Abstract：The Great Gatsby, the most famous work of Francis Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about American dream, a recurring topic in American literature. It represents the American belief that people can make their dream come true as long as they continue to pursue their ideal. In the early years, Americans made their dreams come true by hard-work, thrift and the spirit of pursuing lofty goals to realize their values and become rich. However, with the coming of industrialization, their thoughts were changing gradually. They dreamed to become rich by luck instead of hard work. This phenomenon is shown in The Great Gatsby, which reflects the whole society of America and paints a real picture of the collapse of American dream in 1920s. My paper has four parts: the background of that era; the author and the story in the second and third part. The forth part is the main part. From the description about Gatsby, we can see that the hero stands for most common Americans at that time. Materialism was rampant. They pursued money and sensual comforts, while neglecting spiritual values. The American Dream collapsed in Gatsby's failure.

Keywords: the Collapse of American Dream; Gatsby; Great Gatsby

中文摘要：费朗西斯-斯科特基-菲茨杰拉德最杰出的作品就是《伟大的盖茨比》，这是一部关于美国梦的小说。美国梦是一个经久不衰的话题，它曾经代表一种信念：美国人坚信只要坚持不懈，每个人都会实现其梦想。刚开始时，美国梦是靠美国人的勤劳、节俭、上进这样一种精神来体现自身价值并实现富裕。但是随着工业时代的到来，人们的观念逐渐变化，不想再循规蹈矩的追寻美国梦，而梦想着暴富。《伟大的盖茨比》反映的就是这样一个现象，通过“盖茨比”的描述反映了整个美国社会的现实,再现20世纪20年代美国梦衰落的真实场景。本论文包括四部分：第一部分为时代背景介绍,是全文的基础;第二部分,第三部分介绍了小说的作者和故事梗概,为论文的主题的展开写下伏笔;第四部分为本论文的中心,从盖茨比的个人经历入手,分析美国社会中的各种问题,从而反映出美国梦衰落的缘由和实质。

关键词：美国梦的衰落；盖茨比；伟大的盖茨比