The Great Gatsby: An Analysis - Essay Example

The Great Gatsby: An Analysis Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is one of the finely written masterpieces of the twentieth-century (Bewley 259). A bit unusual for contemporary American literature to use class as one of its central themes, The Great Gatsby presents an intriguing and aggressive story of Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of the American Dream through hopefulness and disappointment as keenly observed by his neighbor, Nick Carraway. A classic example of rags to riches, Gatsby later realized that his immense wealth cannot afford him the distinction that belongs exclusively to those born into the upper class. The novel provides an exploration of Gatsby’s journey in achieving wealth, success and love with passionate optimism while ironically submitting into moral corruption and questionable lifestyle in the process. This paper aims to analyze how the conflict between Gatsby’s representation of an average American’s hopes, dreams and aspirations with his personal, professional and social life conditions affect his capacity to accomplish his ambitions. Wealthy New Yorker James Gatsby is the central character of the novel. Born as James Gatz, he longed to escape from the impoverished life that he was born into from rural South Dakota and possess wealth and sophistication. While studying in college, he worked as a janitor to support his finances but abruptly quitted because of the difficulty of the job. The one thing that inspired and deeply motivated Gatsby to achieve his goals is his love for Daisy Buchanan, a young girl born from luxury and grace that he met before leaving for the World War I as an enlisted officer in 1917. He firmly believed that he can convince her that he was good for her if he has already established his fortune and become a notable name in society. Daisy promised to wait for him though she married football player Tom Buchanan just after two years and settled in the old rich community of East Egg in New York. Heartbroken, Gatsby finished his studies in Oxford and concentrated on getting Daisy back by participating in organized crimes such as stealing bond securities and distributing illegal alcohol. His changing of his name symbolizes his reinvention as he improved his social and economic status. After acquiring millions of dollars, Gatsby bought a mansion in West Egg and threw weekly lavish parties in order to lure Daisy in joining such. Expectedly, Gatsby and Daisy’s paths crossed in the wealthy society of New York. Facing the moment that he prepared for several years, Gatsby showed his wealth and possessions to Daisy and convinced her to revive their love affair. He openly escorted her to parties and swayed her to leave her husband for him in order to recover the life that they lost during their separation. Regrettably, Gatsby failed to see the shallowness and weakness of Daisy’s character that led to the end of their relationship in the past. Meanwhile, Tom learned of his wife’s extramarital affair. Although he himself has an affair with Myrtle Wilson, Tom was furious of his wife’s unfaithfulness that was fueled even further with his perception of Gatsby as a “new rich” who pose as a threat to the old order. Tom is a classic depiction of people eaten by greed and power, inclined of gender inequality and afraid of the intermixing of classes as it poses a stain to the established bourgeois class. Ultimately, Daisy was convinced by Tom of Gatsby’s roots of poverty and amoral activities. Being superficial and self-centered, Daisy chose to end her relationship with Gatsby because of his past. The story led to a violent climax as encompassed by the brutal deaths of Myrtle, Gatsby and George Wilson. In the end, Nick summarized the relentless optimism of Gatsby in fulfilling his dreams, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one 2ne morning…” (Fitzgerald 193). On his review on Fitzgerald’s work, Bewley (264) noted “The Great Gatsby” as the novelist’s version of criticism of America. Bewley (264) wrote, “The Great Gatsby embodies a criticism of American experience—not of manners, but of a basic historic attitude to life—more radical than anything in James’s own assessment of the deficiencies of his country. The theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American dream”. The passionate magnification of the promise of life at a high intensity results to a confusion of the material and the spiritual needs of man. Success-driven Americans tend to have difficulty in determining the unseen limit in the vision of life where reality ends and the fantasy begins. In addition, Fitzgerald has purposely reflected Gatsby’s dream to be emblematic of the American Dream for wealth and youth. However, Gatsby failed to recognize that money cannot buy happiness, love and respect. The American reality in Gatsby’s mind is nothing but a meaningless world. According to Bewley (274), The Great Gatsby becomes the acting out of the tragedy of the American vision. It is a vision totally untouched by the scales of values that order life in a society governed by traditional manners; and Fitzgerald knows that although it would be easy to condemn and “place” the illusions by invoking these outside values, to do so would be to kill the reality that lies beyond them, but which can sometimes only be reached through them. Gatsby’s inadequate view of wealth has dimmed the true definition of his exploration in escaping poverty and improving his deficiency in social status. He was drowned with success and power until he finally lost the sense of his moral fiber, transforming him into an empty, purposeless man. Moreover, the change in Gatsby’s character disagrees from his initial goal of reaching his dreams. According to Dickstein (180), “Fitzgerald exposes the darkest aspects of human nature in Gatsby—from the fragile, ephemeral nature of dreams to the inability of wealth to provide any sort of lasting happiness—and this resonated with critics of the 1950’s”. His humble beginnings had been tainted with moral corruption brought by his hunger of distinction. First, his personality and outlook in life has changed for the worse as he becomes a compulsive liar in order to conceal his impecunious past. For instance, he has lied about his background even with his closest friend, Nick, and the love of his life, Daisy. He also told people that the reason why he studied in Oxford is because it was a family tradition, when his parents were poor, uneducated farmers. Second, Gatsby’s professional aspirations have directed him to illegal activities by affiliating himself with the shady persona of Meyer Wolfsheim. Although he was educated and has already gained several experience from various jobs and was exposed to a life of wealth and privilege through his connection with the gold baron Dan Cody, Gatsby entered the underworld society of gamblers and gunrunners in order to gain his immense fortune (Garrett 29). Lastly, Gatsby’s social life has proved to be too extravagant and flamboyant. Recognizing the existence of an indestructible class structure in America in his time, Gatsby had to dreadfully forge his status so that he can justify his place in society. Still, it was enough for the old rich to fully accept him within their class. He may be mingling with the finest people, but he will be always thought of a noveau rich individual who lacks inherent class and breeding (Garrett 30). Conversely, the flawed personal, professional and social conditions of Gatsby do not obliterate the other aspects of his true character. For example, although Gatsby is known as a liar, he only does this because he is hoping to establish a high position in society so that Daisy will realize that he is worthy for her. Naïve and shallow as it seems, the lovesick Gatsby has transformed his life into a mirage, an illusion of broken promises and false hopes (Garrett 31). The central theme of “The Great Gatsby” is the contrast of the debasing influence of riches to the purity of a dream. Fitzgerald has illustrated the rich Gatsby as a mysterious and remote host, a legendary celebrity surrounded by gossip which is entirely different from the naïve, innocent and hopeful approach to life by the young poor Gatz. This transformation of character as a product of his astonishing ability to change his life so as to realize his hopes and dreams has given Gatsby the quality of greatness, hence adopting the name “The Great Gatsby”. The reinvention of Gatsby’s personality through a masterful illusion offers that his dreams are unworthy of him, that Gatsby’s reverence to Daisy with idealistic faultlessness has blinded him from the woman’s limitations and shortcomings. As Gatsby engrossed himself in building his empire, his dream of the woman he loves has also crumbled, revealing the unworthiness of the goal brought by corruption as a product of extreme affluence. This phenomenon is the representation of Fitzgerald of the disintegration of the American dream in the 1920’s, where the unscrupulous quest of wealth has resulted to the gradual loss of potent hopefulness, energy and uniqueness of people (Garrett 32). Furthermore, Gatsby has never allowed himself to become soiled by the touch of pragmatism. Bewely argues that In creating him, Fitzgerald observed as high a decorum of character as a Renaissance playwright: for Gatsby’s parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people, Gatsby really “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. Fitzgerald created Gatsby with a sense of his own election; but the beauty it was in his nature to serve had already been betrayed by history. Among the main characters of the story, Gatsby is the only one who was not corrupted by his fortune. Given that he owns a grandiose mansion, drives expensive cars, possess flashy clothes and throws overstated parties full with overindulgence and waste, he has not acquired his wealth for himself. He has made himself a powerful man all for the love of Nancy. So when the woman refused to stay with him, Gatsby thought that everything he possesses meant nothing, proving that he was indeed a better person against all the upper class citizens of the East Egg. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald has presented Gatsby as a mythic personification of the American dream, as exemplified by his immature impracticality. From the beginnings of his dreams to achieve a prominent stature in society in order to prove his worth to Daisy, Gatsby has presented an apprehensive grasp of social and human values, naivety and obsessive optimism that resulted to the corruption of his moral standards. The conflicting attributes of what have become of his personal, professional and social life conditions has adversely affected his capacity to accomplish his goals in life. In relation with the American Dream, “The Great Gatsby” shows that the deficiencies of intelligence, vision and judgment of people in reaching a pointless greed of wealth and power will lead them into tragedy and demise. Works Cited Bewely, Marcus. “Scott Fitzgerald’s Criticism of America”. Sewanee Review, LXII. pp. 259-287. 1954. The University of the South. n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, Reissue ed. 2004. Print. Garrett, George. “The Good Ghost of Scott Fitzgerald.” In F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives, edited by Jackson R. Bryer et. al. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 28–35. 2000. Print. Green, Amy M. “The Critical Reception of The Great Gatsby.” Critical Insights. 1 (1999). n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. Read More