I found this book to be, at its core, one of great profundity, and a work that speaks to us throughout the ages. I detectedtwo significant messages from Fitzgerald here: the first being a sort of analysis of love and hate, and the second being a warning against our many illusions and false notions.
Tom Buchanan is a man blinded by the opulent illusion of superiority. He does not rightly know what superiority is, and so he uses his hulking mass to push others around. Tom is unable to distinguish right from wrong, and cheats on his wife simply because he feels that his "superiority" justifies it. In all likelihood, Tom cares even less for his mistress than he does for his wife. But when confronted by Gatsby, Tom is faced with the harsh reality that there are those to which he is not superior. This is altogether too scary for him, and so instead of accepting it he lashes out at the one man whom he can find responsible: Jay Gatsby. Tom is willing to cause Gatsby's death out of pure malice simply because he is still running from the notion that he is not the "Atlas" he thinks he is. This is the first example given to us of how our innermost lies are self-destructive.
The case of Jordan Baker is also one that deeply explores our want to escape reality. Jordan is obviously a woman who is capable of great things on and off the golf course. But ever since a slight accusation of cheating she has slipped into the world of her own illusions, attending extravagant parties and adopting a reckless personality simply so that she does not have to acknowledge the real world. Though we never see this illusion crash as dramatically as Tom's, Fitzgerald makes magnificent use of a simple car ride to foreshadow what will inevitably come to Miss Baker. Jordan is destined to meet another "reckless driver", and will no longer be capable of hiding behind her false notions of the World.
Jay Gatsby seems to be a man in control of his own destiny. A self-made success, he is at first impression a man who we would all like to become. But upon closer examination Gatsby is a man haunted by his own illusions as well. He creates a veil of lies over his true self, claiming wild achievements such as having been to Oxford. Gatsby hides from the truth and makes himself mystical so that others mary not see his true motrives. But Gatsby's grandiose illusions are destined to come crashing down. Dauisy has loved Tom and is not going to return to the new Jay Gatsby. She doesn't even care to send flowers for his funeral. gatsby feeols quite powerful, and perhaps superior. He feels that he can always relive the past. Jay Gatsby dies with his false notions, while still having failed to see the truth.
Later in the course of these course books Nathaniel Hawthorne shall tell s that love and hate are essentially the same emotions. I think that a parallel can be drawn between this statement and the outbursts of Tom and Gatsby in cahpter seven. Gatsby, so stricken with lost love, alllows his love to manifest itself in the only way available to him. This manifestation is a consuming hatred of Tom Buchannan. Tom, on the other hand, allows his utter hatred for Gatsby to manifest itself in loving comments towards Daisy. The result is an example of the earlier comment by Hawthorne.
When reading this book, I was reminded of the attitudes people had before and during the "Great Depression," especially the people living on the east coast who were once wealthy. During the year this book was first published (1925) people were living the "high-life" in places like New York. Just yeares later, the depression crippled America. Once the stock market crashed, men and women alike were forced to give up the illusion of affluence, wealth and superiority in order to survive. Either they did this, or they died like Jay Gatsby. Given the time this book was written, and the theme of illusions which is present throughout, it seems almost as if Fitzgerald is predictin the hard times to come.
In my opinion, any work of literature which we call "great" must speak throught he ages. Certainly this book does that and more. The illusions of greedy business owners and wealthy stock owner have thrust us into an economic recession. Perhaps we should have listened to the litherature of history an d"faced the music."
You talk about illusions in this book. I must agree that illusions are what drive many of us. We hide our reality because we don't want to face it and pretend to be something we are not. One thing that caught my attention is your comment about the book speaking through the ages in order to be considered great. Even though this book is fiction, would you go so far as to say it is a reflection our history and even slip into the genre historical fiction? The Grapes of Wrath could be categorized in this genre, but what about Gatsby? Many affluent people took their own lives when the stock market crashed because they didn't want to face the reality. So if this is a precursor to what was to come, is it somewhat historical? Just wondering about your thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post!
This is exactly what I intended by stating that it speaks to us through the ages! I fully agree with your observation. It almost seems prophetic though, rather than historical. People didn't kill themselves until the Depression hit. But Fitzgerald was obviously a learned man, judging by his work, and so perhaps he was calling upon historic examples to predict what would come.
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