Great Gatsby - Research Paper Example

?The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby is an American novel set in 1922 after the First World War on Long Island’s North Shore in New York City. It enjoyed a wide readership and is considered as a paragon of the Great American Novel. This book has some incredible characters and scenes that will remain in our memory. Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel. He shifts to West Egg district of Long Island in New York. This area is mainly comprised of newly rich people. Nick discusses about his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. Tom has an adulterous affair with Myrtle, wife of George. Nick’s neighbor is Jay Gatsby who throws lavish parties every weekend. He is an extremely wealthy and an enigmatic character. Gatsby, after whom the novel is named, is in love with Daisy with whom he had a relationship five years back. The motive behind his parties is to impress Daisy. Daisy eventually begins an affair with Gatsby. When Tom came to know of this, he becomes furious and accuses Gatsby of stealing and other illegal actions. Thereafter, Myrtle gets fatally hit by Gatsby’s car which was being driven by Daisy. However, Gatsby takes the blame on himself. George, who was distressed with grief refused to believe that his wife died in an accident. When he found out from Tom that it was Gatsby’s car which killed Myrtle, he shoots Gatsby before killing himself. Nick arranges a funeral ceremony for Gatsby. After that he shifts to Midwest to sever all ties with West Egg. Gatsby’s childhood was spent in abject poverty. He got engaged in shady business deals like bootlegging to make big money. He does not represent the typical American dreamer. He represents a society obsessed with wealth and power that can go to any length to earn money. Gatsby is a person of reserved nature but has lots of friends who attend his lavish weekend parties. In spite of that, his funeral is attended only by his father, Nick and the “owl-eyed man” in the library. Gatsby did not believe in binding himself with the constraints of time as he says “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald, 89). He treated his wealth casually as was observed by his extravagant parties and a library full of books which he never read. Gatsby’s main ambition was to win the love of Daisy and without her love he is nothing but a rich man with friends who exist only to attend his parties. The American dream of earning money for a decent life was violated by Gatsby as he used his money casually to throw extravagant parties to impress Daisy. He refused to come out of his past and believed that Daisy has always loved only him and not her husband. This novel depicts the violation of American dream in the 1920s through the character of Gatsby. He grew up in poverty and reached a life of opulence with a huge house, car and servants. With his self acquired wealth and social status he could develop in himself a completely different personality from his unprivileged past. The wealthy Americans of 1920s are signified by Gatsby who flaunts his money extravagantly as was depicted by his lavish parties. In the beginning of his life, Gatsby could represent American dream because like any other American he took nurtured the dream of earning money. Later in life, he differs from the other newly rich Americans in a way that he earned his money in dishonorable ways. The main idea of American dream is to earn money through hard work and Gatsby failed to do so. In order to earn the love of Daisy, he obtained big house, car and other material possessions. American dream is an idea of pursuing happiness and this was violated by Gatsby as he pursued mere wealth. Gatsby depicts a character who used to harbor mythicised dreams of achievement and success that can be gained with money. He had the endless desire of going back to the past by craving for Daisy whom he almost married in the past. America’s multiple identities are shown in the character Gatsby. American culture believes in recreating by setting alongside any doubts about the reality of such a concept. The Great Gatsby presents a world of promises but at the cost of our traditions and ethics. Gatsby got involved in illegal activities to achieve his goals without thinking about the consequences. (Neil & Kean, 23, 25) Fitzgerald’s novel carries the theme of distorted American dream. Gatsby is a character who betrays the ethics of American Dream by venturing into illegal activities to earn wealth. At the same time he is betrayed by his dream as he eventually dies before reaching his aspired goal of acquiring Daisy in his life. For Gatsby, acquiring wealth is necessary only to attain Daisy. He lives in the fantasy world that if he keeps his focus fixed on Daisy, then nothing else will have any real value for him. This logic proved to be vicious as he began to define himself from Daisy’s perspective. Thus, when he gets her again, he diverts her attention from himself to his possessions. (Bloom, 80, 97, 98) Gatsby and Tom are two important characters of the novel, and they are as different as chalk and cheese. Tom’s nature is crude and ungracious. Gatsby is of more refined nature and is a courteous host to his friends. Tom has an intimidating personality although his voice does not match his physical appearance. Gatsby is more reticent in nature and is rather shy and reclusive. Tom was born in riches and has never seen poverty. Gatsby earned his wealth through dishonest business transactions. Tom used his money for pleasure and enjoyment with no other goal in life. Gatsby cares little about himself and uses his money with the sole purpose of winning the love of Daisy, the only woman he ever loved. Both of them loved Daisy in their own way and carried the fear of losing her. Tom’s pride would be crushed on losing her. Gatsby eventually lost his life carrying the dream of a life with Daisy. Both the men made indiscretions in their lives. Tom had affair outside his marriage and Gatsby did not care about the nature of business he deals with. There can be several reasons why Daisy chooses to remain with Tom rather than with Gatsby although Tom proved to be an unfaithful husband by getting engaged in extramarital affair. One of the reasons may be the way by which Gatsby earned his wealth. Apparently, Daisy was more in love with Gatsby than with Tom. However, her opinion of Gatsby began to change when Tom accused him of bootlegging and other illegal activities. Another reason might be that Gatsby was demanding in nature. He wanted Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved her husband and that all the while she was married to Tom, she was actually in love with Gatsby. She refused to tell such things to Tom as she cried out “Oh, you want too much! I love you now - isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past. I did love him once - but I love you too” (Fitzgerald, 107). Gatsby carried this illusion that he and Daisy share a special relationship. His illusion could have been true had Daisy never loved Tom. References 1. Bloom, Harold, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, USA: Infobase Publishing, 2006 2. Campbell, Neil and Alasdair Kean, American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture, USA: Routledge, 1997 3. Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby, USA: Nuvision Publications, LLC, 2008 Read More