Psychology and Author’s Purpose in the Great Gatsby
Psychology and Author’s Purpose in The Great Gatsby
It was 1931, six years after the publication of The Great Gatsby, when historian James Truslow Adams coined the term The American Dream (“The Epic of America”, 415). Yet, his was a new take on an old concept. F. Scott Fitzgerald did not have to wait for Adams to brilliantly propose that the ideal of social equality and the pursuit of Happiness is a dream like enterprise, which has little to do with reality (US 1776). In the 1920’s, reality was solid proof that the “pursuit of Happiness” remained complicated business. Deemed age of confusion, this is a time of upheaval. In the wake of massive industrialization and WWI, the old order crumbles, leaving a void. Rules and values are transgressed under the reign of relativism and existentialism. God is dead, life has no meaning, there is no absolute morality, and individuals are accountable only to themselves. Insecurity and disillusionment take over. With this background in mind, it is easy to understand why the 1920’s became a time of total excess. The Great Gatsby serves as its parable, while Fitzgerald, drawing heavily on his own life experience, is chronicler of his own time. And yet, the novel is not simply a satire of how ancestral American ideals came to be uprooted and replaced with a vulgar race for materialistic hedonism. In an effort to grasp its meaning and boundaries, Fitzgerald explores the quest for The American Dream, and subsequently, its decline (Adams, 415). This cautionary tale’s transcending significance, the fact of its enduring fascination, arise by virtue of its artistic achievement. Its meaning might be deciphered only through an analysis of the style that so poignantly encapsulates it. In Fitzgerald’s words, the story is “simple + intricately patterned” (Fitzgerald, 1922 letter). A clear structure, a condensed expression where every detail has a purpose, themes developed by method of juxtaposition, a figurative language
It was 1931, six years after the publication of The Great Gatsby, when historian James Truslow Adams coined the term The American Dream (“The Epic of America”, 415). Yet, his was a new take on an old concept. F. Scott Fitzgerald did not have to wait for Adams to brilliantly propose that the ideal of social equality and the pursuit of Happiness is a dream like enterprise, which has little to do with reality (US 1776). In the 1920’s, reality was solid proof that the “pursuit of Happiness” remained complicated business. Deemed age of confusion, this is a time of upheaval. In the wake of massive industrialization and WWI, the old order crumbles, leaving a void. Rules and values are transgressed under the reign of relativism and existentialism. God is dead, life has no meaning, there is no absolute morality, and individuals are accountable only to themselves. Insecurity and disillusionment take over. With this background in mind, it is easy to understand why the 1920’s became a time of total excess. The Great Gatsby serves as its parable, while Fitzgerald, drawing heavily on his own life experience, is chronicler of his own time. And yet, the novel is not simply a satire of how ancestral American ideals came to be uprooted and replaced with a vulgar race for materialistic hedonism. In an effort to grasp its meaning and boundaries, Fitzgerald explores the quest for The American Dream, and subsequently, its decline (Adams, 415). This cautionary tale’s transcending significance, the fact of its enduring fascination, arise by virtue of its artistic achievement. Its meaning might be deciphered only through an analysis of the style that so poignantly encapsulates it. In Fitzgerald’s words, the story is “simple + intricately patterned” (Fitzgerald, 1922 letter). A clear structure, a condensed expression where every detail has a purpose, themes developed by method of juxtaposition, a figurative language
Cited: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "The end of an era for the “Gatsby House”.” CBS News.com, 17 April 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2011. Adams, James T. The Epic of America. Bethesda, Maryland: Simon Publications, 2001. Print. Millett, Frederick C. “Analysis: The Great Gatsby.” Michigan State Univ. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.