Critiquing the 'American Dream' - An Alex Essay
“The Great Gatsby”, guides the reader to question the link between the benefits of capitalistic ideals and reality. In doing so, F. Scott Fitzgerald invites the reader to criticize the notion of the American Dream to a small extent by clearly using the futility of capitalism. This will be demonstrated by examining the characters of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, and explaining the impact of narrative structure and perspective on the reading that capitalism promotes immorality.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan are constructed to convey that even if you achieved the ‘American Dream’ you wouldn’t want it anyway because capitalism breeds moral decay. The Buchanan’s colonial mansion is placed on East Egg, one of two eggs which Nick describes as: “a more interesting phenomenon is the dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size” (pg. 5); this dissimilarity being privilege. The ‘most immoral’ man in the book, the highest classed, the most privileged and the most benefitted by capitalism, Nick describes Tom as “’fractious’, ‘hulking’ and ‘cruel bodied’” (pg. 6-10). The ongoing motif of restlessness surrounds Tom throughout the novel, and reminds the audience that constant leisure, laziness and luxury can lead to aggressive behaviour and boredom. Tom Buchanan is the embodiment of everything Nick despises, and so tells the reader that he is arrogant, egocentric and pompous, who also doubles as a racist, misogynistic woman-beater. “Tom Buchanan broke her nose with an open hand” (pg 25). Daisy Buchanan has an equal sense of entitlement, and is seen as crude, immoral and remorseless. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and treated back into their money or vast carelessness…” (pg 114). Daisy starts the play already married into extraordinary wealth while her love, Gatsby, was fighting in the war. Upon his return, Daisy plays with his heart before finally ripping it out in chapter 7. Soon after, Daisy slaughters a woman in cold blood and eats dinner without even a shred of guilt. Gatsby takes the blame, and when Jay is killed for her murder, she doesn’t even bother to show up at his funeral. The Great Gatsby conveys to the reader that not only can the American dream never be truly achieved by the working class, but that for those who are born into an aristocratic role, are 'lacking fundamental decencies' due to their sense of entitlement and crudely immoral behaviour.
The futility in chasing capitalistic ideals is most evident through the character of Jay Gatsby and his ultimate failure despite his incredible talents and entrepreneurial attitude.
. “…he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished…” (pg. 16)
The first time the audience meets Jay Gatsby, Nick catches him hopelessly reaching for the Buchanan estate as though he could never obtain it. Although technically he is reaching for Daisy, F. Scott Fitzgerald has used the light at the end of their dock as a metaphor for privilege; an unattainable source. “His parents were unsuccessful dirt farmers” (pg. 63) who grew James Gatz up to be uncivilized and unprivileged. Hard working and honest, James fashioned himself to be Jay, and quickly grew sophistication, fame and wealth. However, as soon as James fell under the influence of capitalism and threw up the façade of ‘Jay Gatsby’ – privileged, sophisticated and from generations of wealth. By doing this, James achieved wealth beyond belief, buying a house on West Egg; “the least fashionable of the two” in comparison to the Buchanan’s colonial mansion on the ‘privileged’ egg. Tom Buchanan is shallow scum, and spends money only on himself (i.e. polo ponies and materialistic things for his mistress) whereas Gatsby created this mysterious enigma around himself, and cleverly crafts his ‘privileged’ persona by buying the best of everything in the hope to win over Daisy. However, despite all of his tireless effort, the immoral woman that Daisy is still rejects his fame and wealth because she realises he never was privileged and never had access to ‘old money’. (chapter 7) Gatsby, in the end, finally realises that he and never hold the light he continuously reaches for, as it fades away in his hands; learn as a foreshadow from chapter one that, Daisy “had no such intentions in her head” (p15) Because Gatsby now knows all of his efforts were an exercise in futility, he goes to finally enjoy the fruits of his labour – and s a final punch from F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is shot dead while swimming in his pool. The character of Jay Gatsby is constructed to convey that even if you are extremely talented and hard-working, all of your effort is meaningless because you will never reach the highest class of society and subsequently criticizes the notion of the American Dream.
The narrative structure and perspective is highly subjective and lacks in credibility, however the reader is inclined to accept what Nick Carraway says. From the first page he conveys to the audience that “as my father snobbishly suggested and I snobbishly repeat…” (pg. 3). This implies that he is aware of his own criticism- he knows he is well off and that others who are more misfortune than him. This firstly implies that he is intelligent and can acknowledge his surroundings - but more importantly it feigns credibility. Being able to acknowledge his ill judgment implies that he can ‘be above’ unfair judgments. I addition to this Nick is also witty, charismatic, self-deprecating and overall likable and relatable, making him an attractive voice to tell the tale. We also learnt that he partook in World War 1, further inviting the reader to empathize with and trust the ‘moral’ soldier. Although, Nick is supposedly above the ‘snobbery’ – since he said he is super aware of it. There is still evidence of him being blind to his judgmental attitude. For example, he does not recognize (or pay particular attention to) the “Finnish woman” (pg. 4) that acts as a maid to his “humble abode”, yet he doesn’t ever bother giving her a name. Even so, Nick is a very believable peripheral narrator, and so when he tells us that “pg. 2 quote about dust)” we are inclined to believe him. Gatsby is represented as a fantastic guy in Nick’s perspective, however we can only wonder at what a horrible man Jay must have been for Nick to refuse his Job offering. Little clues Nick spindles throughout the novel like: The rumours, the amount of booze at the parties, his associates, Tom’s accusation, the wink at the police officer, Tom questioning him about bootlegging… completely undermine this fantastical ideal of the persona ‘Jay Gatsby’. He’s immoral as well, turning crime into economic gain because of greed and impatience. If Jay hadn’t been so eager to get Daisy, he may have eventually achieved privilege, eventually succeeded in his futile attempt to capture Daisy’s heart. This completely twists the invited reading of the novel, and therefore – to the astute reader - only uses the futile nature of capitalism to critique the notion of the American Dream to a small extent.
After examining characters such as Jay Gatsby, and the Buchanan’s, it is clear that The Great Gatsby conveys to the reader that not only can the American dream never be truly achieved by the working class, but that for those who are born into an aristocratic role, are 'lacking fundamental decencies' due to their sense of entitlement and crudely immoral behaviour. By explaining the impact Narrative Structure and perspective has on the novel, it is also evident that F. Scott Fitzgerald only does this to a small extent. Originally, this text was meant to be called “Under the Red, White and Blue”, and would definitely have made sense given that the overall invited reading of the novel was that crime doesn't pay.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan are constructed to convey that even if you achieved the ‘American Dream’ you wouldn’t want it anyway because capitalism breeds moral decay. The Buchanan’s colonial mansion is placed on East Egg, one of two eggs which Nick describes as: “a more interesting phenomenon is the dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size” (pg. 5); this dissimilarity being privilege. The ‘most immoral’ man in the book, the highest classed, the most privileged and the most benefitted by capitalism, Nick describes Tom as “’fractious’, ‘hulking’ and ‘cruel bodied’” (pg. 6-10). The ongoing motif of restlessness surrounds Tom throughout the novel, and reminds the audience that constant leisure, laziness and luxury can lead to aggressive behaviour and boredom. Tom Buchanan is the embodiment of everything Nick despises, and so tells the reader that he is arrogant, egocentric and pompous, who also doubles as a racist, misogynistic woman-beater. “Tom Buchanan broke her nose with an open hand” (pg 25). Daisy Buchanan has an equal sense of entitlement, and is seen as crude, immoral and remorseless. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and treated back into their money or vast carelessness…” (pg 114). Daisy starts the play already married into extraordinary wealth while her love, Gatsby, was fighting in the war. Upon his return, Daisy plays with his heart before finally ripping it out in chapter 7. Soon after, Daisy slaughters a woman in cold blood and eats dinner without even a shred of guilt. Gatsby takes the blame, and when Jay is killed for her murder, she doesn’t even bother to show up at his funeral. The Great Gatsby conveys to the reader that not only can the American dream never be truly achieved by the working class, but that for those who are born into an aristocratic role, are 'lacking fundamental decencies' due to their sense of entitlement and crudely immoral behaviour.
The futility in chasing capitalistic ideals is most evident through the character of Jay Gatsby and his ultimate failure despite his incredible talents and entrepreneurial attitude.
. “…he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished…” (pg. 16)
The first time the audience meets Jay Gatsby, Nick catches him hopelessly reaching for the Buchanan estate as though he could never obtain it. Although technically he is reaching for Daisy, F. Scott Fitzgerald has used the light at the end of their dock as a metaphor for privilege; an unattainable source. “His parents were unsuccessful dirt farmers” (pg. 63) who grew James Gatz up to be uncivilized and unprivileged. Hard working and honest, James fashioned himself to be Jay, and quickly grew sophistication, fame and wealth. However, as soon as James fell under the influence of capitalism and threw up the façade of ‘Jay Gatsby’ – privileged, sophisticated and from generations of wealth. By doing this, James achieved wealth beyond belief, buying a house on West Egg; “the least fashionable of the two” in comparison to the Buchanan’s colonial mansion on the ‘privileged’ egg. Tom Buchanan is shallow scum, and spends money only on himself (i.e. polo ponies and materialistic things for his mistress) whereas Gatsby created this mysterious enigma around himself, and cleverly crafts his ‘privileged’ persona by buying the best of everything in the hope to win over Daisy. However, despite all of his tireless effort, the immoral woman that Daisy is still rejects his fame and wealth because she realises he never was privileged and never had access to ‘old money’. (chapter 7) Gatsby, in the end, finally realises that he and never hold the light he continuously reaches for, as it fades away in his hands; learn as a foreshadow from chapter one that, Daisy “had no such intentions in her head” (p15) Because Gatsby now knows all of his efforts were an exercise in futility, he goes to finally enjoy the fruits of his labour – and s a final punch from F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is shot dead while swimming in his pool. The character of Jay Gatsby is constructed to convey that even if you are extremely talented and hard-working, all of your effort is meaningless because you will never reach the highest class of society and subsequently criticizes the notion of the American Dream.
The narrative structure and perspective is highly subjective and lacks in credibility, however the reader is inclined to accept what Nick Carraway says. From the first page he conveys to the audience that “as my father snobbishly suggested and I snobbishly repeat…” (pg. 3). This implies that he is aware of his own criticism- he knows he is well off and that others who are more misfortune than him. This firstly implies that he is intelligent and can acknowledge his surroundings - but more importantly it feigns credibility. Being able to acknowledge his ill judgment implies that he can ‘be above’ unfair judgments. I addition to this Nick is also witty, charismatic, self-deprecating and overall likable and relatable, making him an attractive voice to tell the tale. We also learnt that he partook in World War 1, further inviting the reader to empathize with and trust the ‘moral’ soldier. Although, Nick is supposedly above the ‘snobbery’ – since he said he is super aware of it. There is still evidence of him being blind to his judgmental attitude. For example, he does not recognize (or pay particular attention to) the “Finnish woman” (pg. 4) that acts as a maid to his “humble abode”, yet he doesn’t ever bother giving her a name. Even so, Nick is a very believable peripheral narrator, and so when he tells us that “pg. 2 quote about dust)” we are inclined to believe him. Gatsby is represented as a fantastic guy in Nick’s perspective, however we can only wonder at what a horrible man Jay must have been for Nick to refuse his Job offering. Little clues Nick spindles throughout the novel like: The rumours, the amount of booze at the parties, his associates, Tom’s accusation, the wink at the police officer, Tom questioning him about bootlegging… completely undermine this fantastical ideal of the persona ‘Jay Gatsby’. He’s immoral as well, turning crime into economic gain because of greed and impatience. If Jay hadn’t been so eager to get Daisy, he may have eventually achieved privilege, eventually succeeded in his futile attempt to capture Daisy’s heart. This completely twists the invited reading of the novel, and therefore – to the astute reader - only uses the futile nature of capitalism to critique the notion of the American Dream to a small extent.
After examining characters such as Jay Gatsby, and the Buchanan’s, it is clear that The Great Gatsby conveys to the reader that not only can the American dream never be truly achieved by the working class, but that for those who are born into an aristocratic role, are 'lacking fundamental decencies' due to their sense of entitlement and crudely immoral behaviour. By explaining the impact Narrative Structure and perspective has on the novel, it is also evident that F. Scott Fitzgerald only does this to a small extent. Originally, this text was meant to be called “Under the Red, White and Blue”, and would definitely have made sense given that the overall invited reading of the novel was that crime doesn't pay.