The Great Gatsby and American Identity

The Great Gatsby is one of the most ironic titles in the American Cannon. Is he really great? Certainly not to the old-money characters of West Egg. This presents a dilemma with American Success (not to say, The American Dream which is a little too over-used for this particular novel). To what extent should our success be self-made, or grounded in lineage?


Fitzgerald plays on the notion that money will always impress and he unfortunately reminds us how impressive money one hasn’t earned is. But for an early 20th Century novel, Fitzgerald impressively moves beyond the mere monetary notion of American success. Acceptance, he reminds us, and love, are almost deal-breakers for feeling like one has a complete life.

The speculation that Gatsby might actually have some other quality to him not directly mentioned in the novel (it was argued a few years ago that Gatsby was black; it has been hypothesized that he was Jewish) that would cause alienation is a speculation that misses the point. That Gatsby is not accepted, and that his not being accepted is a mystery to readers, is an achievement on the part of the author more so than an actual confusion. Fitzgerald makes us wonder about the exclusivity of class in America.

I think another important consideration of identity is the mysteriousness of Gastby himself. The speculation of the minor characters, toward the beginning of the novel, add to this mystique, and also perpetuate the gravity of Gatsby's fall. It is within our culture to mythologize the source of power, whether it be monetary power, or even talent .

An additional consideration for the era of the novel is the social formalities of the era that simply no longer exist today. Such formalities, which were a collective form of repression, continued at least to the 1950's. The "holding back" of characters like Daisy, and even Nick, the narrator, would have never happened today. The mystique of Gatsby is fueled by this social repression.



© Adam Tramantano
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