Great Gatsby: An Autobiographical Novel - Book Report/Review Example

Great Gatsby: An Autobiographical Novel The Great Gatsby, one of the most famous novels written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has been highly regarded as an illumining example of the autobiographical novel in American literature. The novel which was published in the year 1925 deals, in several ways, with F. Scott Fitzgerald's personal life, perspectives and motivations. It has been widely recognized in the various literary analyses of the work that the character of Jay Gatsby clearly depicts various aspects of the author's personality, although the narrator of the novel also represents vital elements in the life of the author. Scott Fitzgerald sets the novel in the Long Island's North Shore and New York City and it gives details about a significant period in the life of the author which was termed as the 'Jazz Age'. That is to say, the novel by Fitzgerald is an important chronicle of the author's life in the 'Jazz Age' and the pursuit of money and love in the novel reflects the vital elements in the life of the author during this period. Although The Great Gatsby failed to attract wide readership as soon as it was published in 1925, it became greatly successful after a while thanks mainly to the recognition of the autobiographical elements of Fitzgerald in the novel. It is important to establish that the novel, which depicts significant personal aspects of the author in a compelling way, has become one of the most effective examples of autobiographical novels in the American literature and the world literature. According to Sumantha Dutta, even though there have been several autobiographical parallels all through the world literature, the novel by Fitzgerald incorporates ever more parallels with his life, feelings, and experiences than most of the autobiographical novels. "The Great Gatsby contains many autobiographical references of F. Scott Fitzgerald, mostly reflective of his early life. Like the character Nick, Fitzgerald was from Minnesota and was educated in an Ivy League school, in his case Princeton and in Nick's case, Yale. Similarly they moved to New York after the war. Like Gatsby, he was stationed in the World War I during which he fall in love with a beautiful young woman - in Fitzgerald's case he fell in love with seventeen year old beauty Zelda Sayre." (Dutta) While these are some of the apparent examples of the autobiographical elements in the novel, there are several other convincing evidences of aspect throughout the novel. Therefore, the novel by Fitzgerald has been celebrated as the most compelling example of an autobiographical novel and a reflective analysis of the major characters of the novel confirms this characteristic of the work. One of the most direct and significant parallels to Fitzgerald's actual life in the novel may be seen in the hero's unreciprocated quest for indefinable love depicted in the work. In short, the celebrated novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald can best be identified as an autobiographical novel which deals with significant events and periods of the writer's life and, while both the characters Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby represent the author's qualities in the novel, Fitzgerald write more of himself into the character of Gatsby. The character Nick Carraway as well as Jay Gatsby represents the autobiographical elements in the life of the author. Significantly, the motions taken in the life of the author are reflected through Nick, the narrator of the novel, while his life driven by love for a woman is reflected through the character Gatsby. It is indubitable that both the characters Nick and Gatsby depict different aspects in the life of the Fitzgerald, although the author has given a great expression of himself through the character of Gatsby. Nick and Gatsby represent different aspects in the life of the author. Thus, an important trait that Fitzgerald shares with the character Nick is the way in which he idolized the rich and found his new lifestyle thrilling. In a close understanding of the biography of Fitzgerald, one recognizes that he was greatly absorbed in a money-oriented society, although he gradually felt morally empty. The character of Nick, who depicts a characteristic story of the disenchanted pursuit of the American Dream, clearly parallels the life and ways of the author. In other words, Nick narrates Gatsby's story of the disenchanted pursuit of the American Dream which closely resembles the author's own story. Through the characters of Nick and Gatsby, Fitzgerald narrates his own story of the conflicting feelings about the 'Jazz Age'. "The Great Gatsby can be seen as Fitzgerald's attempt to question the moral ground of his experiences and to confront his mixed feelings about the 'Jazz Age'. The motions his life took is reflected through the narrator, Nick, and his life driven by love for a woman is reflected through the character Gatsby." (Dutta) Therefore, the life of Fitzgerald driven by the love for a woman is reflected through the character Gatsby whereas the narrator of the novel, Nick, represents the motions the author's life took. Whereas the character analysis of the novel clearly suggests the autobiographical characteristics of The Great Gatsby, the events, settings, phrases, and expressions etc in the work also point to the same factor. In a close examination of the novel, it becomes palpable to the readers that Fitzgerald's life had an important influence on the settings as well as the characters in the novel. Along with the events, settings and characters in the novel which points to the life of the author, there have been several phrases and expression in the novel which suggests the autobiographical quality of the work. "Not only are the events, settings and characters reflective of Fitzgerald and his life, he even subtly embeds phrases coined by people who he knew. For instance, one of his neighbours in Long Island, Max Gerlachor von Gerlach, an apparent a bootlegger, wrote in a note to Fitzgerald on a newspaper clipping, 'old sport', an expression often used by Gatsby." (Dutta) Thus, Fitzgerald has been effective in providing a convincing portrayal of his personal life, aspirations, perspectives, and worldview through the characters and the narrative style of the novel. The autobiographical quality of The Great Gatsby can be clearly comprehended in an understanding of the major concerns of the novelist in the narration. In fact, the novelist has been especially emphatic about reflecting the ideals of his contemporary period and its values. Fitzgerald has termed the period of the novel as 'The Jazz Age' and the narrator of the novel represents the feelings of the novelist to a great extent. Significantly, the wonder, interest, or horror of the 'The Jazz Age' has been the fact that its distortion of the world is a conscious human production, and it is not merely a symptom of post epochal decay. In other words, the distortion of the world during 'The Jazz History of the World' can be understood as is an artifact, rather than a ruin. Whereas the author has been clear about these features of the period, Nick provided the most effective clarification of the novelist's ideas through his narration. "Nick and Fitzgerald are baffled by and irresistibly interested in what seems to them to be the enormous perversity of the act of intentionally disconnecting things from their expressivity and turning them into stranded, carefully fashioned monstrosities-terminating expression, dissevering the conduit that makes things really real, assiduously producing a residue of unique creations that only a rather total failure of attention could assign to a category such as ashes or junk." (Breitwieser, 365) When The Great Gatsby is treated as an autobiographical novel, it is also important to consider how effectively the novel conveys the attitudes and perspectives of the novelist through the characters and the narrative style of the work. In fact, the author's success in establishing his world view and convictions effectively through the narrative style of the novel as well as the story of the protagonist. "It is no accident that F. Scott Fitzgerald could have said very nearly the same thing. For The Great Gatsby is nothing if not an attempt to keep something alive in the face of a certain conviction that it has no possibility of ultimate triumph." (Gunn, 172) The novel is not greatly difficult about the survival of Gatsby himself or the substance of his vision, but the issue at hand is the author's perspectives on vital topics. Thus, the novel is, more significantly, about the energy and quality of the imagination which drives both Gatsby and his vision and it is the novelist's world view. "Viewed as a story about Gatsby and his dream, the novel is merely an elegy, or, more specifically, a threnody sung over the death of one of our culture's most affecting but flawed innocents. Viewed instead as a story about Gatsby's poetry of desire, his imagination of wonder, the novel is an act of historical repossession, an attempt to release and preserve some of the unspent potential of our spiritual heritage as Americans." (Gunn, 172) Therefore, the novel has been an effective means for the novelist to convey his perceptions of the world of his age and the characters of the novel merely reflect the author's attitudes and world view. A reflective analysis of the major themes of the novel also helps one in realizing the autobiographical representation of Fitzgerald's life in the novel and the theme of the American Dream in the novel clearly represents aspects in the life of the author. Fitzgerald was able to recognize the two strands of the American Dream and he became one of the most important chroniclers of this theme. "He admired his Jay Gatsby and Monroe Stahrs not merely because they epitomized the rag-to-riches strand of the dream, but primarily because they desired so much more than money and position. They sought to make real an ideal with all the nave good faith of the original settlers, and that desire ennobled them and their efforts." (Pelzer, 23) Whereas the life of the author filled with alcoholism, despair, and lost-love can be clearly traced in the novel, one also recognizes how effectively Fitzgerald managed to depict the ultimate love story and represent the American Dream in the classic novel The Great Gatsby. The theme of the American Dream which was evidently seen in the life of the author is closely represented in the novel through the character Jay Gatsby who is the embodiment of the 'self-made man'. "The Great Gatsby is not simply a chronicle of the Jazz Age but rather a dramatization of the betrayal of the nave American Dream in a corrupt society. From the start, Fitzgerald's personal dreams of romance contained the seeds of their own destruction. The Great Gatsby is an exploration of the American Dream as it exists in a corrupt period, and it is an attempt to determine that concealed boundary that divides the reality from the illusions." (Kochan, 2-3) Therefore, the theme of the American Dream in the novel The Great Gatsby suggests the autobiographical aspects of the author represented in the work as well as the author's preference for the character of Jay Gatsby in depicting his personal and autobiographical elements in the novel. In a close analysis of the major characters in the novel The Great Gatsby, it becomes lucid that the title character of the work has a close similarity to the author's life and the character of Jay Gatsby has been the chief contributor to the autobiographical quality of the novel. Jay Gatsby, a young man around thirty years old who rose from a hard-up childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy, strongly reminds of the life of Fitzgerald. "From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication-he dropped out of St. Olaf's College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Gatsby immediately fell in love with Daisy's aura of luxury, grace, and charm, and lied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her." (Analysis of Major Characters) While Gatsby resembles greatly to his creator, one of the compelling feature of the representation of the character is that it appears to be an independent character as a whole. An important characteristic of the autobiographical elements in the novel is that Fitzgerald presents these aspects in an objective manner which makes his narration a great success. Most of the American novelists who depict autobiographical elements in the novels seem never to rise above the stage of autobiographical novel which is essentially a pre-novel which narrates the author's own personality and the background. "In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald reached that plateau of objectivity and control in fiction which few American novelists attain Fitzgerald's early heroes were himself. Gatsby, on the other hand, was an independent character, created, to be sure, out of the author's special knowledge and understanding but related only in that sense to Fitzgerald's own individual experience." (Bryer, 364) While Jay Gatsby illustrates some of the most important elements in the life of the author, Nick also represents significant aspects of Fitzgerald's life. In the course of the novel, Fitzgerald deconstructs Gatsby's self-presentation, which reveals him as an innocent, optimistic young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. He invests Daisy with a romantic perfection which she cannot fulfill in reality. "Gatsby is contrasted most consistently with Nick. Critics point out that the former, passionate and active, and the latter, sober and reflective, seem to represent two sides of Fitzgerald's personality If Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgerald's personality, the flashy celebrity who pursued and glorified wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East." (Analysis of Major Characters) Therefore, both the characters Gatsby and Nick depict the different aspects of the life of Fitzgerald in the novel, though one notices the dominance of character Jay Gatsby in this respect. The social situation of the period, along with the personal aspects of the author, contributed to the representation of the various characters and themes in the novel The Great Gatsby and these characteristics of the novel suggest the autobiographical quality of the work. Fitzgerald's world view has been a chief motivation behind the various important themes of the novel and it also suggests the autobiographical feature of the work. This world view of the author is depicted through the narration of Nick and the story of Gatsby and Nick is the apt person to illustrate this story. "He has become the perfect person to tell Gatsby's story and to produce the mood, tone, and dimensions Fitzgerald wishes to have. For the story is much more than disillusionment with the pursuit of a rich girl or with the admiration of a monied class. The disillusionment is with contemporary American culture and in a sense with modern Western civilization. Perhaps the disillusionment is cosmic. Fitzgerald's world view in The Great Gatsby is, in part at least, of a piece with the spirit of the United States in the 1920s - a strange mixture of cynicism and outraged idealism, of despair and hysterical vitality." (Gross, 6) Thus, it is most essential to realize that the novel The Great Gatsby represents the life and world view of the novelist Fitzgerald. In conclusion, a clear understanding of the major themes and characters of the novel The Great Gatsby illustrates why it is considered as one of the best examples of autobiographical novels in American literature. Through the various events and themes of the novel, the novelist suggests some essential aspects of his life. However, it is through the effective representation of the major characters that Fitzgerald depicts the major portion of his personal life in the novel. Both the characters Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby illustrate some essential aspects of the life of the author and The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald can best be identified as an autobiographical novel which deals with significant events and periods of the writer's life. While the characters Nick and Gatsby represent the various aspects of the author's life in the novel, Fitzgerald write more of himself into the character of Gatsby. Works Cited "Analysis of Major Characters." The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Spark Notes. 08 June, 2009. . Breitwieser, Mitchell. "Jazz Fractures: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Epochal Representation." American Literary History. History in the Making. Vol. 12. No. 3. 2000. P 359-381. Bryer, Jackson R. F. Scott Fitzgerald: the critical reception. Ayer Publishing. 1978. P 364. Dutta, Sumantha. "Autobiographical elements of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald." Helium. 08 June, 2009. . Gross, MaryJean. Understanding The Great Gatsby: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historical documents. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1998. P 6. Gunn, Giles. "F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Gatsby" and the Imagination of Wonder." Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Vol. 41. No. 2. 1973. P 171-18. Kochan, Sandra. The Great Gatsby and the American Dream. GRIN Verlag. 2007. P 2-3. Pelzer, Linda Claycomb. Student companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000. P 23. Read More