Crisis And Construction Of Identity In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s Novels

F.Scott Fitzgerald is best known as a chronicler of the 1920 s and as the writer who,more than any other,identified,delineated,the middle class representative of that era.F.Scott Fitzgerald lived and wrote in an era of momentous social change,as the representative of Jazz Age,he paid more attention to the psychological condition of modern people and had a burning identity consciousness for American society.The primary aim of this dissertation is to prove that F.Scott Fitzgerald’s characters’ crisis and construction of identity is a major theme is his fiction,especially the three important novels of his different periods,This Side of Paradise,The Great Gatsby,Tender is Night.This dissertation make use of the identity theory on Eric Erikson,Charles Taylor and Giddens to illustrate Fitzgerald’s three great works.Identity crisis is a widespread spiritual crisis in the Jazz Age",through the analysis of the identity crisis and construction of the main characters,thereby understanding the spiritual crisis in the period of social transition.In terms of structure the thesis is divided into four chapters.The first is concerned with the root of the problem of "identity" in Fitzgerald’s works.The writer’s identity consciousness is from his background of ear and personal experience.First I mainly introduces the theory of identity and the "Lost Generation" writers.My attention then turns to the influence of his parents and marriage.In short,how are age and personal experience create writer’s writing of identity.In Chapter Two the focus shifts to a consideration of the identity crisis of characters in Fitzgerald’s works.The crisis will be caused by lacking of identity consciousness.The three novels reveals the self crisis of the Fitzgerald’s protagonist deeply mired in variety of intense conflicts.This study highlights the tensions between self and society,self and tradition,and points out that when idealism based on original values is shattered,confusion is inevitable.In Chapter Three the focus shifts to how the characters in Fitzgerald’s works construct their identity after they suffer from identity crisis and analyzes the reasons for their failure.Fitzgerald tried to find a way to solve the crisis,he put the construction of identity in the tension of the change of age,the conflict between old and new values,revealing that the factors that cause the failure of their identity construction are not single,but multiple.Chapter four analyzes the role of writing in the construction of the writer’s own identity and the significance of Fitzgerald’s identity writing.Fitzgerald identified his life experience with his creation and constructed his own identity through writing.In his works,he showed his continuous exploration and reflection on identity.Fitzgerald recorded a true portrayal of a generation by identity writing,revealed the humanity is destroyed by consumer society.Due to limitations of mind and times,he did not find a way to construct identity,but his exploration is worth reflecting.