The Great Gatsby

Introduction

The Great Gatsby goes far beyond the portrayal of a young man and his search for happiness to explore the themes that still underpin modern America. The 20th century has frequently been referred to as “The American Century”, and this novel written during America's glittering Jazz Age embodies those values that are still prevalent in today's society. The Great Gatsby considers the problems associated with materialism and the spiritual and spiritual demise of America during the inter-war period. Fitzgerald identifies the issues that became 20th century preoccupations globally (William Rose Benet, pp 34-282). American values became the most dominant, yet challenged, throughout the world and Western society. Interesting parallels can be drawn from the conflict between eastern and western values in the Great Gatsby, to the growing international conflict between east and west today.

Analysis

At the heart of the novel, Fitzgerald explores the America during the 1920's and the way in which that society had wandered far from the original values that founded America. He criticises the material yearning which. he saw dominate east coast life at the time. He does this through his presentation of the characters and through the unfolding of the narrative. His characters are all restless, careless; they are superficial, aimless, irresponsible, empty and lonely. They have superficial desires, their talk is meaningless and their spiritual values are forgotten or dumped. Some critics labeled this group as “the lost generation”. This spiritual vacuousness is not only seen amongst the rich and famous that flock to Gatsby's mansion that summer (Turnbull, pp 23-171).

The area where Myrtle and Wilson live draws inspiration from T.S Eliot's poem “The Wasteland” and is a symbol of the empty existence of the rich New Yorkers who pass through it, and of low society who inhabit it; it is the result of the failure of the American Dream. Wilson lacks ambition; he is grey, soulless and hopeless. Myrtle has high social aspirations but she over reaches her position in life, trying to fit into a group who would never allow her in as one of their own. It becomes clear that Tom is careful to allow her only as far as the fringes (Turnbull, pp 45-83). Her own materialism is as worthless as that of the rich; she too becomes spiritually corrupt like them and loses all sense of morality. Fitzgerald's view on this can be used as a warning of the problems America has faced in the 20th century. He is critical of the barriers between social groups in this society. However, he shows Myrtle as a person who fails to achieve anything because of the way that she goes about trying to break down these barriers. She is selfish and superficial, a stark contrast to those like Booker T. Washington and other Americans who fought the racial division in America. Those who attend Gatsby's parties have a similar lack of morality and feed off him like parasites. Even though Gatsby throws such lavish parties those who attend have ...