Cultural Contradictions: A Sociological Approach to The Great Gatsby, Poor White, and Babbitt

• Main Authors: Sun, Chih-chen, 孫志誠
• Other Authors: Chung, Chenchiun
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 1996
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/86411898481561881321

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 外國語文學系 === 84 === This thesis is a sociological study of the contradictions inherent in capitalism and the American dream of success. It deals primarily with The Great Gatsby, Poor White, and Babbitt, three important American novels of the twenties. The reason why I choose them is that they exhibit a marvelous concurrence of dreams, fears, hopes, and frustrations caused by the compelling cultural myth. The first chapter introduces the contemporary social and cultural backgrounds that have inspired the writers of this time. It emphasizes the contradictory strands intrinsic both in the success myth and capitalist system. The second chapter shows the way Fitzgerald portrays the beautiful and the ugly aspects of the success dream. It points out his ambivalent attitude toward money and particularly the American dream. The third chapter examines how the technological progress engenders the chasm between the country and the city. America, as Anderson shows, is transformed into a land awash with the machines. The fourth chapter demonstrates how the life of a successful man is reduced to pettiness and insignificance. The pursuit of success, as Lewis displays, is poignantly rediculed and satirized. The fifth chapter is a theoretical review of the cultural contradictions. It shows that the doubled-edged success myth, in fact, echoes the central characteristics of capitalism: rationality and irrationality. It is probably this tension-filled myth that leads the three novelists to respond ambiguously to the material success.