America and the Decay of Morality: The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises - Research Paper Example

 America and the Decay of Morality: The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises Introduction America is a popular image in fictional literature. Dozens of fiction writers sought to expose America’s vices and evaluate the consistency of its values, morality, and ethical norms. The pursuit for material wealth and the American dream are the topics most frequently discussed in the American literature during the 1920s. The effects of the World War I on individual beliefs and ideals, the ongoing decay of morality, the hollowness of dreams and convictions, and the failure to materialize one’s life goals altogether created a complicated situation, which often resembled a journey for nothing. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises are equally similar and different. The two stories are similar in their commitment to the failure of the American dream and its moral hollowness. However, the means and literary methods which the two authors choose to prove their point are distinctly different. The both stories under consideration depict America in the state of moral decay, where the pursuit for material wealth gradually replaces the purity of the conventional moral ideals and beliefs; however, it is Hemingway who expands his view of the lost generation to male disempowerment and feminization of men, which alter their views and do not leave them a single chance to succeed in a new competitive reality. The both stories are considered to be fictional representations of the American dream – the moral decay in America and the failure of the human pursuit for material wealth dominate both stories. The post-war conditions and the social developments in the 1920’s-America largely contributed to the increasing decay of the moral values and, simultaneously, led the characters of both novels to make difficult and, at times, inappropriate choices. According to Ghasemi and Tiur, “the 1920s were not only an age of disillusionment and frenetic excitement; they were also an age of vital creativity and intellectual development” (118). In this situation, Americans fail to anticipate the upcoming changes and wander aimlessly in their search for self-satisfaction and self-realization. Moral standards and ethical norms give place to material things, which determine one’s belonging to the upper social class and define the number and scope of material benefits individuals are willing to enjoy. In this sense, Gatsby is the best representation of how the American dream worked not for but against the social and ethical stability of the American post-war society: “Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrives from a fruiterer in New York – every Monday – these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour” (Fitzgerald 43). To a large extent, the American dream was a unique combination of quest and seduction – the former was too romantic to quit, whereas the latter led the American characters of Fitzgerald to capitulate in the face of the material benefits (Ghasemi & Tiur 124). The juice machine in the back of Gatsby’s kitchen is associated with the material advancement which, nevertheless, lacks humane features and is increasingly hollow. In his novel, Ernest Hemingway pursues the same line of ideas to depict his characters as the representatives of the lost generation. Like Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises depicts the aimlessness of the post-war quest for material wealth and the depth of the moral and ethical loss which American people experienced during the 1920s. In his work, Hemingway tries to highlight how the period of war and post-war years shifted the balance of moral forces in the American society and how these moral changes turned the American social reality into a meaningless heap of actions and decisions. Here, the moment Jake Barnes passes the statue of Ney in the Latin Quarter is extremely demonstrative. This moment and the statue itself confirm the meaninglessness of the present material values and emphasize the significance of the moral loss and decay which most Americans are bound to experience during the 1920s, following the World War I: “I passed Ney’s status standing among the new-leaved chestnut trees in the arc-light. There was a faded purple wreath leaning against the base. I stopped and read the inscription: from the Bonapartist Groups, some date: I forget. He looked very fine, Marshal Ney in his top-boots, gesturing with his sword among the green new horse-chestnut trees” (39). To a large extent, the statue which Jake passes in his aimless wandering through the Latin Quarter resembles similar, aimless wandering through his life. The statue of Ney symbolizes the failure of the American Dream – the latter had to become a visible representation and a reminder to reassure the Americans of their goals and ends (Tomkins 747). That the statue is designed to represent a person or event that is no longer real means that the American Dream is no longer real, either. Moreover, the loss of the American Dream and the direction of the life movement generate a sense of nostalgia in Jake. This feeling he finds difficult to reduce. He lives his life with a perception that his life is going by but he fails to take advantage of it (Hemingway 8). This feeling becomes even stronger upon Jake’s encounter with Brett, the woman who wants what she cannot have (Hemingway 21). In this sense, Brett and Jake also support Fitzgerald’s vision of the American reality, in which quest and seduction dominate and rule individual decisions and actions. In Fitzgerald and Hemingway’s view, America of the 1920s is the country filled with autonomy, individualism, cynicism, and obscenity. In many aspects, the two novels work like the two anti-fairy tales, which deny the relevance of morality and ethics and place wealth, materialism, and egoism in the center of the American social reality. Autonomy is an important ingredient of this aimless search for nothing: Nick is the brightest representation of the autonomous beliefs and values. He is autonomous to the extent, which turns him into an outsider and his apartment into a claustrophobic place (Schreier 166). This autonomy borders on cynicism and leads Nick to reject his own identity. Even a casual walker asking for help is perceived as the threat to this autonomy and self-belonging: at the beginning of the book, Nick is approached by a man who cannot find his way to West Egg village. Nick does not find any difficulty in responding to the unknown man but feels that the man casually confers on the freedom of his neighborhood (Fitzgerald 6). In a similar fashion, Hemingway uses his characters to emphasize the autonomy and independence which govern their minds and decisions – Brett is, probably, the best example of independence and autonomy, which uniquely combines with the female pursuit for sexuality, sex, and physiological satisfaction. The latter is the basic reason why she cannot be with Jake, even though she loves him affectionately: “Couldn’t we live together, Brett? Couldn’t we just live together?” – “I don’t think so. I’d just tromper you with everybody. You couldn’t stand it” (Hemingway 37). Jake’s disability is a serious barrier in his way to realizing his dreams and, simultaneously, the factor that contributes to his independence. This independence and this autonomy are further followed by the cynicism and obscenity of the American post-war reality (Barrett 159; Will 128). However, not everything is similar and simple in the discussed novels. In distinction from Fitzgerald, Hemingway extends his view if the hollow American reality, to discuss the topics of male disempowerment and feminization. These aspects of the post-war social development in the American society alter male views on the surrounding reality and do not leave them any chance to succeed in the competitive world. Male disempowerment and feminization are the essential elements of the American reality in Hemingway’s novel. In distinction from Fitzgerald, who depicts his female characters as secondary and uses them to support the main plot, women in The Sun Also Rises play the leading roles and once again emphasize the loss of the masculine centrality in post-war America. These aspects add weight to Hemingway’s body-obsessed vision of America in the 1920s. In Hemingway’s view, men that lack body power and physiological capability do not have any real chance to be successful. In other terms, appearance, body, and material values pushes morality and ethics to the background of the American modernity. In Hemingway’s story, physiological disability is invariably followed by some kind of moral breakdown, which for many American people becomes a real problem and sends them aimlessly in their search for nothing (Fore 79). Jake himself says to Cohn: “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another” (Hemingway 8). Nor can material things and ideals replace moral self-satisfaction. Jake exemplifies male disempowerment which was becoming a popular problem in America, following the end of the World War I. Such disempowerment was virtually absent from Fitzgerald’s story, although female sexuality in The Great Gatsby does produce a set of irreversible changes in the novel characters’ vision of the world. Male disempowerment in Hemingway’s writing necessarily leads to treating men like women. Onderdonk is correct in that Hemingway does not use the word “feminization” directly, but constantly reminds his readers about the significance of physical deficiency in the competitive world of the wealthy. In the novel, Jake is bound to tolerate the humiliation and anger on the side of Brett. He is destined to accept a beating for Brett with Cohn. “He was a very distinguished soldier, - Brett said. – Tell them about the time your horse bolted down Piccadilly. – I’ll not. […] It reflects discredit on me. – Brett will tell you. She tells all the stories that reflect discredit on me” (Hemingway 88). Obviously, there is a clear shift in Hemingway’s story toward sexuality and male disempowerment. These elements are not presented in Fitzgerald’s novel but they create a full picture of the American decay and complement to the elements which Fitzgerald deemed important for The Great Gatsby. Feminization and sexual disempowerment of men in Hemingway’s novel are directly associated with the female pursuit for something they can never have – the combination of quest and seduction. Brett constantly seeks sexual satisfaction but cannot achieve it (Tomkins 756). For Brett, Jake’s disability makes him materially absent from her world. In a similar fashion, Fitzgerald turns Nick into a character, who seeks to make all other people materially absent from his world. He is an outsider; so is Jake. However, while Jake’s outsider position is the result of his disability, Nick’s position is the product of his deliberate choice. These attitudes toward reality, the pursuit for independence and material wealth once again emphasize the lack of moral and ethical self-consciousness and turn the 1920s into the breakdown of the most important American ideals – the failure which America could never survive. Conclusion The American Dream and the decay of the American values has been one of the most popular topics in the American fiction in the 20th century. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises create a full picture of the American failure to pursue its ideals after the end of the World War I. These literature masterpieces depict America in the state of moral decay, where the pursuit for material wealth gradually replaces the purity of the conventional moral ideals and beliefs; however, it is Hemingway who expands his view of the lost generation to male disempowerment and feminization of men, which alter their views and do not leave them a single chance to succeed in a new competitive reality. Both novels emphasize the hollowness of the American ideals and beliefs, which position independence and autonomy as the principal values. The latter border on cynicism and obscenity, which push conventional values to the background of the American post-war realism. In distinction from Fitzgerald, Hemingway adds sexuality and feminization to his vision of post-war America and shows that a man with physiological deficiencies can hardly succeed in the American competitive environment. These attitudes toward reality, the pursuit for independence and material wealth once again emphasize the lack of moral and ethical self-consciousness and turn the 1920s into the failure of the most important American ideals – the failure which America could never survive. Works Cited Barrett, L. “From Wonderland to Wasteland: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Great Gatsby, and the New American Fairy Tale.” Papers on Language and Literature, 42.2 (2006): 150-80. Berman, R. “Protestant, Catholic, Jew: The Sun Also Rises.” The Hemingway Review, 18.1 (1998): 33-48. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Fore, D. “Life Unworthy of Life? Masculinity, Disability, and Cult in The Sun Also Rises.” The Hemingway Review, 26.2 (2007): 74-90. Ghasemi, P. & Tiur, M. “The Promise and Failure of the American Dream in Scott Fitzgerald’s Fiction.” K@ta, 11.2 (2009): 117-27. Hemingway, E. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1954. Onderdonk, T. “Bitched: Feminization, Identity, and the Hemingwayesque in The Sun Also Rises.” Twentieth Century Literature, 52.1 (2006): 61-92. Schreier, B. “Desire’s Second Act: “Race and The Great Gatsby’s Cynical Americanism.” Twentieth Century Literature, 53.2 (2007): 153-83. Tomkins, D. “The ‘Lost Generation’ and the Generation of Loss: Ernest Hemingway’s Materiality of Absence in The Sun Also Rises.” Modern Fiction Studies, 54.4 (2008): 744-767. Will, B. “The Great Gatsby and the Obscene Word.” College Literature, 32.4 (2005): 125-45. Read More