1、毕业论文 文客久久 本科 毕业论文 (设计 ) 题 目： On the Conflicts between Ideal and Reality in Dreisers An American Tragedy 学 院： 学生姓名： 专 业： 英语 班 级： 指导教师： 起 止 日期： 毕业论文 文客久久 Contents Abstract . 1 Introduction. 3 1. The Evolution of American Dream . 4 1.1 The Definition and Origin of American Dream . 4 1.2 The Development
2、 of American Dream. 5 1.3 The Dissimilation of American Dream . 6 2 The Conflicts between Ideal and Reality in An American Tragedy . 7 2.1 Clydes American Dream. 7 2.2 The Reality That Leads Clyde Astray . 8 2.3 Contradictions Intensified: The Unrealized Dream vs. Harsh Reality . 9 2.4 Clyde, a Vict
3、im of American Dream . 10 3 American Dream Dissimilated by the Consumer Culture .11 3.1 A Brief Introduction to the Consumer Culture .11 3.2 Conspicuous Consumption .11 3.3 The Reflections of Conspicuous Consumption in An American Tragedy . 12 Conclusion . 14 References . 15 1 摘要 西奥多 德莱塞 是 20 世纪美国文学
4、史上一位杰出的 自然主义作家 ，同海明威、福克纳一道被誉为美国现代小说三巨头。德莱塞在作品中用自然主义的手法描述了美国的各个方面，无情的揭露了资本主义社会黑暗与腐败。 美国悲剧是其代表作，也是一部批判美国梦的力作。小说描绘了主人公 克莱德 格里菲斯 受到美国梦的诱惑，深信人人都能成功，不管家世和背景，逐渐道德沦丧，堕落成杀人犯的故事。 美国悲剧展现了美国的现实是一种 ” 残酷的、不公道的现实 ” ，是一个 ” 毁灭的过程，而幸福只不过是幻想而已 ” 。国内外学者对于德莱塞作品的研究很多，大多集中于其现实主义和自然主义的问题、反映资本主义和社会矛盾的问题及小说人物分析等等，评论者大多持肯定态度。
5、本课题拟探索理想 与现实的冲突，揭示当代的一些社会问题。 本文分为三章，从美国梦的起源、发展、演化对美国梦进行简要的回顾；对主人公克莱德的成长，堕落的人生轨迹进行分析；从消费文化的角度 探讨出拜金主义对主人公的消极影响，揭示美国梦的虚妄。 本论文通过对以上三个问题的具体阐述，揭露资本主义虚伪的民主制度和骄奢淫逸的生活方式，并呼吁人们正确认识美国梦，认清理想与现实中的严重冲突。 关键词 美国梦；理想；现实；消费文化 2 Abstract Theodore Dreiser is an outstanding American naturalistic writer, acclaimed to be
6、 one of the three giants of American novelists in the 20th century together with E. Hemingway and W. Faulkner. Dreiser starts a new era of the American literature by excelling in naturalist style and exposing the darkness and corruption of the capitalist society. Dreiser has exposed the negative sid
7、e of American Dream in An American Tragedy, his masterpiece. Its a story about Clyde, a young man who commits a ruthless murder, which leads to his arrest. The hero is a victim of American Dream, convinced that everyone can succeed regardless of family background. An American Tragedy exposes the dar
8、k side of society of the United States, embodying the severe conflicts between ideal and reality. Ever since its publication, An American Tragedy has been a controversial novel discussed from such various perspectives as condemning capitalism, advocating naturalism, and debating religious and moral
9、issues. However, none of these attempts can fully explain the tragic fate of Clyde. An effort is made in this paper to expose the hypocrisy of the capitalist democratic system and voluptuous lives of the rich and call for a new understanding of the American Dream by taking the severe social conflict
10、s into consideration. This paper consists of three parts: A brief introduction to American Dream; Clydes pursuit of the American Dream; The negative impact of money worship from the angle of consumption culture. Key Words American Dream； ideal； reality； consumer culture 3 On the Conflicts between Id
11、eal and Reality in Dreisers An American Tragedy Introduction Theodore Dreiser is acclaimed to be one of the greatest novelists in American literature history in the twentieth century. He plays an active role in describing peoples authentic lives without prejudice in his novels. He criticizes the so-
12、called “American Dream” and considers it to be false and cruel. Dreisers works have a very powerful influence on many famous writers of his generation. Sinclair Lewis firmly acknowledges Dreisers great contribution to American literature in his speech accepting the Nobel Prize. Theodore Dreiser is r
13、egarded as one of the representatives of American naturalism in the 20th century. He was a reporter when he was young. In 1892, Dreiser took employment in Global Newspaper in Chicago, so he had a deep and specific understanding of social phenomena. And then he cultivated the ability to discovery and
14、 analysis problems. As a journalist, Dreiser had his own views on specific social issues and he had his own standards for the news whether to be reported. However, he often fe lt that the work against his will. Thats why he switched to be a novelist halfway later. Dreiser put most energy into writin
15、g, and at the same time, he participates in social activities in order to explore the truth and learn new ideas for the creation. Dreiser has always been a disputable writer. And the disputes have last for more than a century in American literature history. Until now, studies on Dreisers works can b
16、e divided into several parts. First of all, a lot of studies have been done on the naturalism reflected in his novel. H.L. Mencken stated that Theodore Dreiser had absorbed the theories of Hawthorn and Spencer which were useful to his creation so that he could bring the great sense of surprise to li
17、terature in his book A book of prefaces in 1917. (Mencken, 1917:3) Besides, some people focus on textual analysis on Dreisers novel, such as Howells, Stuart Sherman and Jiang Daochao and so on. In the last century, the American people were wallowing in their ideals and many writers were keen on desc
18、ribing the optimistic aspects, but Dreiser was an exception. Stuart Sherman once said that Dreiser has regarded man as beast instead of describing the American 4 society and Americans in a real way in The Barbaric Naturalism in Mr. Theodore Dreiser. (Sherman, 2011:51) Professor Jiang also regarded t
19、hat most of these early criticisms belonged to the traditional historical criticism, and they played a significant part in aiding the readers to understanding Dreisers novels. On the other hands, many scholars started to investigate the Religious Naturalism, Feminism and the disillusion of American
20、Dream. An American Tragedy is Dreisers masterpiece. The hero is a victim of American Dream who is convinced that everyone can succeed regardless of family background. The American Dream is hastened into a nightmare. This paper intends to study the conflicts between the ideal and reality in Dreisers
21、An American Tragedy. By analyzing the consumer culture of the first two decades in the 20th century, the reason why American Dream disillusioned today can be rarely explained. The American Dream is the typical cultural phenomenon in the United Sates. It leads to a tendency to confuse success and har
22、d working, and it also causes the falling of the young mens morality concept. As a result, some people become the victim of society. This paper aim to advocate people have a correct understanding of the American Dream. 1. The Evolution of American Dream 1.1 The Definition and Origin of American Drea
23、m The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States that all the people can achieve wealth and success through their hard work. James Adams defined this literary term as: “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievemen
24、t” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that “all men are created equal” and that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty an
25、d the pursuit of Happiness.”(Adams, 1931) The origin of American Dream can be traced back to the 1600s. With the discovery of America, many Europeans began to come up with all sorts of aspirations for the new and largely unexplored continent. And most of these dreams focused on owning land and estab
26、lishing prosperous businesses. At the same time, Englands Puritans encounter 5 the persecution. They wanted to find a place where they could worship God. And more than 100 British Puritans came to the North American continent by taking a boat called Mayflower. These early settlers paved the way for
27、subsequent American Dream. In order to establish a bound everyone the basis of self-government, they come ashore and signed a convention called the Mayflower Compact. “In the name of God, Amen, We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace
28、of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and
29、mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, con
30、stitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.” (Separatists, 1620) This is an important political document in American history. It not only provides for equality and
31、 fairness, but also implied the Puritans of the spirit of arduous struggle. In according with the Mayflower Compact, Puritans started their New World life. Their dream was to build “a city upon the hill” - an Eden garden of material and spiritual perfection. As a result, their heroic efforts strongl
32、y moved the progress of the social material and spiritual civilization. Thats the origin of American Dream. 1.2 The Development of American Dream The American Dream has different meanings in different times. 300 years ago, the Puritans encountered persecution in England and then came to North Americ
33、an for a new life. They were eager to get rid of oppression, and they hoped everyone had equal power. In their eyes, the United States was the right place to nurture their dreams. So from the very start, “Equal rights” had become a connotation of American Dream. Besides, American Dream also includes
34、 the connotation of “Everyone can succeed.” Lang Maylor, history professor at the University of California explained that in the early days of the United States was blessed with vast land, ample resource and sparsely 6 populated. So immigrants can obtain large tracts of fertile land. At the same tim
35、e, America was a big agricultural country then. Land means wealth. The settlers who occupied land can easily get success. In 1776, the American War of Independence broke out and the American people gained their victory. The Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson said, “It held certa
36、in truths to be self -evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Jefferson, 1776) For Americans, freedom and equality is not only an ideal, a belief, but also a s
37、ystem and way of life. “Democracy, freedom and equality” also become a most important connotation of American Dream. In the late 18th and early 19th century, plenty of gold was discovered in the west of the United States. This started a gold rush unlike any other in American history in Golden States
38、. Some people became rich overnight. The gold rush pushes new wave of westward expansion and contributed to development of American Dream. In this period of history, the Americans American dreams are colorful and bright. Before the Civil War, the United States began to industrialize. Lots of Europea
39、n immigrants came to New York, Chicago and other emerging industrial cities. Since then, Americas economy had been at its high prosperity. Countless people in America started off with little more than their ability to work and made great achievements. Such as the founder of the General Electric Comp
40、any, Edison; the inventor of the automobile production line, Ford; the founder of Mobil Oil, John Rockefeller and so on. What they had in common was that they were born in poverty and finally achieved a massive undertaking through their hard work. And the American Dream had a new connotation: “Every
41、one can success according to his ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.” 1.3 The Dissimilation of American Dream During the middle of the 19th century, the United States ended the civil war. The North won the final victory for the capitalist development of the c
42、apitalist development of the United States cleared the way complete. A handful of financial magnates manipulated the Americans economic lifeline and political power. It leads to the polarization, to a situation where the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. The 7 society was full of hypocrisy,
43、 dishonesty, robbery, fraud, selfish and evil. At the same time, the real content of American Dream had lost its holiness and purity. The American Dream was criticized by some people that emphasize too much on the role of material wealth in measure of victory and happiness. Historians believe the on
44、ly thing in American Dream that will stay constant is the pursuit of money. The tremendous changes in material life brought ordinary people a serious of puzzlements. Previously, the majority of Americans would feel proud to amass wealth and possessions through work. Nevertheless, now, more and more
45、people want to get rich quick. For example, their most respected way to get rich was fighting for compensation lawsuit with larger enterprises, gambling in Las Vegas or buying lottery tickets. This shows that American society is gradually losing the momentum of the hard working. The traditional values and morals appeared to be weak in front of the material pleasure. In the 20th century, The United State endured two world wars and the Great Depression. The societal value system appeared to be at risk. There was the lost generation after the First World
