On The Embodiment And Influence Of Sign-value In The Great Gatsby

F.Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most distinguished writers in the history of American literature in the 20~thh century.As Fitzgerald's masterpiece,The Great Gatsby lays an important foundation for him and becomes him the spokesman of the“Jazz Age”in the 1920s,and one of the representative writers of the“Lost Generation”.The Great Gatsby tells readers a story that the young and poor Gatsby accumulates his wealth through illegal means in order to renew his old dreams with his former lover again,but at the cost of his life in the end.The Great Gatsby was created in 1925when the consumerism culture flourished in America,and the productive society was gradually replaced by the consumer society.People were controlled by all kinds of consumption ideas,abandoned the traditional virtues they used to cherish,and took possession of material wealth as a sign of success.It is exactly during this period when people lived a luxurious life and spent a great deal of money.In the novel,Fitzgerald showed all aspects of the consumer society.People met their psychological needs through consumption,and conspicuous consumption and enjoyable consumption were filled into people's lives.From people's choice of all kinds of goods and consumption,the symbolic meaning of consumption in people's life could be understood.People's consumption could reflect their social position and power.Here,goods not only had the use value,but also the sign value.At this time,people changed from the slaves of things into the slaves of signs,and took the possession of signs instead of the possession of things.The society was not just the world of things and goods,but also a world of signs.Under the influence of sign consumption,the love and the friendship between people became extremely utilitarian.The inter-personal relationship became the relation of exchange in order to achieve its sign value.This thesis will use Jean Baudrillard's sign-value theory,with The Great Gatsby as the text,to analyze the embodiment and the influence of consumer's behavior and people's pursuit of the sign-value in the novel,and thus to reveal the portrayal of the sign value in the real life in order to help people establish a correct view of consumption.From the perspective of sign-value theory interpreting The Great Gatsby,this thesis can draw the following conclusion:as people are overly consuming and pursuing sign-value,they become the slaves of consumption and the slaves of sign,and the relationship between people becomes the relationship of consumption.Consumption corrodes the spirits and the will of people,and causes the decay of people's social morality and the prevalence of corruption.If we wish to live a meaningful life,we should bear in mind that we can not be controlled by consumption,even though it is so overwhelming.