The Disillusion of the American Dream: The Great Gatsby and the Jazz Age

1. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." from The Great Gatsby “于是我们继续奋力向前，逆水行舟，被不断地向后推，直至回到往昔岁月。”

2. The American Dream The Jazz Age F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby Zelda Fitzgerald

3. Francis Scott Fitzgerald Born in 9/24/1896 Saint Paul, Minnesota An upper-middle-class family In 1913, at Princeton In 1917, joined the U.S. Army Fell in love with Zelda Sayre

5. Zelda Sayre (1900–1948) The "golden girl" / rich Accepted Fitzgerald's marriage proposal Broke off the engagement This Side of the Paradise Resumed their engagement Had their only daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald

6. Lavish lifestyle / moonlite(月光族） Wrote to supprot his family Zelda suffered a series of schizophrenic breakdowns / put into a sanitarium in 1934 He drank a lot

7. Fitzgerald died in 1940 / 44 / heart attack Zelda died in 1947/ in the fire

8. His major works This Side of Paradise人间天堂 （1920） The Beautiful And Damned 美丽与毁灭 （1922） Tender Is the Night 夜色温柔 （1934） The Last Tycoon 最后一个大亨 （1941） The Great Gatsby 了不起的盖茨比（1925）

9. The Jazz Age 1920s -- 1930s Decadence / Hedonism / The growth of individual 用菲茨杰拉德自己的话来说，“这是一个奇迹的时代，一个艺术的时代，一个挥金如土的时代，也是一个充满嘲讽的时代。”

10. The Disillusion of American Dream the United States Declaration of Independence "all men are created equal" & "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ?

11. The Definition of American Dream • The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. • By James Truslow Adams in 1931, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. ” ——by Wikipedia

12. Reason 1: Illogic in Common Sense Reason 2: The Reality in American Society Reason 3: Literature Mirrors it. Reason 4:History has Proved it American Dream, in my eyes, is nothing but an utopian fallacy. My View on American Dream

13. Long Long Ago • In September of 1620, the Puritans, the pilgrim fathers on the ship Mayflower landed the New England with their convictions to worship the God in their own way and to achieve their success in the new Continent. European Countries America

14. The Disillusion of American Dream • After the Word War I, many American people started their journey to Europe, for their disappointment toward American society. Fitzgerald, together with many celebrity in literary circle like Hemingway, went to Paris to live a better life. America European Countries

15. The Great Gatsby —— A Book about the Disillusion of American Dream Superficially，it is just a love story about fuxinnvzi pk chixinhan or hongyanhuoshui

16. What is the Point of View in This Book? • First Person Point of View. The story is told by Nick Carraway, who, graduated from Yale, fighting in Word War 1, and learning the bond business in New York city, was a next-door neighbor of Gatsby and Daisy’s cousin as well. • In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I‘ve been turning over in my mind ever since. • “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had. • From then on, Nick withdrew himself into his own world, barely making comments on others.

17. Who is Gatsby? • ID1: The Main Character but A Riddle • Jay Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, is a legendary and mystified character, showing up a little bit late in this novel, and was referred to by the storyteller Nick in the first Chapter, by Daisy in her fidgety voice in the following chapter, and finally he showed up in his hilarious party, but in the end his father turned up, and unfolded his real name James Gatz.

18. ID2: A Gossip Focus In this novel, so many rumors and gossips were produced about him from other characters. • -“Somebody told me they thought he killed a man.” • -“It’s more that he was a German spy during the war. ” • -“No, he was in the American army during the war.” • -“Well, he told me once he was an Oxford man.”

19. ID3: 土豪Jay • Hao=He has the economy power to afford larvish parties every Saturday evening. • Tu= In the novel, he is always commence his conversations with another man with an old-fashioned expression—— “old sport,”which shows a very low taste in linguistic level. • By the way, his wealth and fortune came from criminal activity.美国宪法第十八项修正案（1919）规定禁止酒的销售与消费，非法酿、贩酒者多成了百万富翁。 • Gatsby was no exception.

20. ID4: Swindler/Big Liar • Shot 1: Gatsby said to Nick: “I’ll tell you God’s truth. I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle West——all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated in Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition. ” • Shot 2: Tom asked Gatsby: “I understand you went to Oxford, but I’d like to know when.” • “It was in nineteen-nineteen, I only stayed five months.”

21. ID5: A Mirror of F. Scott Fitzgerald • They two have at least 5 aspects in common: • 1.materilism/ luxurious life style • 2.have an extraordinary love story with a fair lady • 3.gain vanity at a young age • 4.heavy drinkers • 5.Heavy drinkers die young.

22. ID6: The Great Gatsby • He is very optimistic (believing in the green light at the end of Daisy’ dock) and have the power to transform his dreams into reality. • Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. • —it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end;  —by Nick Carraway

23. To Read Him • After the death of García Márquez(加西亚·马尔克斯)， I read one microblog that stirred innumerable inspiration in me. • “The only way to respect a great writer is not to read about him but to read him.”

24. Thank You!