“伟大的盖茨比”

“伟大的盖茨比”

记得读这本美国作家菲茨杰拉德的小说时，我还在国内，读的是中文译本。对其中的寓意并不是很了解，当作一篇爱情小说。那阵子，正是幻想爱情的年龄。

当时，对美国２０世纪２０年代的社会和生活只知皮毛，不知底细，更不知道那以后还有个３０年代的大萧条。而且无论美国好与坏，都在心里把她美化一番，以American Dream 为Dream.

出国以后，才把那井底之蛙的Dream重新和现实社会联系了一遍，花了人生的十多年。

暑假了，儿子的暑期课程英文老师布置的小说读物竟然又是这本书“The Great Gatsby” “伟大的盖茨比”，“非凡的盖茨比”！

他的读后感让我感到现在的孩子确实和我们想象的不一样。

一个十几岁的孩子，一个一天到晚惦记着打游戏机，看卡通图书的男孩，一个并不关心外面世界，连新闻都懒得看的孩子，看了这本小说以后，也许突然茅塞顿开，好似井底之蛙，迷迷澄澄十几年以后，突然看到美国有个这样的社会，一个年轻人有过这样的经历，女人和男人的关系中还有着比爱情更厉害的东西－－金钱。

无论如何，他看了“伟大的盖茨比” 以后的想法，和我读这本书时的想法，有许多的不同，尤其对男女关系的评价。

我把他的读后感转贴到这里，请村民们欣赏。

11, July 2009

pg 97

“And it was from Cody that he inherited the money – a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars. He didn’t get it. He never understood the legal device that was used against him, but what had remained of the millions went intact to Ella Kaye. He was left with his singularly appropriate education; the vague contour of Jay Gatsby had filled out the substantiality of a man.” (Fitzgerald 97)

Sociological

 The American dream, the pinnacle of capitalism, states the democratic ideals and values of the modern days of America. This passage found in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby shows the authors struggle against capitalism in the 20’s, his view on the American dream, and how marriage affected his views on society and the ‘Jazz age’. A secret notion that Fitzgerald tried to portray; it was an act against corruption and the disembodied American society he lived in.

      Capitalism is an economic and social system in which most trade and industry are privately controlled for the owners own ends, rather than the state or county. This type of society, (considered by the communists and Marxists) lead to greed and secrecy between people and the nation, as it provided power to those who would misuse it, and left the working class behind with absolutely no gain for themselves. “He never understood the legal device that was used against him” shows Gatsby’s miscontent for the legal systems in the 20’s, and it also portrays the authors dislike for money and how cruel law was inside America at the time (97). This lead to Gatsby delving into the bootlegging business, an illegal trade of alcohol during times of prohibition, and in his own cruel way, for filling the American dream.

The American dream was the ‘beacon’ of hope for many Americans since the early 19th century. It states that all citizens of all ranks can achieve a ‘better, richer and happier lifestyle, as so long as they stood by the Declaration of independence. Gatsby and Fitzgerald were both lucky, as at some point they were able to be part of such a dream, but both had to face hardships that, in some cases, were like living in hell.  “And it was from Cody that he inherited the money – a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars” gives feeling for how hard it was for Gatsby (97). Twenty five thousand dollars is a lot, and back then it was even more, but a ‘legacy’? Having no money, or much of any friends, Gatsby is given the feeling that 25 grand is incredible, an oath to wealth and superiority, because he has never experienced anything like it before. Gatsby started out as a farm child who belong to unsuccessful farmers, and was then placed into the 1st world war, both times was being next to impoverished. Fitzgerald also had to experience these hardships, as he was a freelance writer and journalist, which is one of the most risky jobs in the world.

Gatsby was engaged to Daisy, a relationship that fell apart because Gatsby did not have the funds to support them both. Alternatively, Fitzgerald had a relationship with the daughter of a judge, Zelda, in which he was unable to convince her that he was financially stable enough to start a family together. Later in Fitzgerald’s life, he was able to successfully write several novels and articles to generate a fortune large enough to win over Zelda. A little while after, to his misfortune, he found out that she was in an affair with another man, much like how Tom and Daisy where together in The Great Gatsby. “What had remained of the millions went intact to Ella Kaye” resembles Fitzgerald’s feelings of betrayal and corrupt courtship. Ella Kaye was a woman who had an affair with Cody, one of the role models in Gatsby’s life. Even though Ella and Cody do not share a relationship like Gatsby and Daisy or Fitzgerald and Zelda, it foreshadows how some women act as if love is their main objective, but our human nature makes us head toward money, first.

Fitzgerald’s life was very much like the actual American life, rather than the American dream. He experienced terrible hardships to impress the woman he loved, or to survive the World War, to be rewarded with material grant, and then left empty with moral deprivation.