The Great Gatsby Analysis

Is Gatsby Great?

• The central question of the lecture is whether Gatsby is truly great.

Connection to Aristotelian Tragedy

• Comparison to Romeo and Juliet:
  • Romeo and Juliet, an Aristotelian tragedy, involves highborn individuals brought low by character flaws.
  • Shakespeare introduced ambiguity, with bad luck and forgivable mistakes contributing to their downfall.
  • Heightened poetic language elicits sympathy for Romeo and Juliet.
• Fitzgerald's challenge:
  • Characters in The Great Gatsby are largely unlikable.
  • The story risks being uncompelling if readers dislike the characters.
• Fitzgerald's solution:
  • Heightened, fast-paced language.
  • Beautiful and evocative descriptions:
    • "Daisy's voice sounds full of money."
    • "The fading glow on Jordan Baker's face is like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk."
    • Description of early explorers' encounter with the American continent.
      • For a transitory, enchanted moment, man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history, with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
  • This elevated language lends Gatsby's story epic proportions and a form of greatness.

Gatsby's Greatness and Irony

• Greatness through aspiration:
  • Gatsby's commitment to his aspirations is a source of greatness.
  • He embodies achievement through hard work and clear purpose.
• Gatsby's peculiar lifestyle:
  • He is a bootlegger who doesn't drink.
  • He owns a pool but doesn't swim.
  • He is a man of leisure who avoids leisure activities.
• Irony in describing Gatsby as "great":
  • The adjective highlights the tawdry and exaggerated aspects of his life.
  • He is portrayed as a magician or carnival curiosity in a wealthy world.
  • Tom Buchanan likens Gatsby's yellow car to a circus wagon.

The Obsession with Time

• Shared trait with Romeo and Juliet:
  • Both are obsessed with controlling time, which inevitably passes.
• Juliet's desire:
  • She wants to accelerate the night and delay the dawn to protect her marriage.
• Gatsby's desire:
  • He wants Daisy to deny ever loving Tom, attempting to erase the past.
  • His vision involves returning to Louisville and remarrying Daisy as if the past five years never happened.
• Nick's response:
  • "You can't repeat the past."
• Gatsby's famous line:
  • "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can."
  • He aims to "fix everything just the way it was before."
• The contrast:
  • Romeo and Juliet want to extend the present due to a bleak future.
  • Gatsby seeks to restore the past to create a perfect future.

Nostalgia and the American Identity

• The idea of restoring the past:
  • It is a common theme in American politics, with candidates often invoking past leaders to inspire a return to a perceived golden age.
  • It is reflected in debates about the Founding Fathers' intentions.
• Gatsby as the self-made man:
  • He embodies the American dream of self-creation.
  • His combination of aspiration and nostalgia is distinctly American.

Tragedy Beyond the Aristotelian Model

• Gatsby's low birth:
  • He contrasts with the high-born figures of traditional tragedy.
  • He exists in a society that denies social hierarchies.
• Cause of Gatsby's downfall is complex:
  • Daisy was driving the car, but Gatsby takes the blame.
  • He is a victim of a hypocritical social order that condemns him for his illicit activities, despite benefiting from them.

Open Letter to Prohibition

• Prohibition as a metaphor:
  • It represents American hypocrisy and debauchery.
  • The U.S. constitution is normal until the 18th amendment (bans alcohol), and then the 21st amendment (repeals prohibition).
  • It shows the challenges of legislating morality.

Gatsby's Doomed Fate

• Reasons for Gatsby's tragic end:
  • His romanticization of Daisy.
  • His inability to accept his social limitations.
  • His belief that any means justify achieving his desired end.
• A world without justice:
  • The novel depicts a cold world that rewards the already privileged.
• Survivors of the novel:
  • Only the idle rich (Jordan Baker, Daisy, and Tom Buchanan) and Nick Carraway survive.
  • They remain careless and indifferent.
• The carelessness of the wealthy:
  • Tom and Daisy are destructive and retreat into their wealth.
  • They lack concern for others, including Myrtle, Gatsby, their daughter, and each other.
• The horror of a carefree life:
  • Fitzgerald exposes the monstrous nature of indifference and the inability to care.
• Lack of resolution:
  • Unlike Romeo and Juliet, where the lovers' sacrifice leads to healing, Gatsby's tragedy offers no such resolution.

The Unworthy Dream

• Gatsby turned out alright in the end. It was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams.
• The tragedy lies in chasing an unworthy dream.
• Gatsby was a great man, but great people especially must be careful about what they worship.