Dissatisfaction And Emptiness In The Great Gatsby And Revolutionary Road
“Behind the glamour of ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Revolutionary Road’, there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and emptiness” How far does this illuminate your reading of ‘The Great Gatsby’?
In Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Yates’s ‘Revolutionary Road’ it could be argued that there is more than just an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and emptiness. There is a lot of evidence in both novels that reflects the negative perception of women, the artificiality of certain characters and the pursuit of happiness reflecting loneliness and the failure of the America Dream. Both the 1920’s and the 1950’s were post war societies making both novels have very similar circumstances in society. Firstly, the women in ‘The Great Gatsby’ are constantly portrayed in a negative or undermining way. A striking feature of the novel is that all the women in are never described in great depth: “her face was sad but lovely with bright things in it”. This is Daisy’s only visual description; the use of the words ‘lovely’ and ‘bright things’ are all quite vague, almost childish therefore quite a patronizing and meaningless description of her. The most telling description is her voice: “Her voice was full of money”. The metaphor creates a direct link to materialistic values like money; many other examples follow. Similarly in Yates’s ‘Revolutionary Road’ Frank describes April’s voice: “Play-acting or not, her voice in moods of love had always been a pretty sound”. The word “pretty” has a similar effect as ‘bright’ and ‘lovely’ as they all lack depth. …show more content…
The materialism continues when polysyndeton is used to describe Myrtle’s shopping trip emphasising the list of things she buys. There is also a description of her choice of taxi: “She let four taxicabs drive away before she selected a new one, lavender-coloured with grey upholstery”. This demonstration of character reflects the materialistic attitude of the time; there was only a 7% unemployment rate and everywhere the advertising industry was being born, the heart of it being New York. This also strongly suggests a lack of genuine emotion; an example of this in another part of the novel is when Daisy cannot express five years of heartache towards Gatsby: ‘“They are just such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed’. The fact that she expresses her emotion through a materialistic item represents the values of women. Moreover there are many parallel’s that can be drawn from Daisy and April, from ‘Revolutionary Road’. Daisy lives the desired American dream; family wealthy and luxury surrounds her yet she is portrayed as being deeply unhappy; “I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best any girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”. This is another significant example reflecting women’s oppression in society at the time as she uses the words ‘girl’ and ‘little’ both reflecting that women were literally seen as smaller thus, arguably, inferior to men, which directly links the earlier description of Daisy’s appearance. She then later affirms her unhappiness: “You see I think everything is terrible anyhow…I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything”. The repetition of ‘everything’ creates a sense of despair and hopelessness as it suggests she no longer has a meaning or purpose in her life. Also the use of polysyndeton emphasises her belief that there is nothing-new left to do or see creating a further sense of despair. Sarah Beebe Fryer stated: “Nick perceives her affection, her role-playing, but offers no analysis of what might lie beneath”1. This highlights the point made about there being much more than an under current of dissatisfaction and emptiness, but also that women were represented in an undermining and negative way -603 in the novel. April’s ending in the novel emphasises her unhappiness much greater through her fatal self-abortion.
Secondly the dissatisfaction is represented through the artificiality of many aspects in the novels. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Gatsby himself is the most artificial character, rooting right back to the title. ‘The Great’ could be seems as a reference to ‘The Great Houdini’ a known illusionist. The term illusion means it has an appearance of seeming real but is always fake; an example of this is when one of his party guests are astounded that his books had real pages: “This fella’s a regular Belasco”. This is a reference to Broadway realism, emphasising his showmen qualities but also that it’s not real, bringing something suspicious and uneasy to Gatsby’s character. Another example of this is the description of the first party that Nick attended however it’s made clear that they happen regularly, for example: “pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold”. The word used for cooked is ‘bewitched’ which is significant as it suggests dark magic which again would suggest it simply being there for an illusion. In the next paragraph repetition of polysyndeton is used creating a very vivid impression of how extravagant and in excess his parties are, this is linked to the Jazz age where Fitzgerald refers to this time as ‘an age of excess’2. This is all used to exhibit Gatsby’s wealth as part of a show. Similarly, Frank Wheeler in ‘Revolutionary Road’ is constantly putting on a different character to hide his true feelings: “nodding and smiling to several faces…carrying one hand in his pocket to conceal and dry the knuckles he had sucked and bitten”. This immediately tells the reader that his entire front is artificial. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ the party is then described further: “The bar was in full swing and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside”. The word ‘swing’ is an example of onomatopoeia giving the sentence motion. Also the ‘floating rounds of cocktails’ suggests the process is effortless however it could be seen that the word ‘floating’ is another illusionistic reference as if the cocktails were literally floating through the crowds creating an unrealistic atmosphere. Another view could be that all the attention went to the alcohol, ignoring the waiter’s serving it. There are many other references about alcohol being drunk in excess such as the next morning when the church bells rang and “the world and its mistress…twinkling hilariously” showing a serious lack if moral value as the party continues. Contextually this links in very well with Gatsby’s suspicious nature and alcohol as prohibition was still taking place in America, resulting in a lot of organised crime and a new group of people known as ‘bootleggers’. This links into the artificiality of their society as it has a front of being prosperous and living the dream to conceal it’s true state. Barbara Will states this is similar to Gatsby’s character: “The end of the novel, in which Gatsby becomes a symbol of American aspiration, reinforces this claim; but it’s validity depends on forgetting that most of the novel has shown Gatsby as corrupt: a criminal and adulterer”3.
Lastly the pursuit of happiness is explored in both novels, referring to mainly to the failure of the American dream and loneliness. Nick in ‘the Great Gatsby’ is the main representation of loneliness as he is continuously an outsider: an example of this being when he is asked for directions at the very start of the novel: “I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler”. -1205
Here listing is used to emphasis his sense of belonging, creating a very ironic tone about how lonely he was actually feeling at that point. He also states that he found a “haunting loneliness” in the city. The word ‘haunting’ is significant as it suggests that the loneliness is constant. This links with ‘Revolutionary Road’ when April describes her misery after the first argument with Frank: “You looked so miserable I started to cry, and then I started feeling lonely as hell”. Here she directly uses the words “lonely as hell” which is a similar description referring to dark spiritual belief, emphasising the extent of their loneliness and the misery it’s causing them. This was part of the failure of the American dream, which is represented strongly throughout both novels. In the 1920’s only a small minority were as rich as the characters in ‘the Great Gatsby’ despite it being a time of prosperity; Wilson and the Valley of Ashes represents this. This is described in great depth by Nick on his way to New York: He uses words like ‘transcendent…ash-grey…dimly…crumbling…powdery” giving it a very bleak and exhausted atmosphere. This creates a huge contrast between the earlier excessive description of Gatsby’s party, which were full of colour and motion reflecting the corruption in their society. This also reflects the loss of spiritual values as the eyes are ‘dimmed’ suggesting neglect; this could be linked to the Wall Street crash of 1929 as a result of American society neglecting their values and becoming corrupt and careless. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life is a tragic example of both sides of the American Dream – the joys of young love, wealth and success, and the tragedies associated with excess and failure”4. This represents the contrast between the two societies and Fitzgerald’s own contextual background that went into the novel. Another critique stated: “Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure”5. A similar view can be taken in 1950’s America when the suburbs emerged introducing conformity which was explored in ‘Revolutionary Road’: “That’s how we both got committed to this enormous delusion…it’s the great sentimental lie of the suburbs.” This could be linked back to aspects of their society simply an illusion. The fact that’s a ‘lie’ suggests that their society were promised better things from the American Dream but that it was never achieved, despite that time being the most prosperous as new technology and the economy boomed.
In conclusion there is definitely an undercurrent, if not more of, dissatisfaction and emptiness, amongst characters and their societies.
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ it led to their eventual downfall in the Great depression but it also led to the literal downfall of Gatsby. In ‘Revolutionary Road’ April suffered the same consequence because of her unhappiness, leaving all the other characters to continue leading corrupt and unhappy
lives.
1693 words
Bibliography
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) The Great Gatsby
Richard Yates (1961) Revolutionary Road
Julian Cowley (2006) York Notes Advanced – The Great Gatsby
Sarah Beebe Fryer (1988) Fitzgerald’s New Women: Harbingers Of Change
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1931) The Jazz Age
Barbara Will (2005) The Great Gatsby and the Obscene Word
PBS biography’s F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream
SparkNotes (2013) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/canalysis.html
In Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Yates’s ‘Revolutionary Road’ it could be argued that there is more than just an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and emptiness. There is a lot of evidence in both novels that reflects the negative perception of women, the artificiality of certain characters and the pursuit of happiness reflecting loneliness and the failure of the America Dream. Both the 1920’s and the 1950’s were post war societies making both novels have very similar circumstances in society. Firstly, the women in ‘The Great Gatsby’ are constantly portrayed in a negative or undermining way. A striking feature of the novel is that all the women in are never described in great depth: “her face was sad but lovely with bright things in it”. This is Daisy’s only visual description; the use of the words ‘lovely’ and ‘bright things’ are all quite vague, almost childish therefore quite a patronizing and meaningless description of her. The most telling description is her voice: “Her voice was full of money”. The metaphor creates a direct link to materialistic values like money; many other examples follow. Similarly in Yates’s ‘Revolutionary Road’ Frank describes April’s voice: “Play-acting or not, her voice in moods of love had always been a pretty sound”. The word “pretty” has a similar effect as ‘bright’ and ‘lovely’ as they all lack depth. …show more content…
The materialism continues when polysyndeton is used to describe Myrtle’s shopping trip emphasising the list of things she buys. There is also a description of her choice of taxi: “She let four taxicabs drive away before she selected a new one, lavender-coloured with grey upholstery”. This demonstration of character reflects the materialistic attitude of the time; there was only a 7% unemployment rate and everywhere the advertising industry was being born, the heart of it being New York. This also strongly suggests a lack of genuine emotion; an example of this in another part of the novel is when Daisy cannot express five years of heartache towards Gatsby: ‘“They are just such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed’. The fact that she expresses her emotion through a materialistic item represents the values of women. Moreover there are many parallel’s that can be drawn from Daisy and April, from ‘Revolutionary Road’. Daisy lives the desired American dream; family wealthy and luxury surrounds her yet she is portrayed as being deeply unhappy; “I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best any girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”. This is another significant example reflecting women’s oppression in society at the time as she uses the words ‘girl’ and ‘little’ both reflecting that women were literally seen as smaller thus, arguably, inferior to men, which directly links the earlier description of Daisy’s appearance. She then later affirms her unhappiness: “You see I think everything is terrible anyhow…I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything”. The repetition of ‘everything’ creates a sense of despair and hopelessness as it suggests she no longer has a meaning or purpose in her life. Also the use of polysyndeton emphasises her belief that there is nothing-new left to do or see creating a further sense of despair. Sarah Beebe Fryer stated: “Nick perceives her affection, her role-playing, but offers no analysis of what might lie beneath”1. This highlights the point made about there being much more than an under current of dissatisfaction and emptiness, but also that women were represented in an undermining and negative way -603 in the novel. April’s ending in the novel emphasises her unhappiness much greater through her fatal self-abortion.
Secondly the dissatisfaction is represented through the artificiality of many aspects in the novels. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Gatsby himself is the most artificial character, rooting right back to the title. ‘The Great’ could be seems as a reference to ‘The Great Houdini’ a known illusionist. The term illusion means it has an appearance of seeming real but is always fake; an example of this is when one of his party guests are astounded that his books had real pages: “This fella’s a regular Belasco”. This is a reference to Broadway realism, emphasising his showmen qualities but also that it’s not real, bringing something suspicious and uneasy to Gatsby’s character. Another example of this is the description of the first party that Nick attended however it’s made clear that they happen regularly, for example: “pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold”. The word used for cooked is ‘bewitched’ which is significant as it suggests dark magic which again would suggest it simply being there for an illusion. In the next paragraph repetition of polysyndeton is used creating a very vivid impression of how extravagant and in excess his parties are, this is linked to the Jazz age where Fitzgerald refers to this time as ‘an age of excess’2. This is all used to exhibit Gatsby’s wealth as part of a show. Similarly, Frank Wheeler in ‘Revolutionary Road’ is constantly putting on a different character to hide his true feelings: “nodding and smiling to several faces…carrying one hand in his pocket to conceal and dry the knuckles he had sucked and bitten”. This immediately tells the reader that his entire front is artificial. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ the party is then described further: “The bar was in full swing and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside”. The word ‘swing’ is an example of onomatopoeia giving the sentence motion. Also the ‘floating rounds of cocktails’ suggests the process is effortless however it could be seen that the word ‘floating’ is another illusionistic reference as if the cocktails were literally floating through the crowds creating an unrealistic atmosphere. Another view could be that all the attention went to the alcohol, ignoring the waiter’s serving it. There are many other references about alcohol being drunk in excess such as the next morning when the church bells rang and “the world and its mistress…twinkling hilariously” showing a serious lack if moral value as the party continues. Contextually this links in very well with Gatsby’s suspicious nature and alcohol as prohibition was still taking place in America, resulting in a lot of organised crime and a new group of people known as ‘bootleggers’. This links into the artificiality of their society as it has a front of being prosperous and living the dream to conceal it’s true state. Barbara Will states this is similar to Gatsby’s character: “The end of the novel, in which Gatsby becomes a symbol of American aspiration, reinforces this claim; but it’s validity depends on forgetting that most of the novel has shown Gatsby as corrupt: a criminal and adulterer”3.
Lastly the pursuit of happiness is explored in both novels, referring to mainly to the failure of the American dream and loneliness. Nick in ‘the Great Gatsby’ is the main representation of loneliness as he is continuously an outsider: an example of this being when he is asked for directions at the very start of the novel: “I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler”. -1205
Here listing is used to emphasis his sense of belonging, creating a very ironic tone about how lonely he was actually feeling at that point. He also states that he found a “haunting loneliness” in the city. The word ‘haunting’ is significant as it suggests that the loneliness is constant. This links with ‘Revolutionary Road’ when April describes her misery after the first argument with Frank: “You looked so miserable I started to cry, and then I started feeling lonely as hell”. Here she directly uses the words “lonely as hell” which is a similar description referring to dark spiritual belief, emphasising the extent of their loneliness and the misery it’s causing them. This was part of the failure of the American dream, which is represented strongly throughout both novels. In the 1920’s only a small minority were as rich as the characters in ‘the Great Gatsby’ despite it being a time of prosperity; Wilson and the Valley of Ashes represents this. This is described in great depth by Nick on his way to New York: He uses words like ‘transcendent…ash-grey…dimly…crumbling…powdery” giving it a very bleak and exhausted atmosphere. This creates a huge contrast between the earlier excessive description of Gatsby’s party, which were full of colour and motion reflecting the corruption in their society. This also reflects the loss of spiritual values as the eyes are ‘dimmed’ suggesting neglect; this could be linked to the Wall Street crash of 1929 as a result of American society neglecting their values and becoming corrupt and careless. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life is a tragic example of both sides of the American Dream – the joys of young love, wealth and success, and the tragedies associated with excess and failure”4. This represents the contrast between the two societies and Fitzgerald’s own contextual background that went into the novel. Another critique stated: “Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure”5. A similar view can be taken in 1950’s America when the suburbs emerged introducing conformity which was explored in ‘Revolutionary Road’: “That’s how we both got committed to this enormous delusion…it’s the great sentimental lie of the suburbs.” This could be linked back to aspects of their society simply an illusion. The fact that’s a ‘lie’ suggests that their society were promised better things from the American Dream but that it was never achieved, despite that time being the most prosperous as new technology and the economy boomed.
In conclusion there is definitely an undercurrent, if not more of, dissatisfaction and emptiness, amongst characters and their societies.
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ it led to their eventual downfall in the Great depression but it also led to the literal downfall of Gatsby. In ‘Revolutionary Road’ April suffered the same consequence because of her unhappiness, leaving all the other characters to continue leading corrupt and unhappy
lives.
1693 words
Bibliography
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) The Great Gatsby
Richard Yates (1961) Revolutionary Road
Julian Cowley (2006) York Notes Advanced – The Great Gatsby
Sarah Beebe Fryer (1988) Fitzgerald’s New Women: Harbingers Of Change
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1931) The Jazz Age
Barbara Will (2005) The Great Gatsby and the Obscene Word
PBS biography’s F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream
SparkNotes (2013) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/canalysis.html