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Abstract ：The paper aims to point out the tragedy of Clyde who is the hero of Dreiser’s novel American Tragedy. It first introduces the life and works of Dreiser, as well as the background of “American Dream”. In the second part, it analyzes the process from Clyde’s pursuit for “American Dream” till the disillusion of it. The paper then discusses the factors that lead to the “American tragedy”, that is Clyde’s weak personality, the social background, and the nature of “American Dream”. In conclusion, Clyde's tragedy is both the tragedy of an individual and the tragedy of the American society.
Key words: American tragedy, Clyde, “American Dream”,Tragedy
摘要： 本论文的主旨是分析德莱赛的小说《美国悲剧》中的主人公克莱德的悲剧。文章首先介绍了作者的生平、作品，以及“美国梦”的大背景，接着展示了克莱德“美国梦”的形成及破灭的过程，随后分析了造成他梦想破灭的原因即克莱德自身的性格弱点和当时的社会环境以及“美国梦”本身虚幻的本质。综上所述，克莱德的悲剧不仅仅是其自身的悲剧，更是美国社会的悲剧。
关键词: 《美国悲剧》，克莱德，美国梦, 悲剧
From Clyde’s tragedy we can see that, under such economic system that success means gaining more money, the original “American Dream” was rotten. The aim of “American Dream” now is to gain money and power. People like Clyde would do everything to make their dream come true, even abandoning morality and humanity. At that time the “American Dream” is misleading. It simply is not possible for everyone to become prosperous through determination and hard work alone. This belief can make the poor feel that it is their fault that they are not successful. It can also result in less effort towards helping the poor since their poverty is seen as "proof" of their laziness. The concept of the “American Dream” also ignores other factors of success such as luck, family, language, and wealth one is born into. It also fails to take inheritable traits such as intelligence and physical attributes including height, shape, and beauty into account.
When we talk about American tragedy as described in the novel we refer to many aspects of the social realities. First and for most American tragedy is the tragedy of “American Dream”. Many people like Clyde cherish “American Dream” but at last all their dreams are crushed. American democracy is also a tragedy in the novel. Laws are violated for one reason or other. Also American tragedy is a tragedy of morality. Many incidents in the novel show the degradation of the moral. They have no sympathy and what they pursue is only self-interests. And last American tragedy is the tragedy of love. Many lovers in the novel find themselves totally deceived and their love affairs destroyed. Therefore the essence of “American Dream” is evil, ridiculous and unpractical. So Clyde’s “American Dream” is doomed to be a tragedy, and it must be spurned.