The Great Gatsby

letter to Zelda/reason behind this

"My God, I'm a forgotten man" Great Gatsby was a financial failure

Fitzgerald's DOB/DOD

1896/1940

Publication date of Gatsby

1925

The Great Gatsby Theme of Visions of America

America in The Great Gatsby is presented mostly through the scope of class: the rich, the poor, and everyone in between are identified by how much money they have. We see America in the microcosm of New York City (and its suburbs), where all classes are pitted fairly close together. There's Wilson, the working-class man who has to work constantly to stay afloat; the Buchanans, who have an unimaginable amount of money; and Nick, who's upper-middle-class existence allows him many luxuries, but not everything he wants. Then there's Gatsby. Even when Gatsby gets to the top, he's looked down upon by those with old money. In Gatsby, the American Dream seems corrupted. Whereas it used to stand for independence and the ability to make something of one's self with hard work, in Gatsby, the American Dream seems more about materialism and selfish pursuit of pleasure. Not to mention, no amount of hard work can change where Gatsby came from, and the old money folks maintain their sense of superiority because of that simple fact. The indication is that merit and hard work aren't enough. The idea of the American Dream proves to be disappointing and false in Fitzgerald's classic novel

Cover painting title

Celestial Eyes

Cover artist

Francis Cugat

The Great Gatsby Theme of Wealth

In The Great Gatsby, wealth can be distinguished from class; it is possible to achieve great wealth without being accepted into the elite class, as evidenced by Jay Gatsby's experience. Poverty, on the other hand, restricts decision and action. George Wilson, for example, is unable to "go West" with his wife because he hasn't enough money. It is money that allows Tom and Daisy to go here and there, leaving other people to clean up their messes. The life of ease and luxury that Tom and others enjoy is contrasted sharply with the stranglehold of poverty containing Myrtle and George Wilson or the life from which Jay Gatsby emerges. Wealth is what separates Gatsby from his love, as he notes of Daisy that "her voice is full of money."

where did Fitzgerald's live as a child?

Saint Paul; close to upperclass but not quite part of it

The Great Gatsby Theme of Memory and The Past

The Great Gatsby deals at great length with issues of the past, present, and future. In love with a girl of the past, Gatsby is unable to have her again in the present. He wants a future with her, but only if she will lie to erase the marriage in her past. The narrator indicates in the final lines of the text that nobody can ever reach the future - it is a beacon of light that calls to us, but even as we try to reach it, we are beaten back into the past. The manipulation of time in the narrative adds to this theme. Nick tells the whole tale with a tone of nostalgia - beginning the text with mention of his father's advice to him in his youth.

The Great Gatsby Theme of Love

The Great Gatsby does not offer a definition of love, or a contrast between love and romance - but it does suggest that what people believe to be love is often only a dream. Gatsby thinks he loves Daisy when in fact he loves a memory of her. Daisy, too, thinks she loves Gatsby, but she really loves being adored. Our narrator is "half" in love with Jordan at the end of the novel, but recognizes the impossibility of being with her anyway. Love is a source of conflict in The Great Gatsby as well, driving men to fight and ultimately causing three deaths. This text seems to argue that there is a violence and destruction inherent in love.

The Great Gatsby Theme of Society and Class

The Great Gatsby is set among wealthy, educated people, who have lots of leisure time and little concern about people who are not in their social milieu. Nobody's concerned about politics or spiritual matters but everybody cares about how they are perceived socially. Those who do come from other classes seek and envy the glamour and lifestyle that they see in the elite. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is able to attain a certain amount of wealth, but he cannot fake education or social behaviors that only come with "old money." The novel's two main locales, West Egg and East Egg, are distinguished also by class. East Egg represents "old money" while West Egg represents the nouveau riche. East Eggers consistently look down on West Eggers for precisely this fact. Class and wealth are virtually indistinguishable from each other, but if a person lacks education, then he is clearly not part of the upper echelon.

The Great Gatsby Theme of Dissatisfaction

The Great Gatsby presents an array of characters dissatisfied with life. No one is happy with marriage, with love, with life in general, and they all destroy the lives of others in seeking to fix it. Tom destroys his wife's love for him by committing adultery; Daisy nearly destroys her marriage by seeking another life with Gatsby, and Gatsby destroys himself in seeking Daisy. Jordan, who has everything, needs nothing, yet is still dissatisfied.

Is Gatsby really great?

The claim that Gatsby is "great" is of course called into question, as Gatsby has fabricated his entire life to please a woman.

Alternative Gatsby titles

Trimalchio in West Egg Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires The High-Bouncing Lover Under the Red, White, and Blue

wife/ year of marriage

Zelda 1920

Who was Trimalchio?

former slave who attained great wealth/power through hard work. threw lavish parties

Fitzgerald's favorite issues

money, ambition, the American Dream

West Egg/ who lives there

new money; Nick Carraway and Gatsby

East Egg/who lives there

old money; the Buchanans

Fitzgerald's funeral

only a handful of people attended -> like Gatsby

proposing to Zelda

she turned down his first offer of marriage because he was too poor similar to Daisy and Gatsby

Fitzgerald's "crack up"

started drinking heavily after Zelda was institutionalized

coined what term?

the jazz age