这是23年前的一篇学期论文，今天看来还不错，也有些惊叹当时的英语写作水平。不免有些沾沾自喜。于是，不厌其烦地重新打字，收入到博客中，以示纪念之意。闲来无事，也可自我欣赏一番。

CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THE GREAT GATSBY

In 1925 an important American literary work appeared. That was Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It was so important that T. S. Eliot said that it was ‘the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James’. It was regarded as Fitzgerald’s best work just as he wrote in his letter to Edmund Wilson, ‘My book is wonderful’. In the novel, through the tragedy of Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows us a nightmare of “Jazz age”, reveals the loss of “American Dream”. The theme is deep though the language he’s used is simple. Fitzgerald is good at choosing the surprising scenes in life, describing the psychology of the characters in the contradictory and conflict, expressing his love and hatred. Fitzgerald’s novels are epics. He doesn’t plunge himself into the description of minute details, but choose the big scenes. His novel is full of Romanism, not lacking of realism in his Romanism. Yet I think the outstanding characteristics in his novel are the handling of the narrative, the 2 triangles and the successful uses of symbolism.

I

The narrator of the novel---Nick plays an important role in the work. Nick is neither insider nor outsider, but he is the key person to link up Gatsby with Tom’s family. Thus Gatsby’s story is wrapped in Nick’s story. They supply each other; push forward the development of the novel. Being an onlooker, Nick makes the author stay out of his novel, let’s the book say what it has to say. The story begins with his coming to the east and knowing Gatsby, ends with his burying Gatsby and going back to the Midwest. He is more flexible above the other characters in the work. He is the witness of all the incidents, events; the judge of all the events. The successful use of Nick is because he is worth believing. On one hand, from the relationship with other characters in the novel, he has known Tom in the College, is a neighbor of Gatsby, a relative of Daisy, Tom’s wife and he falls in love with Jordan who is a close friend of Tom’s family. On the other hand, from Nick himself, he is innocent, pure, and sincere; he just tells what he has seen with his own eyes. The relationship with Gatsby and Tom’s family, makes him be able o tell the things happened at the same time. Besides, the author gives him a critical view. Sometimes he is calm in judging people; sometimes his satire is very penetrating.

At first, Nick is intoxicated with Daisy’s beautiful voice that is “charming little laugh”; when he realizes the evil soul of the beauty, he at once points out that “It ( her voice) is full of money”. For Gatsby, his comment is one word---“great”. Although Gatsby failed in the end, he tried and worked hard. This is his greatness. Nick goes to Gatsby’s parties and Tom’s extravagant building, sees their lives. When Gatsby dies, only he takes care of the funeral, which not only expresses his faith to friend, but also reveals the grim reality of the capital society. When Gatsby is alive, these people all go to his parties; after his death, they ignore Nick’s imploration, even scold that Gatsby serves him right. We can see Nick is Gatsby’s real friend, only is he on the side of Gatsby, yet he knows clearly that what the Gatsby represents is what he hates.

In the novel, there is a love story between Nick and Jordan; here I think the purpose is to serve as a foil to Gatsby. What Jordan loves is money and vanity. She can do anything in order to get them. If Nick hadn’t got out of the affair, he would have become Gatsby the second. Fortunately, as soon as Nick discovers that Jordan is the same as Gatsby, he gets rid of her at once. Through Nick’s narration and his experience, we see through the essence of capitalism----Money is all. Finally Nick leaves the dirty, cold East, goes back to the Midwest. The difference between Gatsby and Nick is that Nick has realized the cruel reality. In the end, he gives an accurate judgment of the Buchanan, emphasizes the grim reality: “They were careless people. Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made….

II

Although he is not the leading character, Tom is a centre one in the novel. He links up all main characters. Among them 3 characters‘s dead fates are related with him directly. Two triangles show their relationship.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are a couple of tragic small characters. They are completely controlled by Tom. Wilson loves his wife, Myrtle, but Myrtle becomes the mistress of Tom. When Myrtle dies, Wilson’s life seems to follow his wife away. He thinks nothing. Only one idea remains in his mind—REVENGE. He doesn’t know who is the real killer, but he himself becomes the killer to Tom and destroys himself in the same time.

Myrtle’s death is an accident on the surface, yet the root of the trouble is Tom. Their relationship is not equal. She only is the doll of Tom. She can’t become Mrs. Buchanan. She can’t leap over the big gap between the.

The other triangle is among Tom, Daisy and Gatsby. Anyway I think from the bottom of her heart, Daisy loves Gatsby. She never forgets him. Yet she marries Tom for money. She doesn’t love Tom at all. She once says to Nick, “I’ve had a very bad time. I’m pretty cynical about everything”. The foundation of her marriage with Tom is money, position, not love. She is selfish, shallow and loves vanity. Money controls her marriage. For the death of Myrtle, she must be responsible for the result. It is she who drives the car and knocks down Myrtle dead. But Gatsby bears the responsibility in order to protect his lover. The selfish cold beauty doesn’t want to protect, on the contrary, she plots to destroy Gatsby with her husband. Gatsby’s accumulated wealth still can’t help him to recapture his lost lover because of his lower position. The woman whom he loves all his life betrays him to the death. He fails. His dream is shattered.

III

Fitzgerald’s remarkable artistic abilities reflect in the well-knitted structure, simplicity and the successful uses of symbols. A lot of symbols are used in the novel. The action, place and things, all these reveal the characters’ essence, express the author’s thoughts and make the readers hear the sounds beyond the novel. The uses of color are the most successful.

On the West Egg, a mysterious man appears. The man is Gatsby. He always holds an endless party. At the parties, we can see all sorts of people. The party is an epitome of the whole society, an epitome of upper class’s life of luxury and dissipation. “In the blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stare”… “The lights grew brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music…”. Here I think “blue” and “yellow” give us a picture: the color “blue” is thick, dim, yet the “yellow” is much brighter. In the dim, dark garden, we can see the Gold is jumping and shining in the thick sky. Gold controls the parties. It points out the theme---Money’s power. Next let’s look at the host. He always dresses in pink and silver shirt, wears a golden tie, drives a rich cream car, all the colors are bright, which give us an impression of youth with beautiful dream. Pink symbolizes his romantic, sentimental; he devotes his life to the thoughts of Daisy，his youthful love. “Silver” and “Golden” symbolize her wealth. He is rich, so rich that he possesses an almost magical power to control the whole world of enchantment. Gatsby is the apotheosis of the American dream of wealth。“The cream” implies his brighter future full of hope. He is the “Golden Boy”.

“A girl in yellow is playing the piano” is the typical “Golden girl” in Fitzgerald’s novel. Again money controls people. American dream is replaced by the materialism. Money controls American Dream. With the development of the plot, devil appears in his life. At last a shot finishes his great, yet lamentable life and dream. A much visited house becomes desolated. Music, people fade immediately without any trace. Fitzgerald uses the leaves on the swimming pool symbolizes Gatsby’s fate—lonely, sad, valueless, deserted by the world in the end.

On the East Egg, brown, white, green are the main color. The brown is a suitable color for Tom. Both his suit and skin are brown. The dark color gives us an impression that Tom is a strong, powerful, brutal guy—bad guy. His heart is dark. He is brother with EVIL.

Tom’s wife, Daisy, Fitzgerald offers her  dress. The “ ”, I think, has 2 meanings. One is used as a pun. In appearance, she is pure, holy; perhaps it was true when she was a little girl. Yet, with the time passed, in fact, she is cold in heart and she is hard like ice. The  dress makes us feel cool and thrilling. The other is used as an irony. With the narration of Nick, we find that such a holy, lovely lady turns out to be a self-centered, cold-blooded woman. Meanwhile it seems that we see the tragic end of Gatsby through the  dress.

The green light in Daisy’s house symbolizes the youth and a vague dream of Gatsby. Daisy is the beautiful “Green Light” in his heart. He believes in her. Yet the Green Light is not real, he can’t grasp it. Just as Fitzgerald once said, “I was in love with a whirl-wind and I must spin a net but enough to catch it out of my head, a head full of trickling nickels and sliding dimes, the incessant music-box of the poor”. When the light goes out, Gatsby’s dream is destroyed, too.

Another important symbol should be mentioned here, the valley of ashes. The repetition of the valley of ashes, gives us an ill omen. Fitzgerald offers it Grey color. Along the valley, the houses are grey, the persons are grey, the roads are grey, the wagons are grey, the dust is grey; in all, and all the things there are grey. The grey color makes people unhappy, sad. It also implies that it is an unfortunate place. Myrtle was knocked down there. When Gatsby drives there, it implies his tragic end.

In a word, Fitzgerald uses these colors to set up a tone for the novel, also points out the theme---Money, Love and Failure.                                              （8500字符）

Today is my birthday. Today should be the freest day. On the contrary, it is my busiest day, meanwhile it’s also my harvest day.

                                                      八四·二