本科毕业设计--《了不起的盖茨比》中的修辞现象

湖北师范学院文理学院外语系学士学位论文(设计)

and has a daughter, there are something he doesn’t about her among the five years, he can’t pass the time gap among them. Daisy is as ideal as the protagonist he creates in his mind.

3) Car: We often use the car as a means of transportation, but many people use it as a symbol of social status and personal glory, it reveals this in Great Gatsby. The upstarts-Gatsby flaunts his wealth to recover his dream of Daisy. Wilson doesn’t own his own car, he repairs the car to make a living, and he is making a dream of a car. Mrs. Wilson looks a car as a direct way to enhance her identity and change her fate. When she goes a date with his lover, she let four taxis go away and choose the new light purple car. We all knew that new car is more scenery style and purple is a rich color; Mrs. Wilson’s vanity and potential heart bore there completely.(陈法春,1997:1-2). In a result, she runs away from her husband and this strata the Wilson’s dream of car. Car provides comfort but also risk. In the novel, the car is not only used as damaged weapon but also the tool used to test the level of morality, it even is a sense of responsibility. As a weapon, it crushed the right hand of the drunken man. It also killed the Mrs. Wilson’s life. As a tool of testing the morality, it shows the irresponsible of Daisy and Tom, it also shows Gatsby’s compromise of ideal love to take the responsibility.(陈法春,1997:2-3)

4) Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg: These gigantic blue eyes look out at the valley of ashes behind a pair of yellow eyeglasses, George Wilson refers it to God, it is seeing everything happens before it, he saw the death of Myrtle and know Daisy run away after rushing to Myrtle, he witness the morality’s corruption of people. As in the novel “God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing”. (F. Scott Fitzgerald,1925:170)

2. It uses the name of people in novels as metaphor

1) The name of Daisy refers to the essence of her personality

The names used in the novel are not arbitrary, the name used in the novel implied something except the surface meaning. (王万兵,2003:2). Daisy is a name of a flower; the white color is around the flower, while the yellow is in the middle of the flower.(卢珺 杨祎 郭徽,2008:4). The yellow and white color of the flower suggests the money along with the emptiness. Daisy is the typical role who seeks for money, she loved Gatsby, but she married Tom and abandon Gatsby for money, after she meets Gatsby many years later, she circles round Tom

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湖北师范学院文理学院外语系学士学位论文(设计)

and Gatsby because Gatsby was a rich man at that time. She can betray love and his husband for money, she was born for money, and drunk for money. It is her empty of spirit, her degenerated morality and her dark heart that lead her cooperation with her husband plot to kill Gatsby.

2) The name of Mumble refers to the essence of their personality

Mumble means inarticulate speaking; this is the pungent irony of the people who went to Gatsby without paying. They talked about something not be good for him, they enjoy everything Gatsby supplied at the same time. We can know their immortal from all this, thus the name of Mumble refers to the essence of their personality.

2.3 Contrast

Fitzgerald changed the past straight forward Syria and preaching, he separated the story in the novel as some pictures, we can see the picture of the story and compare them, he doesn’t declare and be silent about his argument. But we can know the theme of the novel through our contrast of the picture. This picture seems different, incompatible, even conflict with each other, their natural and vivid explanation from every different point of view will present in front of us. We can know the Fitzgerald’s originality creation and remarkable writing skills. Coincidentally, this novel reveals the infinite artistic charm and deep ideological implication. There are many contrast in the novel, let’s analyze it.

1. The contrast of the party and the funeral

Fitzgerald contrasts the big, noise and resplendent party when Gatsby is still alive with the variegated coloration, desolate and sad funeral.

“In his blue garden men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the Champagne and the star.”(F. Scott Fitzgerald,1925:43) they lost themselves in the Champagne and Jazz music of car. Unbelievably, the guests invited to the party only a few. The majority of people are unexpected. Sometimes, they haven’t seen Gatsby since their coming and leaving. All these people look Gatsby’s home as amusement ground of full filled with song and free enjoyment. On the contrary, those who like flying moth in the banquet never appear at his funeral. On the crucial moment, Gatsby’s lover-her real culprit Daisy shows her ingratitude for favors to leave him.(郑庆庆,2003:2). This reveals the essence

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湖北师范学院文理学院外语系学士学位论文(设计)

of the people at Gatsby’s party. The using of the contrast makes it clearer to know the essence of people at Gatsby’s part.2. The contrast of the eastern and the western

Fitzgerald looks the east egg as represent of the upper class, and looks the west egg as birthplace of fallen avatar. It is more likely to lead to our self- examination that Fitzgerald compares these two places. The couple of Buchanan gathered in the hustle and bustle of the east egg, while the upstart –Gatsby, who makes huge fortune overnight, lived in the west egg. Gatsby makes money all for his own effort. He insists his dream and loyal to love, he represents the people who live in the West. The western symbolizes the young, hope, enterprising, vigorous. On the contrary, the couple of Buchanan depends on their background of their family, and their inheriting of huge fortune. They lead a gay life, and have nothing to do. They have no goal in life. (郑庆庆,2003:2). They live in depraved life and their moral corrupted.

3. The contrast of Daisy and Myrtle

The novelist compares Daisy and Myrtle. The comparison of two female tells us corruption of morality and perishing of their worth’s standard.

Daisy is Tom’s wife while Myrtle is his lover, they are different in identity, status, family background or appearance, the former noble birth, from the upper classes, and she is the legal wife of upper-class, she is melancholy and beautiful, with bright look, bright eyes, and bright warm mouth. She is a lady of high station. The latter is the wife of a poor car mechanic. She is the mistress who can’t be shown at all. She is vulgar, artificial. She is not beautiful at all, but she is full of vigor.(郑庆庆,2003:4). Even they have so many differentials. The essence of them can’t be overlooked,they are all infected with secular breath, their insides are empty and vanity, they pursuit stimulation, what they seek is only enjoyment. Daisy circle round Tom and Gatsby for money and Myrtle become Tom’s mistress for money too.

In the apartment where Tom and Myrtle tryst ,Myrtle get Tom’s a slap in her face because she shout the name of Daisy loudly, we can know from this : she is only a mistress and has no position in Tom’s mind that she has no right to call Daisy’s name. Come and have a look at Daisy, although she is the wife of Tom, but also can’t be valued and respected by her husband. As for Tom, she is only a vase which can be put away unheeded and be indifference to. Daisy and Myrtle are all willing to depend on and attachment to rich and powerful Tom because of

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湖北师范学院文理学院外语系学士学位论文(设计)

their own vanity, selfish, corrupt nature. They betray their dignity and become the supplies and bird in a cage. Their vice and corruption are the vivid portrayal of the declining of moral and decaying of their worth’s standard.(郑庆庆,2003:4)

4. The contrast of the ideal and reality

We will experience more about the tragic effect of Gatsby by comparing the ideal and tragedy of Gatsby. (郑庆庆,2003:4). It will set people in deep thinking and arouse their awareness to change the spiritual emptiness and moral corruption, while Nick’s awakening symbolize people will wake up eventually, and they will work together to create a better world.

Gatsby- the protagonist of the novel is full of hope for the future, who is persist themselves and love,he achieves all his costs in order to achieve his dream. He is the man who persists firmly in his pursuit of American Dream. His pursuit of material life is along with the idealism color. On the other hand, the harsh reality is a toll of his beautiful dream, and he became the martyr and victim of American Dream. Gatsby is from the lower society, he is a poor no background boy and who toils hard with the hope to enter the upper class. When it was American military service, he met a beautiful young and wealthy lady whose name is Daisy, and trapped in infatuation with her. In a result, Daisy married to rich and powerful Tom after he went away as he is just a pauper, this made Gatsby feel sad and set his mind to make money. In a short span of five years, he became an upstart who with a huge fortune. In order to regain the old days with Daisy, he bought a big villa to attract the various celebrities and elite’s arrival. He did all this to get the attention of Daisy.(郑庆庆,2003:5). Living with the Daisy is the dream he pursuit all his life .but Daisy kills Myrtle and plot with Tom to kill him too. His dream corrupted. Fortunately, the tragedy of Gatsby woke up Nick; he recognized the essence and nature of the rich and comes back to his home, it represents the people of United States will also wake.

2.4 Irony

In Webster’s New World Dictionary, we know that irony refers to a method of humorous or subtly sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words used is the direct opposite of their usual sense.(李鑫华,2000:178). The use of irony in the novel tells us the

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