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Interpretation

Analysis­: The American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgera­ld’s The Great Gatsby

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Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz - KFU

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2012

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Literary Studies - American Modernism


The American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s

The Great Gatsby


1 Introduction  2
2 The American Dream   4

2.1 General Remarks about the American Dream   4
2.2 Progress as Key Element of the American Dream   5
2.3 Upward Mobility: The dream of material wealth  6
2.4 The Pursuit of Happiness  7

3 The American Dream and the Great Gatsby  9

3.1 Gatsby, Buchanan and Carraway – Main Characters in the Novel 10

3.1.1 Jay Gatsby  10
3.1.2 Daisy Buchanan  13
3.1.3 Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson  15
3.1.4 Nick Carraway  16

3.2 Francis Scott Fitzgerald – Intertwining of Life and Work  17

3.3 Motifs and Symbols in The Great Gatsby  20

3.3.1 East Egg and West Egg  20
3.3.2 Long Island  21
3.3.3 The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg  21
3.3.4 The Green Light 22

3.4 Dreams and Illusions – A Selection of Significant Scenes  23

3.4.1 Dutch Sailors  23
3.4.2 Gatsby’s Parties  24
3.4.3 The shirts scene  25

4 Conclusion  27
5 Bibliography  29

1        Introduction

The ‘American Dream’ is a widely used phrase which describes an attitude to life that is uniquely interwoven with the American history and society. It concerns the strong belief in the ability of everyone to achieve wealth and happiness by hard work, will power and moral values. We all know the American success story of a dishwasher who turns into a millionaire because of his ambition, luck and sheer force of will.

The American Dream shaped the nation profoundly and its impact on the arts and on literature in particular is undeniable.  


As the American Dream is grounded on an everyday understanding of what its central elements are, the first part of the paper investigates the theoretical concepts behind it. Not all of the connotations that the idiom entails are relevant for the literary analysis. Consequently, a selection of three important categories – progress, upward mobility and the pursuit of happiness – was made.


The literary analysis focuses on the question of how the American Dream is promoted and established in The Great Gatsby. Therefore, the attitudes and values of the 1920s as well as the characters’ attempts to fulfill the American Dream are addressed. In the first part of the analysis the focus lies on the characters in the story: Are they able to live their individualized version of the American Dream? What are their aspirations? As the American Dream is not only concerned with material wealth, but also the pursuit of happiness, the final question arises: If happiness is an indicator for realising the American Dream, have Jay Gatsby and the other characters in the novel failed in the end?


As many critics claimed, the extraordinary quality of The Great Gatsby stems from Fitzgerald’s personal background and the experience he gathered as young celebrity in the 1920s. Fitzgerald explains in his letters that many of the characters in the novel have a real life equivalent or are at least inspired by one. Consequently, the second part of the analysis deals with this intertwining of Scott F. Fitzgerald’s life and work and examines some of the most striking parallels.


The final analytical part provides insights into the most important structures and literary devices that Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has to offer. These structures are directly linked to the American Dream and help to promote and develop its central ideas. Thus, the analysis of the motifs should endorse the overall understanding of how Fitzgerald establishes the central theme in the novel.


2        The American Dream


2.1     General Remarks about the American Dream

‘The American Dream’ is a widely used phrase which transmits a vague idea of the moral values and embedded thoughts that coined it. Over time many definitions were formulated – each one with yet another different nuance and shift in meaning. However, the basic concept of the American Dream stayed the same. It is as old as the hope of the first colonists who encountered the new world.

They trusted the idea of America’s endless possibilities and of “a new heaven and a new earth”, as Captain Edward Johnson put it in his book Wonder-working Providence of Sions Savior in New England in 1654[1]:

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In other words, the old myths were forced upon America. Its discovery gave substance to the firm belief in a possible perfection on earth which could be gradually established.

The short extract above portrays not only the optimism of the first settlers but also one of the most important aspects of the American Dream. It is what Robert H. Fossum and John K. Roth describe as a “persistent […] belief in new beginnings.”[13] This belief that constant progression is possible and that tomorrow promises to be better than today gives a powerful impetus to constantly reinforce the American dream as a cultural given.

Moreover, it serves as one of the biggest motivational tools that American History has to offer and which in fact made its civilization possible.


2.3     Upward Mobility: The dream of material wealth

From the very first beginnings onwards one central aspect of why America was perceived as El Dorado has been the underlying assumption that America enables its settlers to lead a better and freer life than the old world could ever enable them to. The notion of freedom, however, changed radically over time starting with the Puritans freedom from spiritual oppression to the African Americans fight for equality.

Equivalent to this change is the shift in the meaning of a ‘good’ life which in its beginnings mainly referred to a life free from religious persecution. As Jim Cullen points out the nature of a ‘good’ life in the 19th century took on a more secular orientation and “[h]ard work was no longer a (hopefully useful) distraction from the dictates of fate but rather an instrument of fate itself, a tool for self-realization.”[14]


There are many variations of the American Dream(s) but most often self-realization entailed at least to some extent material success. The dream of upward mobility was constantly reassured by telling stories of men who managed to found financial empires with nothing but bravery, genius and the determination to help themselves.

What gives the most substance to the dream of commercial success is what Cullen describes as a sense of “collective ownership.”[15] The idea that anyone has the capacity to get ahead and lead a wealthier and more successful life made this version of the American Dream a collective one. Enforced and constantly renewed by portraying shining examples, a vision of endless opportunities to succeed was born.


One of these shining examples is Benjamin Franklin – the poster child of material success. Although he praised virtue and a life under God, his attitude towards life and success was at the end of the day means to gain a worldly fortune. Stemming from a family background that could not afford a solid education, Benjamin Franklin was the first self-made man and consequently the prime example of upward mobility.

His core convictions were that virtue and happiness are correlated – contradicting the Puritan doctrine that faith is the only way to salvation – and that in Cullen’s words “hard work yields affluence.”[16] In his collection Poor Richard Improved he wrote a preface entitled “The Way to Wealth” which consists of a great variety of well-known aphorisms that contributed to Franklin’s reputation as “the prophet of American capitalism.”[17] Yet, Franklin is known for his philanthropic work and described the basis and meaning of his success in the following way: “I conceived my becoming a member would enlarge my power of doing good.”[18]  His trust in the decency and morality of human kind and his belief that hard work pays off made him according to Cullen the true “Founding Father of the American Dream.”[19]


2.4     The Pursuit of Happiness

It could be argued that the ‘pursuit of happiness’, as central aspect of the American Dream, is what shaped the mindset of US citizens the most. Cullen refers to it as “words [which] actually structure the minutiae of everyday existence.”[20] But what does this phrase actually entail? Happiness as the foremost goal of each and every action determines deci.....[read full text]

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Others may venerate its motivational aspects and therefore view it as a social and moral guideline that could invigorate their lives. Whatever the personal stance towards the American Dream is, its importance and influence on the American thinking and consequently on the arts and literature as such cannot be denied.


3        The American Dream and the Great Gatsby


Literary critics of F. Scott Fitzgerald agree that the underlying theme in one of the most highly acclaimed novels of the 20th century is a comment on the state of the American Dream in the Roaring Twenties. While some may argue, that the novel offers profound insights into the prevalent attitude to life, others – such as Marius Bewley – view it to be a precise description of the deterioration of the American Dream.[25]


As already discussed in the last chapter of this paper, the American Dream addresses all the possibilities of life and inspires a strong belief in greatness and advances. Making this approach to life the main theme of a novel means to address – what Bewley calls – the “hidden boundary in the American vision of life at which the reality ends and the illusion begins.”[26] It implies to interlink these two extremes which leads to a tension that serves as the soil on which The Great Gatsby is build on.


Bewley argues that the reality of the American Dream lies in an incorruptible faith in life and is represented by Jay Gatsby – a character who may not view its reality clearly but never stops believing in the promises that his dream has to offer.[27] The misguiding illusions of the American vision, however, lie in the “undiscriminating multiplication of its material possibilities.”[28] It is the world of the subordinate characters in The Great Gatsby – who strive for wealth and define themselves on terms of their material success – put in other words the illusion of the American vision is represented by the archetypical citizen of the Roaring Twenties.


Critic Susan Resneck Parr discusses in her essay “The Idea of Order at West Egg”[29], the boundaries between illusion and reality in a quite different way. For her, Gatsby as he wants to present himself is an illusion which he carefully creates in order to win over Daisy’s heart.[30] He reinvents himself not only by renaming, but also by choosing to live a life predestined to fulfill the aspirations of the contemp.....

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3.1.1    Jay Gatsby


Jay Gatsby’s original name is Jimmy Gatz. He changes it when he meets Dan Cody – a newly rich entrepreneur who got his enormous funds from mining interests.[31] At the age of seventeen Gatsby gets involved in Dan’s business and becomes his “steward, mate, skipper and even jailor.”[32] His new name highlights the beginning of a new life: The young man who rose in humble homes gets involved in illegal actions and makes a mint.

Gatsby who has become a newly rich displays his monetary means at glamorous festivities. Many people who attend his parties, puzzle about the source of his wealth, but Gatsby always tries to keep both, his money’s and his own origins a secret. He wants to be accepted by the aristocratic society and although he actually realized the stereotypical American Dream – namely to become rich – without being the member of a wealthy family, he fears to be excluded: “Doch die Gesellschaft ist eben nicht gleich, sondern zerfällt in Klassen, die den Neuankömmling ausschließen können. Gatsby täuscht also die Zugehörigkeit zu Daisys Klasse vor, um nicht als ehemals armer Aufsteiger entlarvt zu werden.“[33] However, Gatsby’s origins are not the only reason why he stays apart: He will never be part of this social class since his interest in their values, which in the Roaring Twenties are basically money and fun, is just an illussion.

Gross explains, that “[t]he narrator is the only one who recognizes from his distant point of view the true face of this new world which is orientated towards power and success. No one sees a deeper sense in life except of Gatsby.”[34]


In the novel Gatsby is described as a man of contradictions who indeed hosts lots of extraordinary parties for strangers, but does not show any interest in making friends. Moreover, he owns a huge library, but is not interested in literature at all which gives the reader the impression that he lacks culture and sophistication.

It can be said that Jay Gatsby is a character, who equates quantity with quality and cost with value. He seems to exist only in material terms – as representative of the roaring 1920s – since everything he has – his car, his mansion, his clothes – is tasteless and extravagant. Although his riches are exclusive and obtrusive, Gatsby is not interested in this kind of luxury.

The only reason, why he presents his wealth to the people, is his hope to meet his early love, Daisy Fay. For Gatsby the American Dream is to impress Daisy who he had lost due to his rather poor financial and social status. A life with Daisy would mean that he finally finds happiness as an individual in a society of individuals. Consequently, getting her back by stealing her away from her husband, Tom Buchanan – a man of immense assets and a representative of the established rich – defines Gatsby’s ultimate goal and means the end to his striving and longing for her love.


Gatsby’s conception of self – which in the novel is called a “platonic” (102) one – is based on his striving for monetary means and ultimately Daisy Fay. That these two dreams are inextricably linked has already been established. However, more astounding than the mere connection is the ef.....

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Daisy overwhelmed with the situation and Gatsby’s request could not bring herself to say it and consequently beclouds his illusionary strive for romance. As Tom discloses how Gatsby amassed his fortune, Gatsby tries in a final attempt to defend himself to blot out the five years of Daisy’s marriage:

[…] he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room. (142)


 

Gatsby lost more than just Daisy on this afternoon: While waiting for Daisy his youth has gone which he realizes when remembering his thirtieth birthday. However, the fight for Daisy’s affection and love made him not only lose his youth, but also his moral integrity by becoming involved in dubious business proceedings. Finally, his dream of romance and love died with losing hope and a striving and longing for a woman as means to an end in itself and as integral part of Gatsby’s self conception.

His American Dream – a perfect union with Daisy Fay – betrayed him and displayed itself as an ill-fated illusion.


3.1.2    Daisy Buchanan

Daisy is a beautiful, young woman from Louisville who Nick – her cousin – at one point in the novel describes as a nice girl whose “face was sad and lovely with bright things in it.” (13) She is presented to the reader as a woman stemming from a decent family background who easily attracts the gentlemen’s attention. Being at the centre of every party, Daisy is the archetypical representative of the Roaring Twenties.

Fielder even claims that she embodies the imperialistic America and that she can be seen as the ‘It Girl’ of her time.[35] Daisy obviously enjoys her access to vast monetary means that allow her to amuse herself and to benefit from the advantages that a ri.....

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As her aspiration is material wealth, she does not even leave her husband, when she caught him cheating with another woman. Daisy rather accepts their marriage and love as an illusion which she has romanticised in the past. The following passage gives further proof to this fact: When Daisy talks to her cousin Nick, she tells him that she has had a very bad time and therefore is cynical about everything (cf. 29).

She continues: “[T]he best thing a girl can be in this world, [is] a beautiful little fool” (21). With this sentence Daisy – who is obviously deeply hurt – comes to a moment of truth: Her marriage is an illusion which she has carefully acted out so far. It seems as if she wishes herself to be unaware of the situation and finally recognises that her attempt to create a sense of meaning and purpose to her life has failed.


Another interesting aspect concerning the description of Daisy’s character is the colour symbolism which is used in a passage about Daisy’s past: “She dressed in white and had a little white roadster [ .].” (79) The colour white is associated with pureness and innocence but white as a neutral colour can also stand for negativity and coldness – a description which perfectly fits Daisy.[36] Her shallow and self-absorbed character traits make her unaware of other people’s feelings and leave the reader with the impression that she does not care or even notice how her behavior affects Gatsby.

Her need for attention and her carelessness when it comes to realising her own dreams and aspirations evoke a feeling of her indifference and emotional distance. One passage which highlights her inability to show heart-felt feelings is the scene which succeeds the car accident in which Myrtle is killed. Daisy and Tom sit together and although so many disturbing events took place that night she seems to be impassive and distant:

Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table with a plate of cold fried chicken between them and two bottles of ale. He was talking intently across the table at her and in his earnestness his hand had fallen upon and covered her own. Once in a while she looked up at him .....

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