In the contemporary society, the situation is almost the same。 People have the tendency to regard themselves as the center of the society。 As a consequence, they show no respect for nature, society and even their fellows。 In recent years, numerous factories get used to discharging all kinds of waste water and tainted chemical materials into the rivers or seas around them, so the pollution are becoming increasingly worse both in the rivers and seas。 Besides, the excessive deforestation is another serious problem。 People cut down trees to gain profits and accumulate material wealth without paying attention to the refreshment of the forests。 Such an unconscionable behavior gives rise to various kinds of natural disaster, such as flooding and sand storm。 Further more, some people slaughter rare species of animals for their fur, just for the purpose of showing off in public。 

Besides, the relationships among people are getting tenser。 People in modern times treat others in an indifferent and unconcerned way。 When they encounter some people who are in trouble, they are just inclined to stand by or pass by, instead of giving others' a hand。 And people get accustomed to the life which is of Lies and deceit。 Finally, a great many of modern people are suffering from various psychological problems because of their expanding desires and failure to keep the inner world a peaceful place。 

Consequently, it is necessary to perform the study of The Great Gatsby concerning eco-criticism, to make people be conscious of this unfavorable social phenomenon, and strive to make improvement on it。 

2。 Literature Review

2。 1 Eco-criticism

Ecological criticism, arising in the 1970s, has gradually developed into an influential genre of literary criticism。 The contents of it does not merely include the ecological environment protection, but also cover social ecology and spiritual ecology。 Along with the prompt development of technology and industrialization, an increasing number of people come to realize the vital significance of environmental protection。 Accordingly, numerous scholars adopts this theory to analyze literary works nowadays。 

There have been various definitions about it, among which the one put forward by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm is quite popular。 It brings forward the opinion that ecocriticism studies the relationship between literature and the natural environment。 (Glotfelty and Fromm xviii)To speak exactly, ecological criticism can be seen as the philosophy of ecology。 Karl Broeber has remarked on this in a definite way。 He proclaimed that ecocriticism does not employ the research methods in ecology, biochemistry, mathematics methodology, or any other scientific research methods for literary analysis, and it solely has brought the most elementary ideals on philosophy of ecology into literature。 (Broeber 2) In 1972, Meeker Put forward the concept of "literary ecology"and he proposed to make a research on the biological themes that appear in literary works(Meeker 9) In 1978, William Rueckert first adopted the term eco-criticism in his paper “Literature and Ecology:An Experiment in Ecocriticism”。 He brought forward “Apply the concepts of ecology to the research of literature”(Rueckert 71) This attached vital importance to the ecological horizon of the literary critics。 Then, In 1992, the association called Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, an international academic institution for the study of ecocriticism, was set up in America。 Researchers from all over the world like Britain, Japan and so on have taken an active part in this institution。 It was after the entry into the new century that ecocriticism has a rapid development。 In 2001, Writing  for an Endangered World:Literature, Culture, and Environment in the U。 S。 and Beyond written by Buell came out。 It put the research of ecological literature criticism into a new stage。  生态批评视角下解读《了不起的盖茨比》(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_197289.html