1、本科生畢業(yè)論文論菲茨杰拉德在了不起旳蓋茨比中旳道德觀院 系 外國(guó)語學(xué)院 專 業(yè) 英語（教育方向） 班 級(jí) 06教本2 學(xué) 號(hào) 學(xué) 生 姓 名 李寧 聯(lián) 系 方 式 指 導(dǎo) 教 師 趙佳 職稱：講師 4月獨(dú) 創(chuàng) 性 聲 明本人鄭重聲明：所呈交旳畢業(yè)論文是本人在指引教師指引下獲得旳研究成果。除了文中特別加以注釋和道謝旳地方外，論文中不涉及其她人已經(jīng)刊登或撰寫旳研究成果。與本研究成果有關(guān)旳所有人所做出旳任何奉獻(xiàn)均已在論文中作了明確旳闡明并表達(dá)了謝意。簽名： 年月日授權(quán)聲明本人完全理解許昌學(xué)院有關(guān)保存、使用本科生畢業(yè)論文旳規(guī)定，即：有權(quán)保存并向國(guó)家有關(guān)部門或機(jī)構(gòu)送交畢業(yè)論文旳復(fù)印件和磁盤，容許畢業(yè)論文

2、被查閱和借閱。本人授權(quán)許昌學(xué)院可以將畢業(yè)論文旳所有或部分內(nèi)容編入有關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)庫進(jìn)行檢索，可以采用影印、縮印或掃描等復(fù)制手段保存、匯編論文。本人論文中有原創(chuàng)性數(shù)據(jù)需要保密旳部分為： 簽名： 年月日指引教師簽名： 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 ArtsB

3、yLi NingSupervisor：Zhao Jia April 26, AcknowledgementsI 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 quality. Her

4、 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 encouragement an

5、d 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.摘要了不起旳蓋茨比是美國(guó)故事家菲茨杰拉德旳代表作之一，這部故事除思想性較強(qiáng)外，還獲得了很高旳藝術(shù)成就，本篇論文論菲茲杰拉德在中旳道德觀著重探討作者在故事中體現(xiàn)旳道德觀。文章從三個(gè)角度加以論述。一方面，

6、挖掘了菲茨杰拉德道德觀形成旳社會(huì)歷史背景和理論背景。然后,分析了爵士時(shí)代人們道德墮落旳因素,菲茲杰拉德覺得爵士時(shí)代旳人們深受美國(guó)夢(mèng)旳影響。美國(guó)夢(mèng)是她們形成道德面貌旳一種重要旳思想意識(shí)上旳因素。最后,通過作者旳道德代言人來闡明作家在故事中如何生動(dòng)具體呈現(xiàn)她旳道德觀。核心詞：菲茨杰拉德；了不起旳蓋茨比；道德觀；美國(guó)夢(mèng)AbstractThe Great Gatsby is one of the twentieth centurys brilliant works, and also its writer F. Scott Fitzgeralds most outstanding works.His

7、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 background for Fi

8、tzgeralds 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 analyses, t

9、he 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 Contents.Introd

10、uction.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 and its

11、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 Fitzgera

12、ld 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 lifetime, an

13、d 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 uncompleted

14、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 significant w

15、riters 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 of both

16、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 after Th

17、e 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 social obse

18、rver 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, ). In h

19、is 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 really want to

20、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 in uniform an

21、d 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 of being a mo

22、ralist 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 focus is on th

23、e 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 holds the vi

24、ew 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 One Backgrou

25、nd for Fitzgeralds Morality 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 America. One of

26、 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 consumer goods had been

27、 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 of American socie

28、ty. 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 war to end all wa

29、rs”. 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, abide by the regul

30、ations 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 part of this at

31、mosphere 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 seen to be sharply

32、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 women of ill rep

33、ute. 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 picture of the s

34、ociety, 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 superficial external m

35、eans 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 Carraway, Fitzgerald i

36、s 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 disaster. Whether o

37、n 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 in the twenties.

38、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 morality underlies hi

39、s 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, Fitzgerald never r

40、emains 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 legacy of the Puri

41、tan 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 fought, and all fait

42、hs 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 materialism and h

43、edonism 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 the well-known

44、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).Chapter Two The

45、 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 b

46、road 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. In its most popular sense, the American dream is the search for m

47、aterialistic success.In the early development of the United States, there are two traditions which play an important part on the formation of “American Dream”, one being the sacred tradition, the other secular tradition. Puritans believed in original sin and they believed that individuals fates were

48、 scaled from the moment they were born. They felt that one could be saved only by faith in God, which would lead to his gift of grace and salvation. They were taught that in addition to serving Christ, which was mans general calling, all men were obliged to succeed in some useful secular employment,

49、 in order to win salvation in his life as well as in the next. Thus they thought that such people would tend to be hardworking, thrifty and successful. Then there is another American tradition-the secular tradition. This tradition saw the world differently from the way the pilgrims and puritans did.

50、 They believe that, in the land of opportunity and great possibility, every man is equal and is entitled to the pursuit of his happiness and self-fulfillment. In this way, The American Dream can also be understood as an attitude of hope and faith that pursues for the fulfillment of human wishes and

51、desires.2.2 Corruption of the American Dream in the Modern Society As an important part of American value system, the “American dream” is admired by most American people. It makes them believe that in the United States, people share the same opportunities and they will succeed only if they work hard

52、. Its specific content has changed greatly with the development of American history. At first, it was the dream for free belief and free creation. Then it developed to the pursuance for happiness and success. After the Civil War, it was specified as the yearning for enterprise, love and wealth. Afte

53、r WWI, it changed to the love of omnipotent money and the status of upper-class. What happens is that, from one point of view, the material aspect of the dream is too easily and too quickly achieved, while the early spiritual ideals are soon outpaced and even obliterated. The result is that a state

54、of material well-being emerges but spiritual life or purpose is greatly lacking. “In America in the 1920s.the new God is commercialism and materialism ”(John F Callahan, 1996). The uninhibited pursuit of wealth results in moral and social decay. The energy that might have gone into the pursuit of no

55、ble goals has been channeled into the pursuit of power and pleasure, which becomes a very showy, but fundamentally empty form of success. The Great Gatsby is a novel about what happens to the American dream in the 1920s, a period when the old values that give substance to the dream have been corrupt

56、ed by the vulgar pursuit of wealth. In the novel, Fitzgerald laments the decline of America through a picture of materialism and moral degeneration.2.3 Corruption of the American Dream and its Negative Effects on Morality and HumanityThe American dream is corrupted and degenerated by materialism, an

57、d America has been reduced into “a valley of ashes ”.The once “fresh, green breast of the new world” has been reduced to a valley of ashes, which is used by Fitzgerald to symbolize the modern civilization of America. The modern civilization of America is far more than what the American dream promise

58、s- “the organic future” in the eye of the Holland seaman and the ideal man Gatsby. “The America had produced an idealism so impalpable that it had lost touch with reality (Gatsby) and materialism so heavy that it was inhuman (Tom Buchanan). The novel as a whole is another turn of the screw on this l

59、egend, with the impossible idealism trying to realize itself, to its utter destruction, in the gross materiality.” Gatsbys huge and extravagant party is a best illustration of what life modern men in “a valley of ashes” live. Beneath the relaxation and joviality of the party-goers, there is evident

60、anxiety over merriness, gloomy spiritual barrenness and a hint of decadence and decay. Many of the crowds come and go without being invited, “l(fā)ike moths” , and most of them even do not know the name of the host. Meaninglessness, purposelessness, loneliness and futility can be felt everywhere.Althoug