《了不起的蓋茨比》中主要人物精神分析批評

張琴

【摘 要】小說《了不起的蓋茨比》出自美國爵士時代代言人費茲杰拉德之筆，自二十世紀二十年代出版之日起便倍受關注。本文用弗洛伊德精神分析批評方法解讀該小說中的三個主要人物：主人公蓋茨比是一個充滿激情的幻想家，本文通過對蓋茨比強烈的愛欲、壓抑在潛意識里的欲望，向讀者呈現了蓋茨比這一傳奇形象；小說的敘述者尼克充當道德評判者的角色，他強烈的超我以及對蓋茨比的互補性認同感是解讀蓋茨比這個人物的核心；女主人公黛西作為舊貴族的典型，被冠以“拜金女郎”的稱號，本文深刻剖析了她丑惡的本我以及深藏在潛意識里的空虛。

【關鍵詞】《了不起的蓋茨比》；弗洛伊德精神分析批評；人格結構理論

【中圖分類號】I106.4 【文獻標識碼】A

【文章編號】2095-3089（2019）05-0005-02

【Abstract】

The Great Gatsby was written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald， the representative of the Jazz Age in America， and has drawn much attention since its publication in 1920s. The thesis analyzes the three main characters in this novel from the perspective of Freudian psychoanalytic criticism： the protagonist Gatsby is a passionate illusionist. Through interpretations of Gatsbys intense Eros， the suppressed desires in his unconscious， the thesis presents the legendary image of Gatsby to all readers； the narrator in this novel， Nick， assumes the role of a moral judge， whose strong superego and identification to the protagonist Gatsby form the essence of this character； the heroine Daisy is the representative of old aristocrats， who is labeled as “the golden girl”， and the thesis analyzes her lusty id and the hollowness hidden in her unconscious deeply.

【Key Words】The Great Gatsby；Freudian psychoanalytic criticism； Personality structure theory

一、Introduction

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald， one of the most famous American writers in the 20th century and the author of the Great Gatsby， was born in 1896 in St. Paul， Minnesota. Twenties was Fitzgeralds exclusive decade， as his works swept across America and Europe. His masterpiece， the Great Gatsby， was published in 1925， when Americas economy was booming in this decade， with crime， alcohol and fast cars on rise. It was an era of chaos and ceaseless jazz music， which was called “Jazz Age” by Fitzgerald. The story in the Great Gatsby was set in this historical background.

This thesis is an exploration of main characters in the Great Gatsby based on the established Freudian psychoanalytic criticism. The employment of Freuds psychoanalytic criticism essential when composing this thesis， especially when analyzing the three main characters，Gatsby， Nick， and Daisy， under the influence of the division of id， ego， and superego.

二、Sigmund Freuds Psychoanalytic Criticism

Sigmund Freud （1856-1939） is an Austrian physician and the founder of psychoanalysis.The publication of Freuds Interpretation of Dreams in 1900 first made him well-known around the world and his discovery of the unconscious was epochal， which revolutionized the way people reexamine themselves.In 1905， his hypothesis that all human activities were driven by sexual desires shocked the whole society in the West， which revolutionized peoples thoughts once again.

Freud proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts： Id， Ego and Superego. Id is the reservoir of desires， impetus required for survival， which is totally driven by unconscious. Ego is that part of human psyche which acts and responds to the surrounding world in a way as “self” or “I”， whose goal is to repress the undesirable instinctual impulses and try to be moral， ensuring that most desires or needs are met in accordance with the reality principle. The last part of human psyche is superego， which is driven by peoples conscience， following the rules and standards for good behaviors. According to Freuds theory， superego opposes the id and desires which are originated from it by enforcing moral restrictions and trying to reach the goal of achieving ideal perfection.

三、Jay Gatsby： The Passionate Illusionist

Gatsby， legally James Gatz， was born in a peasant family in the middle-west. When Gatsby served in World War I， he became a lieutenant and fell in love with Daisy， who came from an upper-class family and later deserted him because of his shabby social status and then married a wealthy man Tom. All this provoked Gatsbys determination to become rich.Through bootlegging he realized his dream， bought a mansion on West Egg， throwing extravagant party every night only to attract Daisys attention from across the bay.

1.Gatsbys Intense Eros.

One of Freuds important theories deals with the relationship between the id and libido. The id is the only reservoir of libido， which is also called sexual instinct triggered by Eros. In the case of Gatsbys libido， which was suppressed by the fact that he couldnt get Daisy， it was relieved in various means， such as relentless pursuing for money， reputation， and social status， together with his lavish parties which help him won peoples admiration and jealousy.

Gatsby left readers with an impression of being persistent and passionate， as Eros has the capability to encourage people to fight for themselves and meet the needs of the id， through the exploration of Gatsbys rising from scratch， his persistence and passion for his future glory was definitely derived from his Eros.

After Daisy attended Gatsbys party for the first time， as the representative of the old aristocrats， she threw her contempt and disregards on the newly-rich group. Even Gatsby sensed the unwillingness of Daisy to leave Tom， he was obstinate that he could alter the fact and change Daisys decision. In a word， Gatsbys Eros in this story was vibrant and persistent， which spurred him to achieve his goal and satisfy his id to the most extent.

2.Suppressed Desires in Unconscious.

Although Gatsby started from scratch and he realized his American dream， underneath the facade of wealth and power， Gatsby was definitely a negative byproduct of American dream. All along Gatsbys life journey， he experienced breakthroughs as well as struggles. Thankfully， he didnt give in and eventually he was but one short step to his dream. In this process of struggling， Gatsby repressed most of his desires preserved in his unconscious. All of his desires and conflicts are below the level of conscious as his lust and aggression surfaced from unconscious， therefore at this critical moment， his id was the determining factor to his behaviors. For instance， in spite of bootlegging was illegal and banned by explicit order in 1920s， Gatsby still risked reaping huge profits to meet these needs of the id which were used to be unrealistic even impossible to him.In a word， the lust and aggression deep in his id drove him to do what he had never done only in order to win over the beautys heart.

四、Nick Carraway： The Honest Moralist

As the narrator of this novel， Nick Carraway was equipped with the ability to survey all characters involved and document their experiences in the summer of 1922. When it comes to Nicks omniscience， his special relations with other characters are necessary to be mentioned here first.

1.Nicks Strong Superego.

In the whole story， Nick was equipped with the right to judge all characters behavior， not only owning to his special relationship with all others， but also his strong superego， which guided him to judge fairly and disdain the fickleness of the world. Nicks father once told him that all the people in this world havent had the advantages that he has had. Obviously， Fitzgerald attached a sense of moral superiority on Nick， endowing Nick to play the special role of a judge and moralist.

The most distinct disdain and disgust that Nick had toward the crowd of old aristocracy was his contempt for Tom and Daisy. Although Nick was once attracted by the gay and prominent life in New York City and strived for his American dream， after witnessing what happened to people around， he decided to flinch.The withdrawal of Nick when facing the prosperity of metropolitan life implied his consciousness of his surroundings and his moral clarity after experiencing much in this dirty and foul society.The ideal that Fitzgerald wanted to achieve was a character， Nick， who possessed strong superego in the authors literary work and did what he hadnt done in real life.

2.Identification to Gatsby.

Identification， from the perspective of psychoanalysis， is the process in which the ego tries to emulate another.For example， if a boy identifies himself with his father， he wants to be like his father.

Nicks attitude toward Gatsby wasnt identification from the very beginning， as his comment on Gatsby at first was“Gatsby represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn （6）”. However， in the last chapter， when Nick left Gatsbys mansion and he found himself being responsible to tell his true feelings toward Gatsby， which was transformed to “Theyre a rotten crowd… Youre worth the whole damn bunch put together （150）”. Then Nicks attitude toward Gatsby completed its transformation from disdain to identification.

In this novel Nick is the witness of Gatsbys extravagant lifestyle and his desolate funeral， which makes the relationship between them quite subtle. They had much in common when it comes to their encounters.The loyalty and unconditional help that Nick provided to Gatsby serves as a proof of his identification to Gatsby. Nick regarded Gatsby as another half， which helps him to reach a psychological satisfaction and balance.

五、Daisy Buchanan： “The Golden Girl”

Daisy Buchanan played an important role in causing Gatsbys tragedy， and she embodied the features of hedonism of America in 1920s， which was named as the Jazz Age by Fitzgerald. Hedonism seeks for infinite pleasure and enjoyment， which matches with the principle of humans id， the pleasure principle.

1.Daisys Lusty Id.

As other young girls， Daisy sought for romantic love； however， what she asked for extra was that the romance needed to be built on wealth and high social status. In one of the conversations between Nick and Gatsby， where they were commenting on Daisy， Nick thought Daisy got an indiscreet voice and Gatsby added that her voice was full of money， who talked to the point of this discourse. Daisys criterion for love was shallow and snobbish， which was mainly guided by her id， as she made decisions of her life solely based on the pleasure principle.

At the climax in this novel， Daisy rode in Gatsbys car and ran Myrtle over in panic. She didnt intend to confess the guilty and conspired with Tom to run away， leaving Gatsby to be in danger and then get killed by Myrtles husband. Their ruthlessness and indifference in the novel showed the characteristics of the group of upper-class people who were represented by Tom and Daisy， which was also criticized and despised by the author in the real life.