Matthew Brooks 11/14/13 Introduction to Literature Summary Essay The Ideals of The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby

by ! Scott it"#erald$ is a %rime e&am%le of the morality$ romanticism$ and corru%tion of %eo%le! 'n article by (ohn raser$ )*ust and *reams and The Great Gatsby$ analy"es the ideals of the no+el throu#h both his own o%inions and su%%ortin# scholars, o%inions on what is said to be the )-reat 'merican .o+el!) Since the article is more o%inionated than factual$ su%%ort from other no+els are used as a brace for com%ariti+e %ur%oses! The moralistic as%ect of it"#erald,s The Great Gatsby, is often seen to be a key element of the success of the no+el/ #i+in# it almost a false sense of ho%e in a time where the corru%t rei#n and heroism is treated merely as a %ro%ostorous myth! In an article written by (ohn raser$ he shares his thou#hts of the seemin#ly %oetic bra+ery of (ay -atsby$ makin# it sound like his )moralistic +i#or) is that to be frowned u%on in the 1012,s 3 raser 4405! -atsby,s mask6like a%%earance and sense of morality towards .ick 7arraway and *aisy Buchanan are often referred to in the article with su%%ort from scholar$ 'rthur Mi"ener$ belie+in# that )-atsby,s essential incorru%tability is heroic) 3 raser 4405! 8hile usin# Mi"ener,s 9uote to su%%ort the ideas of -atsby,s morals$ he unreluctantly disa#rees with the heroism a%%roach! Essentially$ his thou#hts of -atsby,s

in+ulnerability to alteration :ust makes -atsby outra#eous! (ay -atsby is not the only character that is ruled by their morals! *aisy lets herself become more accustomed to the rich lifestyle by for#ettin# her morals! 'lthou#h -atsby is %ortrayed as a #enerally #enuine indi+idual that can do no wron#$ raser belie+es he may be by far the most corru%t fi#ure %ortayed in it"#erald,s no+el! The "self-projection" of many of the characters focus on their romantic compatability with not only their fated counter parts, but with themselves (Fraser 557) !ccordin" to Fraser, #ic$ sees himself as almost a majestic, hi"h-class "entleman with outstandin" potential to be "reat, which "ives him a sense of arro"ance %atsby is desi"ned to be an icon to the romantic world throu"h his hopefullness and desire for his love, &aisy Fit'"erald(s symbol of classic romance, )ay %atsby, is a hero with many imperfections *is seemin"ly unattainable "oals of livin" out his days with &aisy are what ma$es his personality perfect for a corrupt hero !lthou"h Fraser(s vision of a hero are atypical of %atsby, support is "iven to show that the post-%atsby era of literature chan"es the idea of a romantic hero throu"h the "*ollywood" style of the !merican (Fraser 5+,) Thou"h some may call his optimism "heroic," the flaws in his facade of class elude the missin" lin$ that he needs to be a true intellectually developed character *is "charm" and "suave" illusions are misconstrued for a "eneral approachability and classy attitude, without the tan"iable aspect of bein" in hi"h class (Fraser 5+-) The romance between the characters would be nowhere near as si"nificant if it weren(t for the imminent corruption of the prota"onists

The ".oarin" -/(s" in Gatsby is portayed as a wic$ed time period where people were prone to actin" immoral and adulterous The vain decisions that are made throu"hout the novel are justified only by the idea that bein" corrupt is a way of succeedin" &aisy is an intri"uin" character and is described as a money driven person %atsby(s $nowled"e of &aisy(s thirst for wealth, drives him and inspires him to ma$e himself anew, thus provin" his "essential incorruptibility" is in fact a facade (Fraser 5+/) #ic$ 0arraway is a prime e1ample of corruption !fter movin" to the 2ast, he under"oes a type of chan"e that Fraser describes as a "slei"ht-of-hand," with #ic$(s personality chan"in" 3uite rapidly (Fraser 5+4) %atsby(s dreams and aspirations to be with &aisy were what really corrupted him *is ultimate dream becomes nearly impossible because of his fi"ht to become a success and leaves him to for"et his humanistic and "sentimental" part of his own self )ohn Fraser(s approach to analy'e The Great Gatsby has "iven the analysis process a different, more insi"htful point of view ! typical person mi"ht briefly "o into detail about the importance of the characters in relation to themselves, but Fraser(s attempt has added layers of depth to my thou"ht process &elvin" into such a symbolic and important piece of literature that this novel is, is a treacherous tas$ because of the amount of si"nificance that each character, each line of dialo"ue, and even non-verbal symbols that could be connected share with the complete understandin" of the story !ddin" a source of comprehension from another curious and in3uisitive mind only widens the hori'on of possibilities to analy'e that much further The brilliant symbols and

association of subliminal objects justify why F 5cott Fit'"erald(s novel is often referred to as "the "reat !merican novel " 6n re"ards to my point of view since readin" Fraser(s article, it has been chan"ed a bit due to the dense word choices and further thou"ht throu"h outside sources, as well as biases 7or$ 0ited Fraser, )ohn "&ust and &reams and the %reat %atsby " 8- , (49+5): 55,-+, )5T;. 7eb 4- #ov -/48