honest when confronting Tom; at his lavish banquet, The more his "noble" guests misbehaved, "the more dignified he became." Among the rich, he seemed so isolated and isolated.

When we watched the dreaming Gatsby rooted his innocent love in the corrupted Daisy without hesitation, when we realized that his love dream was destined to be shattered, We couldn't help but feel sad for him; when in the end Tom and Daisy conspired to blame Gatsby for the murder, causing him to die in a dream, we felt a kind of consternation and endless sadness at this ending! The state of mind is actually like a comment by Nick: "If this is the case, he will definitely feel that he has lost the old warm world and paid a high price for holding on to a dream for too long. He must have gone through the terrible experience In the woods, I looked up at an unfamiliar sky and felt terrified, and at the same time discovered how ugly a rose was...".

The novel plays its theme song here - using the breakdown of Gatsby's dream to compose an elegy for the disillusionment of the "American Dream", leaving a deep-seated sadness!

References:

[1]Wang Enming. Contemporary American Society and Culture[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1997.

Wu Dingbai. Outline of American Literature [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998.

Zhu Weizhi. History of Foreign Literature (European and American Volume) [M]. Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 2004.