The Demise of American Dream

 

Why did you choose this particular book? Typical reasons might be:

 

1. You like the author.

 

2. You like this type of book (i.e. mystery, western, adventure or romance, etc.).

 

3. Someone recommended the book to you.

 

4. It was on a required reading list.

 

5. You liked the cover.

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Gatsby is a standard text in high school and university courses on American literature in countries around the world, ranked second in the Modern Library’s lists of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century, “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James, because Fitzgerald depicted the extolled grandest and most boisterous, reckless and merry-making scene” commented by T．S．Elliot. All these enchanting achievements and compliments increasingly drive me to The Great Gatsby, so much so that I directly rule out any other option.

 

For another, I’m obsessed with American dream which is deeply rooted in American history. For over centuries, American dream has changed gradually in accordance with the varying backdrops. Earlier, I’ve dabbled into An American Tragedy, Sister Carrie, etc., aware of the phenomenon of so-called demise of American dream. I desire to go deeper about how American dreams are doomed and how life is predetermined.

 

Armed with the above two missions, I commence journeying in The Great Gatsby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Demise of American Dream

 

[Abstract] Compared to the entire glorious civilization, the American capitalist society in the 1920s was extremely ruthless, hypocritical and deformed. The Great Gatsby, the finest novel written by the renowned American writer, Fitzgerald, is a vivid example in point to repudiate and satirize that very Jazz Age. Gatsby, born humble, kept dreaming throughout his life. In the pursuit of his dream of fortune and dream of love, he paid a disastrous price, pathetically cut off in the flower of youth at the hands of the upper class.

 

By analyzing 5 major characters and Gatsby’s two dreams, this essay will try to convey that Gatsby is the victim of that corrupted capitalist society and his tragedy mirrors the demise of American dream.

 

 [Key words] Fitzgerald, Gatsby, character, the demise of American dream

 

Brief Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald 

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), an American author of novels and short stories, is widely judged to be a member of the “Lost Generation” and one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. In his vivid and graceful works, he revealed the stridency of an age (Jazz Age) of glittering innocence, portrayed the hollowness of the American worship of riches and the unending American dream of love, splendor, and fulfilled desires.

 

Born into a fairly well-to-do family in St. Paul, Miniesota, in 1896, F. Scott Fitzgerald attended but never graduated form PrincetonUniversity. Here he mingled with monied classes from the eastern seaboard who so obsessed him for the rest of his life. In 1917, he was drafted to serve in World War I. He spent much of his time writing and rewriting his first novel, This Side of Paradise, which published in 1920, became an immediate commercial success. A week later, he married the beautiful Zelda Sayre, an embodiment of romantic notions of Southern Belle.

 

Together they embarked on a rich life of endless parties. Dividing their time betweenAmericaand fashionable resorts inEurope, the Fitzgeralds became as famous for their lifestyle as for the novels he wrote. He once said, “Sometimes I don’t know whether Zelda and I are real or whether we are characters in one of my novels”.

 

Yet somehow he managed to continue writing and published his second novel The Beautiful and Damned in 1922 and The Vegetable (From Postman to President) in 1923. His masterpiece The Great Gatsby, came out in 1925, was met with excellent reviews, with T. S. Eliot being among the first to comment on the book, calling it “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James”. It was also at this time that Fitzgerald wrote many of his short stories (Tales of the Jazz Age in 1922) which helped to pay for his extravagant lifestyle.

 

The bubble burst in the 1930s when Zelda became increasingly troubled by mental illness. Tender is the Night (1934) which showed the pain he felt was not well received in America. For the final three years of his life, he turned to script-writing in Hollywood when he wrote the autobiographical essays collected posthumously in The Crack-Up and his unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon. On December 21, 1940, he died at the age forty-four.

 

1. 1.     Setting

 

The Great Gatsby chronicles an era that Fitzgerald himself dubbed the “Jazz Age”. It refers to a period of time after World War I, beginning with the Roaring Twenties and ending in the 1930s with the beginning of the Great Depression.

 

After the misery of World War I and the flu epidemic, American society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity during the “roaring” 1920s as the economy soared. Individuals were so exuberant to be alive that hedonism started to prevail and creep towards every corner. Just as Fitzgerald once put it, “All the gods have been dead, all the wars finished, and all the values about humanity has been completely shaken”. The Age witnessed unrestrained materialism, appalling selfishness and lack of morality, scented with corruption.

 

At the same time, it was also a period of Probation that banned the sale and manufacture of alcoholic drinks. Mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, it made millionaires out of bootleggers and led to an increase in organized crime. Gatsby is the example in point.

 

3. Plot^[1]

 

Young Nick Carraway, the First-person narrator, decided to forsake the hardware business of his family in Middle West in order to “learn the bond business” inNew York City. In 1922, he rented a low-cost cottage located in West Egg onLong Island. Across the bay was East Egg, inhabited by the “old aristocracy”, including Tom Buchanan and Daisy (his second cousin). At a dinner party at the house of Tom Buchanan, he renewed his acquaintance with Tom, his wife, Daisy and met an attractive female golfer, a friend of Daisy’s, Jordan Baker form whom he leaned Tom’s infidelity.

 

One day Tom took Nick to call on his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, the wife of George Wilson, an owner of a second-rate auto repair shop. Nick accompanied Tom and Myrtle to theirManhattanlove-nest. Nick didn’t leave the party thrown by the couple until Tom broke Myrtle’s nose for only speaking Daisy’s name.

 

After receiving an invitation from Gatsby, his wealthy and mysterious neighbor with no lack of contradictory rumor, Nick attended the lavish party given by Gatsby. For the first time, Nick met Gatsby, young and personal. An odd yet close friendship between Nick and Gatsby begins.

 

Nick became increasingly confused when Gatsby disclosed a seemingly far-fetched version of his upbringing and introduced an underworld figure Meyer Wolfsheim to him. It’s Jordan Baker that eventually revealed to Nick that Gatsby was holding these parties in hope that Daisy, his former love who deserted poor and unknown Gatsby for rich and influential Tom, would visit by chance. Nick promised to arrange an “accidental” meeting between Daisy and Gatsby. The reunion was initially awkward but Gatsby and Daisy began a love affair, so did Nick and Jordan.

 

At the Plaza Hotel inNew York, Tom accused Gatsby of trying to steal his wife and also of being dishonest as a criminal bootlegger. Gatsby defended himself and urged Daisy to say she never loved Tom. During their argument, Daisy sided with both men by turns.

 

On the ride back to the suburbs, Daisy insisted on driving home along with Gatsby in his yellow car, followed by Tom, Nick and Jordan. All of a sudden, Myrtle ran outside of the garage as Gatsby’s roadster approached (believing it to be Tom), only to be hit and killed by the car while Daisy and Gatsby speeded away. LaterTom,Jordanand Nick noticed the car accident. Tom ledWilsoninto a private place and preemptively convincedWilsonthat the yellow car was not his but Gatsby’s because they switched cars earlier in the day and that Myrtle was having an affair with Gatsby.

 

By this point, Nick has abandoned his role as an outsider observing Gatsby’s life and instead become his close friend. When Nick found out about the truth of the accident, he advised Gatsby to run away for a week but the latter refused for his illusion of Daisy’s love. Having tracked the owner of the roadster through Tom,Wilsonmurdered Gatsby before committing suicide while Tom was packing for an escape trip with Daisy.

 

Despite the best of Nick’s efforts to make Gatsby’s funeral respectable, still few people only three attended it. After severing connections withJordanand a brief run-in with Tom, Nick returned permanently to theMidwest, reflecting on Gatsby’s desire to recapture the past.

 

4. Character Analyses ^[2]

 

Without characters, there would be no plot and, hence, no story. Hence, the character development is the key element in a novel’s creation, and character analysis is crucial to understanding the novel. Therefore, major characters will be elaborately analyzed.

 

Nick Carraway (a bond salesman from the Midwest, a World War I veteran, and a resident of West Egg): He is not only a narrator but an outsider and a witness, bearing close relationships with many characters, Gatsby’s next-door neighbor, Daisy’s cousin and Jordon’s lover. Nick represents the lower classes of the society who also strives for the American dream. Initially he is obsessed with the legendarily glamorous parties at Gatsby’s Long Island mansion and attracted to the wealthy New York where life pace is fast. Gradually by witnessing hypocrisy, indifference, selfishness and greediness, especially shown in the death of Myrtle Wilson, the arrangement of a small funeral for Gatsby, he finds out that in the process of self-fulfillment, the once civilized and rational East has become a spiritual wasteland, a quality of distortion. It’s best exemplified throughout the book by Nick’s romantic affair with Jordan Baker, firstly attracted by her vivacity and sophistication, increasingly repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people, eventually severing connections with her peacefully and returns to wholesomely.

 

He is the only three-dimensional character, an aspiration for mental maturity, as well as an embodiment of traditional virtues.

 

Jay Gatsby (originally James Gatz): Originally from North Dakota, Jay Gatsby, a typical upstart after the World War I, is a sensitive young man who idolizes wealth and luxury. He falls in love with a charming lady from a decent family, Daisy, who later marries to the affluent Tom for material security. He convinces himself that the change of Daisy gets bogged down to his meager economic condition. As a result, he spares no efforts to accumulate his wealth by hook or crook and then throws extraordinary parties every week in an attempt to draw Daisy’s attention. He has ordered his whole life around the desire to be reunited with Daisy whom he shuns every shortcoming of and idolizes a great deal. He never dwells on that his American dream has been distorted and turns out to be unworthy. Although he can tell Daisy, “Her voice is full of money”, he blindly lingers in the illusion and protects Daisy at the risk of losing anything, including his life. Consequently, his steadfast loyalty to love contributes to the demise of himself and his dreams.

 

Just as Nick tells him, “They’re [Daisy,Tom,Jordan] a rotten crowd. You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”, Jay Gatsby is one of the best among characters in the novel despite his role of a criminal bootlegger.

 

Daisy Buchanan née Fay（Nick’s second cousin, once removed; and the wife of Tom Buchanan）：As a representative lady of the upper class, she is undeniably attractive but severely shallow, self-centered and selfish. Although she once does love Gatsby since she even “packed her bag one winter night to go toNew York and said good-by to a soldier who was gone overseas”, dominated by her vanity and sophistication she eventually deserted Gatsby and married Tom, a young man from an aristocratic family who promises her a wealthy lifestyle. However, partly due to her husband’s constant infidelity, the material and sensual desire still fails to help her impoverished mind. Later mainly mesmerized by Gatsby’s affluence, she is willing to become his secret lover soon. When Tom reveals the illegal origin of Gatsby’s wealth, she beats a retreat from by saying “I never loved Tom” with perceptible reluctance to “I did love him once- but I loved you too”. She just couldn’t lose the comfortable and luxury life with Tom though this life is boring but gives her a feeling of safety.

 

Her irresponsibility and hypocrisy is completely manifested at the end of the story. When she drives over Myrtle, she doesn’t even stop and conspires with Tom to make Gatsby take the fall. Then she and Tom moves away, leaving no address but Gatsby’s demise of his dream and himself.

 

Doubtlessly, Daisy is the utmost idealized quintessence in Gatsby’s blind eyes and an epitome of hedonism which only centers on money first and materialism.

 

Tom Buchanan (a millionaire on East Egg and Daisy’s husband): He is the prototype of those who squanders their money accumulated by their ancestors and constantly flaunts wealth to parade his superiority. He delights in the affairs with Myrtle but forbids his wife’s unfaithful behavior. He is thoroughly aware of Daisy’s nature and makes full use of it. He confronts Gatsby’s illegality to Daisy, thus wins a definite victory. But he doesn’t stop. His conspiration with Daisy puts Gatsby on the track of demise.

 

He represents the typical ethic in the early 20^th century inAmerica, display of fortune without restraint, irresponsibility to the family, addiction to spree, total possesion of women, and diabolicalness.

 

Just as Fitzgerald described, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mass they had made…”

 

Jordan Baker (Daisy’s long-time friend, Nick’s lover): She is selfish, irresponsible, dishonest and shares the same value on money with Tom and Daisy. She even cheats in the golf playoff, intolerant of being disadvantaged. Due to her severely peccable personality, she is deserted by sensible Nick.

 

Her role is more of another narrator who completes Nick’s part but also provides responding information from various perspectives, facilitating the development of the fiction. 

 

5. Comments^[3]

 

The “American dream” has been deeply rooted in America. Firstly, it referred to Puritan’s yearning for religious freedom, later, evolved into the pursuit of happiness, especially success during the process of pioneering the New Worldand The West. With the progress of industrialization and gradual emergence of metropolitans, the “American dream” was specialized into the only aspiration of money. It’s also in this era that the American society witnessed its moral corruption. The Great Gatsby is a vivid example of disillusionment of the “American dream” after the First World War. Gatsby has been dreaming through his whole life. He’d rather die in his dreams than wake up and come back to reality.

 

Dream of fortune: When the World War II broke up，Gatsby was dispatched to the Europe frontline. Five years later, he returned in glory, only to find Daisy married to Tom for the sake of money. However, hope never eluded him for he held steadfastly that Daisy sooner or later, would reunite with him as long as he granted her a luxurious life. Consequently, he amassed money through illegal ways such as bootlegging alcohol and gambling to become an upstart overnight.

 

Making a great fortune is one of Gatsby’s American dreams, shown since as a young boy, “he had a lot of brain power” in his head and “always had some resolves like this or something”. What obsessed him a great deal with Daisy firstly lied in Daisy’s grand mansion, white limo and well-to-do life. Fully convinced that wealth maintained youth, mystery and even Daisy’s love, he made all-out efforts to pretend to be descent, showed off imported shirts to Daisy and threw legendarily glamorous parties. But they failed to win Daisy back, for the power of money was limited. Pathetic enough was that he didn’t realize no matter how much money he possessed, he was destined to be an outsider, an inferior upstart in the view of the aristocracy.

 

Dream of love: For Gatsby, Daisy was the green light that shone his prospect. Innocent enough, he fancied Daisy’s heart was as beautiful as her appearance and she stuck to love as he did. Therefore, he blamed himself for Daisy’s marriage to Tom and dreamed to buy back her love. Dominated by his weave of the dream, he successfully persuaded himself that his dream had already come true by the reunion with Daisy.

 

In his heart, the upper class meant paradise, encompassing all the beauty and colorfulness. So was Daisy, the angle of his genuine happiness, the incarnation of idealized dream. He shunned all her disadvantages so much so that his illusion surpassed her and everything. On the contrary, Daisy was merely shallow, irresponsible and selfish. She flirted with Gatsby out of boredom and thrill. Poor Gatsby! He didn’t figured out that “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mass they had made…” When Gatsby “first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, he had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He didn’t know that his dream was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.”

 

Gatsby’s dream of love and his dream of fortune are closely connected to each other. His dream of love was based on his dream of fortune. How came that Gatsby would fall in love with Daisy if she was penniless? On the other hand, his dream of fortune served as an indispensible means to realize his dream of love, therefore he plunged himself to restlessly collecting money by hook or crook. The irreconcilable conflict between his way to purse love and his ideal for love determined the eventual disillusion of his dreams and even the demise of himself.

 

Gatsby’s is the victim who paid so high a price for his American Dream. Upon death, he still didn’t understand his American dream which once depended on individual efforts had been already gone with the wind in that rotten Jazz Age. He wasn’t aware that what he pursued so hard couldn’t be realized for the lack of pragmatic and realistic conditions.

 

Conclusion:

 

Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby is really worth mulling over. It not only contributes to being a paragon of the Great American Novel, but also witnesses the total decline of American society at Jazz Age. In conclusion, the Great Gatsby achieves an undeniable glory whether in literature field or in the conveying of the demise of American dream.