The Paradoxical Pursuit Of The American Dreama Thematic Study Of Loon Lake

American Jewish writer E. L. Doctorow excels in taking significant historic events assubject matters to depict panoramic pictures of the American society and economy in aspecific time, from which his perceptive acuteness and humanitarian compassion emanate.His tour de force Loon Lake, published in1980, is set in the Great Depression and exhibitsthe pursuit of the American Dream of people from all walks of life in the backdrop of agloomy economy.The American Dream endears itself to American writers over decades. The delicateand novel perspectives from which it is narrated vary greatly in every possible way, whichendows this topic with everlasting appeal to readers. Loon Lake distinguishes itself fromother works because Doctorow adopts a variety of postmodern narrative strategies,examines the happenings in the1930s with a grown-up’s eyes, comments on the pursuit ofAmerican Dream during the Great Depression from the perspective of an outsider andfurther reveals his attitude toward the merits and harms entailed by the American Dream.By a close analysis of the gains and losses of dream pursuers in Loon Lake in pursuitof the American Dream, this thesis intends to examine influences that exert on characterswith the assets and liabilities of the American Dream. The author of this thesis believesthat under the inspiration of the American Dream, some fortunate dream pursuers enjoyfortune and fame with the realization of the American Dream. However, spiritualdisillusion and moral degradation reduce them to victims of the American Dream.Doctorow is obviously critical and doubtful about the dualism of the American Dream.The present thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter One discusses the realizationof gaining fortune and fame, and of improving one’s social status so as to analyze thebenefits brought forth by realized American Dream. Chapter Two focuses on thedisillusioned American Dream because of the moral degradation of the dream pursuers, thelack of domestic happiness, material comfort and their spiritual depravity. Chapter Threeelaborates on the dilemmatic situation of the American Dream from the perspectives of theassets and liabilities of the dream so as to probe into the reasons of pursuers’ fascination inpursuing the dream and the causes of actualized or disillusioned American Dream. Withthe exploration of pros and cons of the dream, Doctorow advances his critical thinkingtoward the American Dream. The thesis comes to a conclusion that although dreampursuers can achieve fortune and fame, their success is unavoidably temporal due to their spiritual loss and moral depravity. The American Dream is doomed to be a nightmare fromwhich one-sided fortune-seekers cannot escape, and the pursuit of the American Dream istherefore definitely paradoxical. Doctorow warns us that happiness and fulfillment will notgrace those American-Dream pursuers unless they strike on a balance between theirstriving for the material and their cultivation of the spiritual. Doctorow’sadmonishment still has much enlightenment to modern people who enjoy life ofmaterial prosperity.It is a pity to see that western critics’ systematical studies on Loon Lake are still quiterare even nowadays, and most of them focus on its writing techniques. While China criticshave not yet set foot in this exquisite novel. Therefore, the author of this thesis aims topresent readers the theme of the American Dream sugar-coated with the writing techniqueof postmodernism so as to make a better understanding of Loon Lake, and provide a newdimension in further understanding of Doctorow, his outlook on life and his other works.