The Great Gatsby - Essay Example

? 16 October The Great Gatsby: This essay is principally based on contemplating the concept of divided sensibility in “The Great Gatsby” authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald who is widely recognized as one of the modern American authors. Set in the summer of 1922, the novel explores sensitive issues of debauchery, moral decline, pursuit of pleasure, and relentless desire for material excess which together identify decline of the American dream. Though apparently the story of a quixotic love affair between a man and a woman is attempted to be conveyed, the novel is actually a very prized example of divided sensibility concerning the way by which the American society as a whole and collapse of the American dream is mirrored by the author keeping the intellectual thoughts and emotions separate. General consensus is that Nick’s critical and moral perspectives are indisputably responsible for creating a detachment which allows him to scrutinize and judge the decadent activities and social decline of his Eastern neighbors. Nick Carraway is presented by the author as a Yale graduate who transfers from Midwest to settle in New York and coincidentally becomes next door neighbor of Jay Gatsby who lives in a luxurious mansion. Myriad incidents narrated by Nick that fill the book take place after 1922 which is recognized as the time of unprecedented luxury and material excess. The culmination of World War I witnessed a prodigious rise in the number of newly rich industrialists and entrepreneurs. That newfound wealth is thought to be responsible for making many young Americans intensely cynical to whom social morality of American society began to seem useless and deceitful. Gatsby is one such example who according to the narration of Nick advanced on corrupting the American dream by throwing wild, extravagant, and bizarre parties at his mansion. Nick is frequently seen in the novel making critical judgments on the lifestyles and activities of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom among others with divided sensibility as he does not let his emotions interfere with his expression of thoughts and provides crude analysis. He rarely delves into how different misguided actions of the characters make him feel, rather he intelligently compares them against moral decline of the American society and his own ethical perspective (Bryer 337). It is implied by Nick’s reflective narration which is disconnected from sensation of feeling that none of the main characters are satisfied at all in their wicked pursuit of sexual pleasures and immense wealth. Nick identifies his interpretation of the American dream with tasteless pursuits of Gatsby and other characters and makes judgment that organized crime and loose social values are to be blamed for corrupting the society. It is an established reality that Fitzgerald presents his key character, Nick, as a truly impartial narrator who is not lifeless but quite manipulative and knows best how to pass his judgments as objectively as possible. He does not let himself get distracted or sidetracked by overwhelming emotions but composes a sharp analysis on each character combining loss of sensation with deep thought. He does not spare Gatsby a detailed critical description of his evil lifestyle and throws light on how he amasses fortune through bootlegging alcohol among other criminal activities. He very objectively portrays the decay and hollowness of the rich and elite American class which also forms one of the major issues explored in the novel by Fitzgerald. People with newly found wealth like Gatsby are disapprovingly described by Nick as vulgar, flashy, self-important, and tasteless who would go to any length and sacrifice any value to gather more wealth by any means. Gatsby makes a name for himself in the society by participating in numerous illegal activities and his avid hunger for material excess and hedonism drags him into the depths of organized crime. Meyer Wolfsheim is another criminal mentioned in the book who according to Gatsby fixed the World’s Series, but when Nick asks why isn’t he in jail, Gatsby replies, “They can’t get him, old sport. He’s a smart man” (Fitzgerald 112). Such monstrous lifestyle of the riches and the careless habit of bullying others by using money, recklessness of the youth and unprecedented self-indulgence are narrated and evaluated by Nick with acute objectivity which actively creates a barrier between emotional waywardness and critical analysis. He also thoughtfully and not emotionally narrates how an excess of riches cannot bring anyone happiness or love as despite all Gatsby’s cunning attempts at impressing Daisy by wealth and extravagance, he drastically fails when Tom reveals to his wife who Gatsby really is. Fitzgerald uses the element of divided sensibility to dig with remarkable intelligence into the significance of morality of character and conveys this message that without a moral sense, even Gatsby with all the money in the world could not shake off the labels of a bootlegger and a criminal (Crum). There is a very interesting part in the beginning of the novel which involves Nick commenting on his own personality. His father advised him this way, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 3). This means that Nick has a tendency to judge people on their own terms and not against his self-made moral or ethical standards. It means that he does not compare any person whom he encounters when socializing with his own personal code of conduct but makes great effort to separate his feelings from critically analyzing the other person. Fitzgerald has made the concept of divided sensibility intensely evident here and interestingly this tact makes the novel a fun read because the readers get to enjoy the fictional story effortlessly without being hopelessly tired by long emotional accounts of the narrator. That does not mean that the narrator or any sequence of events in the novel could be found devoid of emotions or absolutely lifeless, but the author is only found quite keen on maintaining a distance between an explanation corrupted or falsified by the narrator’s personal emotions and an explanation presented in a neutral way. This is because of divided sensibility that the readers become intensely acquainted with each character and event occurring in the novel as they actually are and are spared from the cliche experience of viewing them from the narrator’s heart. It is also due to divided sensibility that Nick, though his personal standards stand in stark contrast to those of Gatsby’s, even considers the personality of Gatsby gorgeous when saying, “Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 4). Nick definitely scorns Gatsby’s lifestyle but he still sees good in him. This is because Fitzgerald makes the readers judge his characters not from the heart but from the mind of the narrator thus keeping emotions and intellectual viewpoint separate from one another. Concluding, the above discussion implies that the element of divided sensibility is heavily used by the author throughout his novel and is responsible for conveying an accurate, astute, and shrewd analysis of an era of hopeless cynicism, greed, and reckless search for pleasure to the contemporary readers which is not marred by emotional discrepancies. Nick’s character forms quite a distinguished example of divided sensibility because he is not exactly forgiving and does not turn a blind eye to many blazing actions of immoral people around him who are responsible for the decline of post-WWI American culture. He sketches the nature and meaning of Gatsby’s life as a particularly controlled, self-conscious, and powerful narrator who knows how to separate thoughts from feelings. Works cited: Bryer, Jackson R. Sixteen Modern American Authors, Volume 2. USA: Duke University Press, 1990. Print. Crum, Madeleine. “7 Life Lessons From ‘The Great Gatsby’”. 24 Sep. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Fitzgerald, Scott F. The Great Gatsby. USA: Simon and Schuster, 2003. Print. Read More