The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby follows the narrator, Nick Carraway, through the love affair of a mysterious Gatsby and his former lover, Daisy. 

Gatsby seems to be a person who although hosts extravagant and lavish parties, appears without a background, without any history and without a real home. The irony of this bright and brittle facade was that he had not created it to impress his guests, but to impress a girl he had loved and had to leave. This girl, Daisy, had loved him but was now married. Gatsby had dreamed about Daisy for over four years- this dream had long ceased to have any connection with reality, and for this reason he could not wake from it. Gatsby doped himself with his own illusion, and only death could dispel that dream.

The Epigraph:

At the start of the book, Fitzgerald chooses to include an epigraph from Thomas Parke D'Invilliers. An epigraph acts simply as a kind of 'little appetizer' which reflects the plot of the novel, and this is quite blatant in The Great Gatsby. 

"Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;

If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, 

Till she cry 'Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,

I must have you!' - Thomas Parke D'Invilliers

In this, Fitzgerald almost breaks the norms of epigraphs in which typically the author would include someone else's words, here Fitzgerald uses his own. Thomas Parke D'Invilliers makes an appearance in Fitzgerald's novel Side Of Paradise as a typical college intellectual. This deceit portrays the theme of appearance VS reality before the story even begins. Secondly, the epigraph gives us some insight to Gatsby's mindset, it basically says to use material deception in order to attract the attention of a woman who wouldn't otherwise notice. This is exactly what Gatsby does, and is shown through his open parties and his magnificent mansion.

Finally, regarding the epigraph, the lover is described as bouncing, as if the person in question is unable to settle. It could be considered quite an odd image, which could be intended by Fitzgerald, but it also foreshadows that material deception does not end well. 

The characters:

As the reader, I can't help but feel a general dislike towards nearly all of the characters. I feel like Fitzgerald probably intended this to be one of the more realistic features of the story, that none of the characters are flawless. 

Gatsby: The consensus seems to be that Gatsby himself earns the most sympathy from the reader. Gatsby's most admirable trait is hope, and it is something he maintains until he dies. Also, everything Gatsby has made in terms of wealth and posessions has been to impress Daisy. Sometimes he doesn't quite live up to the mannerisms of the social elite he's worked to be in, and there's a naivety to that, that makes the reader feel sympathy for him.

However, Gatsby seems to dope himself with his own illusion, and the story proves that this isn't a healthy way to be. Also, he could be considered as selfish, he plays the pioneer in manipulating Nick and Jordan into forming his reunion with Daisy, and in chapter seven he really pushes Daisy to leave Tom and be with him- in fact, Daisy even says "Oh, you want too much!" in a moment of distress. Gatsby could also be regarded as selfish when considering his relationship with Nick. At the beginning of the novel, Gatsby seems to look out for Nick, but could it be that he is just investigating him? When he realises that Nick is actually related to Daisy, he makes a great effort of trying to impress and befriend Nick too. This again links to the whole theme of appearance VS reality, Gatsby appears as a friend to Nick, but in reality it might just be that he was using him to get to Daisy.

Nick: Typically as the narrator, the reader should feel like they are in favour and empathetic towards the voice telling the story. But with Nick, this doesn't seem to be the case until the it was end of the novel. Nick is coherently an unreliable narrator. At the start, he claims to be honest and trustworthy, and yet he tricks Daisy (a married woman) into reuniting with her former lover, Gatsby. Nick also states that he is a man who is "inclined to reserve all judgements" but this clearly is not the case. He openly prefers Gatsby from the start of the book until the end of the book, he clearly regards Tom and Daisy as cowardly at the end of the book and also regularly reminds the reader that Jordan Baker is known to be a cheat and liar. 

However, it is easy to feel sympathy for Nick at the end of the story as it is clear he has lost someone who meant a lot to him. He is writing the story two years later, showing how the event and memories are still raw to him. 

Daisy: Daisy is purposely portrayed negatively by both Fitzgerald and Nick. For Fitzgerald, Daisy is one of the main symbols for women in the time of the jazz age, and through Daisy's presentation, it is suggested that he felt quite negatively towards the change in attitude women had. Nick tells us that Daisy is all about money and status and reputation, which to a twenty-first century reader can make us feel that she is quite tiring. As the reader, I felt that it was easy to forget that Daisy was in fact a mother. She mentions her daughter at the start of the novel, and we meet her (Pammy) at the end, and even then Daisy is dismissive towards her and would rather her daughter compliment the appearance of her friends- this links again, to the main theme of appearance VS reality, the reality is, at this point, the friends in which Daisy is surrounded by are in fact about to fall apart, she is about to expose her affair with Gatsby, Nick and Jordan too will be caught up in the tensions of it, and yet Daisy says "How do you like your mother's friends?" "do you think they're pretty?".

In one way, you could say Daisy is actually quite similar to Gatsby, in which they are both without a sense of reality. Daisy asks at the start of the novel, "what do people plan?" This shows that she's never had the reality of making her own decisions and taking responsibility, which is again presented at the end of the book when she doesn't take responsibility for Myrtle's death and doesn't really make her own decisions when choosing between Tom and Gatsby. 

However, you could sympathise with Daisy. If you really analyse her character and put yourself into her shoes, she hasn't really had much choice throughout the plot. She did not consent to reuniting with Gatsby, and perhaps she did move on, in which then the whole situation just becomes an inconvenience for her. 

 Is it her fault if she can't reciprocate Gatsby's feelings?

Tom: Tom is intentionally unlikable. He is a man that is all about money, status, power and possession. Fitzgerald purposely links racism, hypocrisy, adultery and violence to Tom's character, knowing that these unlikable traits would cause unpopularity. Tom is the main cause for all three of the deaths in the novel and so the reader is not really left with much choice when asked whether they like him or not. 

However, it should be pointed out that although he is such a horrible character, it is possible that we, as readers can feel sympathy for him. In moments of distress, Tom reveals more and more about the reality of his character. When he finds out Myrtle has died, he expresses his opinion that the driver (supposedly Gatsby) is nothing but a "coward" for doing such a thing, does this not reveal that he did care for Myrtle despite their differences in class? Also, when Tom is confronted by Gatsby who claims his wife has never loved him, he withdraws his stereotypical masculinity. Instead of attempting to remain strong and powerful, he reminds Daisy of the loving times they have experienced together. So yes, although he is a very unlikable character we can still find traits within him, which we might sympathise for.

Themes:

In The Great Gatsby, we see Fitzgerald present many different themes:

• The decline in the American Dream.
• Love
• Society, class and wealth
• Memory and the past
• Time
• Isolation
• Mortality
• Marriage 
• Lies and deceit
• Sexuality

Some themes are more perceptible than others, such as the themes of love, marriage and society,class and wealth and lies and deceit.

The decline in the American Dream is mainly portrayed between characters Myrtle and Gatsby. Myrtle aims for more than what she has got in her life, she is clearly of a lower class and enjoys the lavishes of the social elite showed to her through her affair with Tom. But she is also shown to foreshadow the decline in the American dream, when she first meets Nick he mentions that she blocked out the sunshine (similarly to how Curley's wife did in Of Mice and Men) presumably meaning that she caused the decline in Gatsby's dream and Nick is bitter about it in hindsight. 

Secondly, Gatsby has succeeded in his life. He appears to have succeeded the American Dream when we learn of his past, coming from nothing to being of wealth in West Egg. Yet, he is not content, his version of the American Dream is to be with Daisy, and we clearly see this fail in the novel. 

Memory and the Past, along with Time, all work together when regarding themes. Gatsby aims to recreate a moment, in the past, with Daisy, when he realised he was in love. Nick is skeptical of this, but Gatsby is fixated that the past can be recreated- "can't repeat the past? why of course you can". I think to an extent, Daisy believes this too. She asks "Gatsby? what Gatsby?" at the start of the novel, showing that her past with Gatsby is still of significance. We also see memory through Jordan, who confirms Gatsby and Daisy's relationship through a flashback she has. Time is represented too, via Gatsby and Daisy's relationship, as they reunite the mantelpiece clock plays a significant part in highlighting the amount of time Gatsby and Daisy have been apart, and also how Gatsby's dream is potentially coming towards an end, hence he is referred to as an "overwound clock". Finally, the past is shown clearly through the whole book itself- Nick writes the story two years after it has happened, showing how you really can't change the past and that he was right when he said this to Gatsby, "You can't repeat the past" Perhaps if Nick could repeat the past, he would have followed through with his disapproval and decided not to reunite Gatsby and Daisy after all.

Fitzgerald portrays the theme of mortality with an element of simplicity. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald / Nick, never fails to hesitate in terms of the amount of detail included. But suddenly, when describing the deaths at the end of the novel, they are described so simply. I think this is intentional of Fitzgerald, as it highlights how the social elite of the 1920's were ignorant of consequences. This is shown in the Guest List of Gatsby's party in chapter four, when Nick lists the guests, followed by the disregarded unfortunate consequences they have experienced such as drowning and suicide. It is also ultimately shown through Gatsby's funeral, none of the people associated with Gatsby showed, and both Tom and Daisy leave East Egg. 

Finally, It could also be argued, that sexuality is another theme explored by Fitzgerald, although it is a theme that is only implied by elements of the text, not officially stated at any point. Sexuality is mainly explored through Nick's character, and his feelings for Gatsby. Many argue that their relationship was simply a friendly admiration from Nick to Gatsby, as Nick admired Gatsby's quality of endless hope. However, the idea that Nick actually had homosexual feelings for Gatsby can only be inferred by the text. At the start Nick states: "it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men" This implies that Gatsby's hopes and dreams made Nick really fall in love with him, in which he temporarily closed out saddening short-term relationships that he had had with men. The Great Gatsby was written at a time when homosexuality was not condemned socially and was in fact illegal, and so authors at this time would have had to take great care controversially when portraying homosexual characters, and yet Fitzgerald seems to take a step outside of the box with Nick. Nick mentions mulling over being thirty stating his twenties were "a decade of loneliness. A thinning list of young men to know.." Perhaps this is why Fitzgerald intentionally describes women negatively in the book, as it is shown through Nick's perspective. 

Finally, at the end of the novel, when considering the late Gatsby, Tom says "that fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust in your eyes just like he did in Daisy's..." Tom's assessment is quite clearly accurate, but Nick would never admit it. This could also link to Tom's own views, dust is often linked to dirt, perhaps he is homophobic (typical of the time and context)? Or perhaps he is saying that the dust 'confused' and disorientated Nick's version of reality, as it did Daisy who had prepared to leave her husband.

However, again, all of these quotes I have included to support the theme of sexuality can lead to other interpretations. It may simply be that Nick did admire Gatsby as a friend.