Interpretation of Gatsby, the protagonist of The Great Gatsby, from the perspective of individual psychology

 　　Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is the representative work of Fitzgerald, the spokesman of the jazz age. As Fitzgerald said, it was an age of wonder, an age of art, an age of transition, an age of satire. There were two obvious characteristics of that era, one was the prosperity of the American capitalist economy, and the other was the spiritual emptiness and moral degeneration of the American people. As far as literary characteristics are concerned, the challenge to traditional novels is in the interpretation of human nature. The novel focuses on revealing the dark side of human nature, and carefully shapes the "non-heroic" nature of the characters and their inner world full of humbleness, confusion, dullness and absurdity. Represents a picture of the life of a person who has a sick mind or is about to become sick in a distorted material world.

　　The Great Gatsby, published in 1925 but not gaining popularity until after Fitzgerald's death in 1940, is a true portrayal of the 1920s, based on the author's personal life experiences, Gates Bee and Fitzgerald have a lot in common, such as family background, feelings for a "blonde" girl, pursuit of wealth and status, military experience, and even a tragic ending. The characters in The Great Gatsby are mostly pathological—they are confused, lifeless, and at a loss, all created by the author to disrupt traditional order and subvert traditional beliefs.

　　1. Individual psychology

　　Individual psychology refers to Adler's psychoanalytic psychology system, which centers on "inferiority" and "creative self", and emphasizes "social awareness". In the analysis of individual psychology, the source of each person's inferiority complex is different, but in the end they will pursue a kind of self-transcendence in order to get rid of this inferiority complex.

　　(1) Individual psychology and inferiority complex

　　Alfred Adler was one of the early exponents of the psychoanalytic movement. In his view, everyone has a certain degree of inferiority complex. There are various sources of this inferiority complex, which may be family conditions, appearance, height or ability, etc., but this does not mean that these factors are necessarily unqualified in the traditional sense, but for the subject who produces inferiority complex, Believing that one's own condition is lower than the average level or inferior to his target object, this kind of "failure" feeling inferior to others will then lead to a kind of inferiority complex. At the same time, with the intervention of this shallow inferiority complex and the blessing of all aspects of life, the inferiority complex in its infancy will evolve into a relatively stable inferiority complex, which will be revealed through unconscious participation. come out.

　　Inferiority is essentially a denial of self and a negative emotional experience brought about by negative cognition. This also starts with the origin of inferiority complex. Most inferiority complex originates from comparison, and the result of comparison is mostly that one party is better and of higher quality, while the other party is relatively inferior. This sense of loss or defeat that is "not as good as others" will stimulate the potential sense of shame in human beings, and feel that they have lost face and dignity. It evolves into a feeling of jealousy or resentment towards the "winners"; the other situation is that in order to regain dignity, those with inferiority strive to improve their abilities and conditions, achieve self-transcendence, and thus overcome inferiority.

　　(2) Seeking to transcend

　　Adler believes that human civilization is largely built on a sense of inferiority. Different individuals deal with inferiority in different ways. Positive people will choose to face difficulties and change their disadvantaged situation through efforts to win the respect of others and get rid of their inferiority complex. At this time, inferiority complex has become a driving force for people to move forward. For negative people, in order to achieve self-transcendence and get rid of humble negative emotions, they will choose to turn to another direction, paralyze themselves, hide their own flaws or deliberately avoid them, so as to gain a sense of satisfaction. In this way, they did not get rid of their inferiority complex, nor did they make up for their own shortcomings, that is to say, they did not achieve a real reconciliation with their own inadequacies. Emotionally, they do not want to make progress, they only seek equality with others by numbing their own souls, and even devaluing excellent things to achieve the purpose of making themselves physically and mentally happy. To some extent, they achieve Beyond self-transcendence, in fact, they subverted and lost themselves. Adler put forward such a view in the view of human nature: human behavior is purposeful, not determined by the subconscious. The concept of purpose is put forward here, and it is revealed that the common purpose of the entire human society is the pursuit of transcendence, and when it is implemented in everyone, it becomes the individual's pursuit of self-transcendence. Self-transcendence refers to the transcendence of one's own limitations and deficiencies, overcoming these shortcomings and thus becoming a better and brand-new self.

　　2. Gatsby's inferiority complex

　　Throughout Gatsby's short life and analyzing his life experience, it is not difficult to understand where his inferiority complex came from. When he was young, his family was poor, and the poor family conditions made the seeds of inferiority take root in the heart of young Gatsby. When he grew up, he wanted to change the status quo. The psychological trauma of the right and wrong has left indelible marks of inferiority in Gatsby's heart. In the end, these deep-rooted inferiority complexes made Gatsby gradually lose himself and go to death.

　　(1) The reasons for the formation of Gatsby's inferiority complex

　　The poor family background planted the seeds of inferiority in Gatsby's heart. Gatsby was born in an unknown and backward small farm in the western United States, and his poor family made Gatsby experienced a lot of pain. Parents who only knew how to farm, and families who barely made ends meet, made Gatsby think that the family of origin was his own flaw and was shameful. As the narrator of the novel, Nick said that Gatsby's father was dressed in tattered clothes, and his behavior was timid. After he became a millionaire, he changed his original name and avoided talking about his origin, indicating that this experience of his original family was something he tried to hide. The more you hide, the more you care. The poverty of family conditions is the beginning of Gatsby's inferiority complex, and it also has an important impact on Gatsby's later psychological development.

　　(2) The development of Gatsby's inferiority complex

　　Adler believes that inferiority complex will make people feel nervous, and the action of seeking compensation for superiority will inevitably appear at the same time. At first, in order to get rid of the status quo of the poor family, Gatsby put all his hopes on the "American Dream" of successful people with a life experience like Franklin, in order to obtain wealth, achieve class promotion, and get rid of family difficulties. Cover up your inferiority and gain a sense of superiority. To this end, Gatsby did make efforts. When he was 16 years old, he made a strict schedule for himself, even strict to every minute, he insisted on reading and exercising, but day after day persistence did not It brought Gatsby the results he expected, and his poor background became a stumbling block for him to cross the class gap. Gatsby, who worked hard and made progress, was not recognized by the public at that time. Because the "American Dream" in the 20th century has lost its authenticity and has been assimilated by a distorted society, and the distance between various classes is gradually widening. To bridge this gap, it is no longer a matter of conscientiously practicing traditional morals and values. ideas can be realized. Whether it is through legal struggle to obtain wealth or through illegal accumulation, the newly rich cannot break the class prejudice and integrate into the conservative and decadent bourgeoisie. Franklin's "American Dream" became an unrepeatable bubble, which made Gatsby only get disappointed after working hard with hope, and the experience of failure further aggravated Gatsby's inferiority complex.

　　Psychological trauma will cause anxiety and tension in the individual, and this intense inner conflict will exacerbate the individual's inferiority complex. They fell in love with each other when they were young, but lost to reality because of the gap in class and wealth, and were forced to break up. Gatsby, who was obsessed with Daisy, thought that as long as he had wealth, he could win back Daisy's heart. However, after illegally collecting money through smuggling and becoming a rich man, he unexpectedly discovered that Daisy had married someone else. As long as this familiar "loss" existed for one second, it was another second of suffering for Gatsby. If Gatsby was disappointed and frustrated by the hard work in his early years and the experience of practicing the "American Dream", which changed his sense of inferiority, then the experience of being ruthlessly abandoned by his lover was a fatal blow to Gatsby. The attack made a qualitative change in his inferiority complex. Without Daisy's Gatsby, life will never be complete. It can also be said that Daisy is Gatsby's "American Dream", because what motivates him to succeed is his obsession with "owning Daisy", wealth and wealth. The satisfaction brought to him is limited. Only by regaining Daisy's love can Gatsby's inferiority complex be completely healed and his superiority can be fully satisfied.

　　3. Self-Destruction: The Final Transcendence

　　Individual psychology believes: "Everyone's sense of superiority has its own characteristics, and it depends on the meaning of life given by the individual." People have inferiority complexes because of their defects, and seek superiority in order to relieve inferiority complexes. The sense of superiority is closely related to the meaning of life, so people's actions are to cultivate the sense of superiority to surpass the inferiority complex in order to realize the meaning of life. For Gatsby, the protagonist of the story, the meaning of his life is to realize the "American Dream" in his heart, that is, Daisy's love. With Daisy's love, he is a complete individual without Daisy. West, then his dream will never be complete.

　　(1) Losing oneself

　　Compensate for the inferiority complex, there are various ways to pursue superiority, choose the right path to go to the right destination, if you choose a wrong path, not only will you not get the superiority you originally pursued, but you will also go astray. Lose yourself in the middle, and get farther and farther from the starting point.

　　Gatsby betting all of his dreams on Daisy is dangerous in itself. First of all, as a person, Daisy has too many variables and uncontrollable. Secondly, Daisy, who came from the upper class, has already completely become a slave to the corrupt ideas of society, and interests are what Daisy seeks throughout her life, whether it is abandoning Gatsby before marriage or continuing with Gatsby after marriage. Frontiers are all based on interests. It was not Gatsby's unchanging love that made Daisy cry for many years, but the eyes full of intoxication and the gorgeous clothes of a whole wardrobe. Perhaps in the eyes of onlookers, the worldly and material Daisy is not worthy of Gatsby's steadfastness. Love, but in Gatsby's own opinion, these may be insignificant. What he cares about is the possession of Daisy, the end of years of obsession, and the good medicine to heal his inferiority complex. This pursuit of superiority is almost crazy, so that he loses the ability to distinguish right from wrong and loses himself.

　　(2) The ending destined to be disillusioned

　　Becoming a rich man and regaining Daisy's love, Gatsby's "American Dream" seems to have come true, but all these good things are only fleeting, fleeting. On the one hand, it is because Gatsby's way of acquiring wealth is illegal. Once discovered, everything will be in vain; on the other hand, Gatsby is an emerging rich man who seized the opportunity to make a fortune in the 1920s. The profound American society, the traditional upper-class society’s long-established value orientation, way of life and rules of the game cannot be integrated into the emerging rich man like Gatsby, that is to say, Gatsby cannot truly into the upper class. However, Gatsby has always been immersed in the dream of the realization of the "American Dream". He is optimistic that with wealth and Daisy, he has achieved self-transcendence and completed the pursuit of superiority.

　　Because of the gap between class and wealth, Gatsby lost his beloved Daisy, and then worked hard to set a strict schedule for himself, study hard, exercise, just to win Daisy again. However, the process of starting a business was not all smooth sailing. With hard work and opportunity, Gatsby turned into a millionaire, and Daisy had already married someone else. Gatsby had an obsession with owning Daisy. Xi is the incarnation of Gatsby's "American Dream". She doesn't need any changes. Her existence and her slightest concern can make Gatsby's "American Dream" continue to shine, and continue to play a role in bridging his role. The role of inferiority complex allows him to gain a sense of superiority and achieve self-transcendence. However, Gatsby's beloved Daisy did not call when he was dying, and even earlier, when Daisy knew Gatsby was smuggling, she had already decided to leave. Perhaps, Gatsby knew all this subconsciously, but he was still willing to love Daisy firmly, and he was willing to believe that Daisy loved himself, because only in this way can this "love" continue to work, like A good medicine cures his inferiority complex.

　　Once again lost the "lost and found" Daisy, the dream finally realized is broken again, everything seems to have returned to the original point, but Gatsby, who has been persistently pursuing this dream, seems to be empty, and his life is completely revolving around. As this dream unfolded, with the shattering of this dream, Gatsby's life collapsed instantly. He had forgotten the original self and the original warmth. In order to protect his "American Dream", Gatsby paid a huge amount of money. The price of getting lost for love and dying for love. Along with Wilson's gunshots, Gatsby fell in a pool of blood, without the nostalgia of his lover, or even no one cared, Gatsby's paranoid love and persistent pursuit of the "American Dream" ended. This shot is not only the end of Gatsby's life, but also the end of the inferiority complex that haunted him all his life. In a sense, the end of life is Gatsby's last psychological compensation, and the self-destruction in the end is also the realization of his ultimate self-transcendence.

　　This article interprets Gatsby's psychology in "The Great Gatsby" from the perspective of individual psychology, analyzes the origin of his inferiority complex, and Gatsby's paranoid pursuit of the "American Dream" in order to get rid of his inferiority complex and regain Daisy The love that finally fell into the abyss of depravity, towards destruction.