IL - Instituto de Letras

TEL - Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literatura

MADSON CALIL ALEIXO GOMES

Literatura Norte-Americana I - Séc XX

2021/1
Short Paper - Jay Gatsby: A Man Devoured by the Past.

Brasília
2021
 1 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Lost Generation and melancholy in The Great Gatsby.
Taking a moment to analyse the post war period of the 1920s not only goes a long way on
explaining the outlook of the authors of the period, but also helps one's understanding of the tone
in which the books are written. The so called "Lost Generation" of North American Literature,
which englobes the ones that came of age during or after World War I, were not know like this
only because of their future ambitious being taken away, but also because the staples of the
postwar world also became a staple in their writing. They all faced disillusion, disappointment,
and of course, melancholy. Maybe no other book is so famous for depicting such melancholy
amidst the American Dream as F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and moreover, no character
may be more of an example of the pursuit of those staples as Jay Gatsby himself. Through the
eyes of protagonist Nick Caraway, readers of the book find themselves intrigued, curious,
enraged and saddened with his story, and his relatable desire of reclaiming a moment in time,
now long gone. Gatsby's obsession with the past takes two forms: love and status, and with
idealization as a guide, it is possible to see the whole picture pan out, and analyse his fall towards
his own desires.

2 - An epitome of the American Dream, built by his own distorted desires.

"Gatsby", even though it is recognized as the character, is actually a personified idea, an
idea born from the dreams of young James Gatz.

"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his
Platonic conception of himself" (pg.105)

The lower class upbringing, coming from a poor family of farmers, can be seen as motivation
enough to pursue a better life, and that's no short of reasonable. But, adding this a pungent and
loud North American High-Society and a darker picture starts to form. A picture in which, as the
American Dream dictates, Jay Gatsby is entitled to his desires, no matter how deluded they may
be.
 "The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or
nationality, can be successful in America (read: rich) if they just work hard enough."
(WULICK, 2019)

His relationship with the wealthy Dan Cody only straightens his pursuit, being able to
learn all about the wealthy manners. Until this point, James's dreams were, although ambitious,
common. It all changes, however, with a pivotal moment, so important that it transformed his
ambitions into full blown obsessions: his first meeting with Daisy. Here, his dreams finally have
a form and a key moment to be painted in the back of his mind for years to come. The moment,
as coincidental and random as a moment can be, became crystallized in his mind, as a perfect
and deserved micro period of time. From this sentiment of fulfilment – which becomes
shortsighted because of the war – comes the necessity to become someone else, a new figure. He
was already Jay Gatsby, the name and persona adopted during his time under the patronage of
Dan Cody, but now such persona had a powerful objective to pursue, so powerful that it would
eventually become his own demise.

"It amazed him—he had never been in such a beautiful house before. But what
gave it an air of breathless intensity was that Daisy lived there—it was as casual
a thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him." (pg.158)

3 - Idealization, Delusion and George Wilson: Who Killed Jay Gatsby?

Seeing the events unfold through the eyes of Nick Caraway becomes a powerful tool in
analyzing Gatsby's biggest defects: idealization and delusion. Gatsby never faced the truth of his
situation, and never dealt with the fact his dream was impossible to fulfill, only someone outside
of his point of view could see it. Like it is said above, his desires were tarnished and distorted by
the American Dream, making him change his name to pursue an idealized past. Not only his
magical moment with Daisy, but the past of others as well. During his heated fight with Tom
Buchanan, with Nick, Daisy and Jordan as witnesses, Tom makes a very clear distinction
between him and Gatsby, even though they're the same in regards to money quantity. "She’s not
leaving me!’ Tom’s words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. ‘Certainly not for a
common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger.’" (pg.142). It strikes a nerve,
because his obsession with the past is also directed towards what they call "old money". Gatsby
wanted to live at the same level as the likes of Tom and Dan lived, but with this exchange Tom
reveals that this would be impossible, they would never be the same.

Gatsby was deluded to the point of feeling entitled to his precious and crystallized
moment, and thinking that his means would not affect the end. He was sure of it, as the famous
dialogue with Nick shows:

"‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’ [...]
‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ he said, nodding determinedly.
‘She’ll see.’" (pg.118)

His final demise, by the hands of George Wilson, can be seen as a late death. Jay Gatsby, the
idea turned obsession, died at birth, unable to see the light of a dream come true. Of course,
Wilson took the shot, with his own motives, but the ghosts inside James Gatz house, his desires,
delusions and inner demons, helped to pull the trigger. It is safe to assume that Gatsby never
truly lived, because the reason for such life was an impossible obsession.

4 - Conclusion
This paper had the objective to analyze the progression of Jay Gatsby's character
throughout the whole book, in regards to his obsession with the past. Alongside the two factors
surrounding his stance, which are his desire to see his American dream come true and have
Daisy as he always idealized, it is highly important to note that Gatsby felt completely entitled to
all of his ambitions, and also that he had absolute control of all aspects of it. His plan, as
convoluted as it was, made totally sense in his mind since money and grandeur were his only
metric. The reality of the situation, in which where the money comes from is way more
important than how much it is, never truly reached his understanding, making his delusion a
permanent state. In the end, his tragedy was a product of the beautiful lie which is the American
Way of Life, and the ripples of such tragedy casted a accusative light onto other character's
defects and delusions as well. The American Dream is not untrue for Tom just because he wasn't
shot dead in his pool, it is a lie for everyone, and we see this exactly as Nick did, with the
melancholy of an empty funeral.

5 - Bibliographical References
The Lost Generation Writers Explained, YouTube, Mr. Beat, April 22nd 2016, available at:
<https://youtu.be/GHgdb3_JHrs>, Accessed on: October 19th, 2021.

Wulick, Anna. Best Analysis: The American Dream in The Great Gatsby, "What Exactly is
The American Dream?", Web Blog post, PrepScholar, March 17th 2019.

Kestler, Justin. "The Great Gatsby Themes: Past and Future." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 22
Jul 2013. Web. 24 Oct 2021.

Wulick, Anna. Best Analysis: Love and Relationships in The Great Gatsby, Web Blog post,
PrepScholar, January 13th 2020.

Wulick, Anna. Best Analysis: Money and Materialism in The Great Gatsby, Web Blog post,
PrepScholar, January 13th 2020.

Edwards, Halle. Best Character Analysis: Jay Gatsby - The Great Gatsby, Web Blog Post,
PrepScholar, January 13th 2020