Abstract: The novel The Great Gatsby of Fitzgerald vividly presents readers the hero Gatsby’s dreams in his whole life, which are eventually broken. Through the analysis of both the hero’s characteristics and the social environment, this thesis aims to probe into the causes of the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American dream. The first part discusses Gatsby’s American dream, including wealth, high social status and pure love which all end up with disillusionment. The second part describes the causes of the disillusionment of Gatsby’s American dream. One cause is that he wishes to use money to realize dream, enter the upper class and get pure love. The other is the social cause. In 1920s the limitation of capitalism and the conflicts between the upper class and the lower class were increasingly apparent. Gatsby’s dreams are eventually doomed to be broken in the greedy and depraved society.
Key word: American dream; Gatsby; disillusion
摘要： 菲茨杰拉德在小说《了不起的盖茨比》中生动地再现了盖茨比一生的梦想及其最终的破灭。本文通过对小说主人公性格特点以及当时的社会大环境进行分析，来探究盖茨比美国梦破灭的必然因素。第一部分论述了盖茨比的美国梦 ---- 金钱梦、地位梦、爱情梦，及其最终的幻灭。第二部分分析了盖茨比梦想破灭的原因。一方面从盖茨比自身因素，包括梦想用金钱实现梦想、进入上层阶级以及重获真爱。另一方面，从当时社会因素看，19世纪20年代资产阶级局限性日益暴露，上、下层阶级间的矛盾日益突出。盖茨比的梦在当时贪婪堕落的社会环境下注定还是逃不过破灭的结局。
关键词： 美国梦；盖茨比；幻灭
