Capitalism In The Great Gatsby
The motifs of capitalism and money are used to examine the hollowness of the dream in both novels. Tom Buchanan is the incarnation of the capitalist system present in America. The inheritance he receives from the family institution is a metaphor for the American economic system. Nick Carraway describes him as “a national figure... come East in a fashion that took your breath away”. His body exudes an “established dominance”, the token of an All-American man. In a free enterprise, the capitalist does not have to abide by strict regulation. This is impersonated in Buchanan’s failure to adhere to the institution of marriage, as seen in his affair with Myrtle Wilson. Conversely, Gatsby appears to embody the supposition of the traditional American
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However, it could be perceived that the only legitimate ‘villains’ evident in both stories are a product of location and not individuality. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ the East is the enemy of progress… “They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness”. The moral bankruptcy of New York is slowly unravelled. Yet the real villain in both novels can be considered to be the exploitative social order which surrounds both novels. Kerouac’s characters are deeply complex. For example, Carol G. Vopat advocates that “Dean Moriarty is himself America or rather the dream of America” He is simultaneously a Mad Hatter, an anarchist, an antihero, a prophet and a self-gratifying entity. In the words of John Tytell, he is “an indecipherable puzzle of contradictions” . On the exterior, Moriarty appears to be tokenistic of self-absorption and instant gratification, yet on the interior we can infer that he symbolises the regression of America from a disenfranchised civilisation to a state of raw primitivism. Jay Gatsby himself rivals this character by his presentation as a tragic hero. It is his journey of perceived accomplishment that echoes the classical trajectory of a Dream narrative. Like Dean, Gatsby emanates from a metaphorical “bottom”, fulfilling the “rags to riches” trope, while Moriarty converts from a life of crime and squalor to thereafter encompassing the qualities of a Beat legend. He lives indiscriminately for the moment – “cause now is the time, and we all know time!” therein reifying his
However, it could be perceived that the only legitimate ‘villains’ evident in both stories are a product of location and not individuality. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ the East is the enemy of progress… “They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness”. The moral bankruptcy of New York is slowly unravelled. Yet the real villain in both novels can be considered to be the exploitative social order which surrounds both novels. Kerouac’s characters are deeply complex. For example, Carol G. Vopat advocates that “Dean Moriarty is himself America or rather the dream of America” He is simultaneously a Mad Hatter, an anarchist, an antihero, a prophet and a self-gratifying entity. In the words of John Tytell, he is “an indecipherable puzzle of contradictions” . On the exterior, Moriarty appears to be tokenistic of self-absorption and instant gratification, yet on the interior we can infer that he symbolises the regression of America from a disenfranchised civilisation to a state of raw primitivism. Jay Gatsby himself rivals this character by his presentation as a tragic hero. It is his journey of perceived accomplishment that echoes the classical trajectory of a Dream narrative. Like Dean, Gatsby emanates from a metaphorical “bottom”, fulfilling the “rags to riches” trope, while Moriarty converts from a life of crime and squalor to thereafter encompassing the qualities of a Beat legend. He lives indiscriminately for the moment – “cause now is the time, and we all know time!” therein reifying his