A Comparative Study On The Great Gatsby And The Heavy Wings From An Eco-literary Perspective——the Reference Of The American Dream For The Pursuit Of The Chinese Dream

The thesis has done a comparative study on the two representative works-The Great Gatsby and The Heavy Wings. Analyzing the environment issues and the psychological problems of people, it illustrate the importance of ecological civilization in the pursuit of dream.The Great Gatsby written by the US novelist F. Scott. Fitzgerald described the hero Gatsby who never stopped struggling for his position in the upper class but died in vain after his dream had vanished miserably. The Heavy Wings, a Mao Dun Literary Prize winner, written by Chinese writer Zhang Jie described the intense conflicts between the reformers and the conservatives in the heavy industry during the beginning period of the reform and opening up era in China.Comparatively speaking, these two books reflect some common features of the reform period in America and China. The positive aspects:The preferential policies have encouraged people to pursue personal welfare and promoted social progress. The negative aspects: Ecological civilization has been damaged to some extent. Furthermore, there are also some essential differences between the "American Dream" and the "Chinese Dream". Analyzing the differences on guiding ideologies, culture backgrounds and ways to pursue the dreams, the thesis illustrated the different prospects of the two dreams. It emphasizes that the pursuit of the "Chinese Dream" needs to learn from the valuable experiences and lessons in the development of the "American Dream". We should reduce pollution and prevent people’s cognition from being materialized. Considering the "Chinese Dream" as the combined result of the socialism with Chinese characteristics and the local practice of Marx’s theory, we should respect the production laws and manage the humanistic care for workers. Therefore, the long-term ecological concepts are vital for the pursuit of dream.This thesis consists of five parts:Chapter1Introduction to the authors and the writing backgrounds of The Great Gatsby and The Heavy Wings; the main contents and literary studies of the novels; certain novelty value of this thesis as well as its significance.Chapter2A general review of the concept flow of "American dream" and "Chinese Dream" under the guidance of the eco-literary theory; Point out the research question is how to use the reference information of the American Dream to pursue the Chinese Dream.Chapter3Comparative analysis on the two novels from the eco-literary perspective figuring out the common features of the "American Dream" and the "Chinese Dream"; the mutual impacts between the reform and ecological civilization; the evil consequences of ignoring the eco-issues.Chapter4Analyze the essential differences between the "Chinese Dream" and the "American Dream". Point out that only by valuing the eco-civilization and people’s psycho-situation, can a nation have the possibility to pursue its dream.Chapter5Conclusion. Reflect the ecological problems from The Great Gatsby and The Heavy Wings. Conclude the main issue for pursuing the "Chinese Dream" is to attach importance to ecological civilization and adhere on the road of sustainable development.