The Great Gatsby is one of the greatest novels in Modern American literature. It is a highly symbolic meditation on the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. On the one hand, Fitzgerald shows a running theme of how the American Dream affects all of the characters in The Great Gatsby, especially the major male characters, Gatsby, Nick and Tom. He also uses the distinctive writing style to introduce the three major male characters. On the other hand, according to Fitzgerald’s personality and experience, the three male characters are generally considered being written autobiographically reflecting the different sides of the author’s characters, which attracts readers to some extent.
Key words: American Dream, Daisy Buchanan, Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Abstract 3
摘要 3
1. Introduction 4
2. Male Characters’ American Dreams 6
2.1. The Tragic Hero Gatsby 6
2.2. The Dramatic Narrator Nick 7
2.3. The Ugly Upper-class Tom 8
3. The Relationship between the Male Characters and Daisy 9
3.1. Gatsby and Daisy’s Sweetheart Relationship 10
3.2. Nick and Daisy’s Relative Relationship 11
3.3. Tom and Daisy’s Conjugal Relationship 11
4. The Relationship between the Male Characters and Fitzgerald 12
4.1. Gatsby and Fitzgerald 13
4.2. Nick and Fitzgerald 14
4.3. Tom and Fitzgerald 15
5. Conclusion 16
Bibliography 17
