摘 要

随着物质的不断丰富，消费主义成为人们消费行为新的特点，这一特点尤见于上个世纪二十年代的美国。文学来源于生活，与现实生活存在内在联系。那个时代的文学作品也必然会反映出消费主义这个主题。《人间天堂》是菲茨杰拉德早年人生经历的缩影。本文将从文本分析出发，阐述消费主义在小说中的具体体现。消费主义这一主题在这本书中体现在三个方面。首先，书中人物拥有的各类服饰超出了日常所需，并且拥有了一定的符号意义；其次，主人公艾莫里家庭支出包含很大一部分的“享受型消费”；最后，罗萨琳德因为艾莫里无法满足她对物质生活的要求而拒绝了他的求婚。从某种程度上来说，正是因为消费主义，主人公艾莫里的“美国梦”最终破碎。

关键词：人间天堂；消费主义；爵士时代

The abundance of materials makes consumerism a new characteristic of individual consumption behaviors, which was especially evident in America in 1920s. Literature comes from everyday life, and has an inherent connection with reality. Therefore, consumerism is inevitably reflected in literature of 1920s. This Side of Paradise is an epitome of life experiences of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896—1940) in his youth. Based on text analysis, this essay elaborates on traces of consumerism in this novel. Consumerism in this book is embodied in three aspects. In the first place, the protagonists in this novel possess a variety of clothing, which is beyond daily needs and has certain sign value; secondly, Amory’s household expenditure includes much enjoyment-based consumption; thirdly, Rosalind turns down Amory’s marriage proposal because he cannot satisfy her needs for comfortable material life. To some extent, it is consumerism that leads to the disillusionment of the American Dream of Amory.

Key Words: This Side of Paradise; consumerism; the Jazz Age

1. Introduction 1
   1. Fitzgerald and This Side of Paradise 1
   2. Literature Review 3
2. The Jazz Age and Consumerism 5
   1. The Jazz Age 5
   2. Consumerism 6
   3. American Consumerism in the Jazz Age 7
3. Consumerism in This Side of Paradise 9
   1. Clothing 9
   2. Household Expenditure 10
   3. Marriage 11
4. Consumerism and Broken American Dream 14
   1. American Dream 14
   2. Amory’s Broken American Dream 14
5. Conclusion 16

References 18

Acknowledgements 19

Consumerism in

This Side of Paradise

Introduction

• 1. Fitzgerald and This Side of Paradise

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), born in America, is a short story writer and novelist. He vividly depicts the disillusionment of the American Dream in 1920s and the spiritual “wasteland” of American upper-class during the Great Depression, thus being widely regarded as a representative writer of the "Lost Generation", the literary spokesman of the Jazz Age, the “Poet Laureate”, and an excellent Jazz Age “chronicler” (吴建国，2002). He began to be interested in writing when he was in middle school, and he wrote for campus publication in Princeton. In 1917, he left Princeton to serve in World War I during which he fell in love with Zelda Sayre. Because Fitzgerald was unable to fulfill his lover’s great financial and social expectations, Zelda broke their engagement right after the war. Owing to the publication of This Side of Paradise, which was an immediate commercial success, Fitzgerald and Zelda got married a week after its publication. After marriage, their yearnings for luxury lifestyle drove Fitzgerald to write at a rapid speed. During his 20-year writing experience, he has finished 4 novels, which are This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby, and Tender Is the Night, as well as 160 short stories. Fitzgerald died from heart attack when he was only 44. Some critics point out that although his works cannot represent the development of 20th-century American novels, he is undoubtedly a representative of American culture and society during 1920s and 1930s. His works sway between modernity and tradition, reflecting the transformation of American culture. As a result, a close reading of Fitzgerald’s works can help readers better understand American culture during 1920s and 1930s, and gain insight into modern American

society (杨金才，2002).