The Great Gatsby Is A Cynical Novel

The Great Gatsby is a cynical novel
To what extent do you agree with this, following you reading of chapters one and two?

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” we see many references to cynicism. For example in the first chapter we hear from Nick Carraway the narrator of the novel who, himself reveals that he has a tendency to be quite cynical towards others. This is because he has “feigned sleep, preoccupation, or hostile levity”1 when he realises that for “some unmistakeable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon”1. This shows that he would rather have no close attachment, or contact with others. Not only does the quote show this but, it also highlights the fact that Nick Carraway is quite a single minded individual. He does not want to learn more about the others that surround him, and as a result of this we can deduce that Nick may hold a low opinion of the rest of mankind. This is show later in the novel.
The first page is littered with contradiction and different styles. For example, in the opening paragraph the quotation from the father `in my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticising anyone” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”2. In this there is no cynicism. However, reading further into the paragraph, the character of Nick Carraway berates his father for his snobbish suggestion, and himself for snobbishly repeating, “A sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth”3. This could be conceived as being cynical, disdainfully sneering at his father.
As the chapter progresses Nick comes into contact with many other cynical characters, one main character that is practically cynical towards others, and about society as a whole, is the character of Tom Buchanan. This is because Tom brakes in violently to a discussion Nick is having, saying “civilisation’s going to pieces”4. This, like with Nick, show that Tom Buchanan holds a low opinions of the society and the civilisation of which he lives in. Tom later goes on to say “the idea is if we don’t look out white race will be – will be utterly submerged”5. There are many cynical views held in this comment, especially towards races, because of this we can tell that Tom cannot see or is disbelieving of the serenity of the people that make up the society he live in no matter what race. Also Tom himself states that he is cynical when he mentions to Nick that he has become “a terrible pessimist about things”6.
Tom however, is not the only cynical character that Nick comes into contact with; Daisy his “second cousin once removed”7, who is also the wife to Tom Buchanan, is seen to be quite cynical in her own way. The statement she makes about her daughter and her hope that “she’ll be a fool”8 as “that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”9. This shows that maybe Daisy has found out the hard way that for a girl being a fool is the best thing, this can be seen as cynical because Daisy is not hoping for her own daughter to make something of herself thus becoming disdainful towards her own daughter. Daisy also clearly states to Nick that she is cynical. This is seen when she says “well, I’ve had a very bad time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything”10. The statement shows that Daisy even though she is cynical still has a hard time with everything. This also sets up what Daisy’s character is like and what comment we can expect to hear from her.
Near the end of chapter one, we see Nick being cynical towards the idea of marriage saying he “had no intention of being rumoured into marriage”11. In saying this Nick could be implying that marriage isn’t that great and as a result does not want to be forced into it.
Chapter two starts off with Nick and Tom Buchanan catching a train to New York, on their way the train stops at a place called the valley of ashes. Nick describes this as “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges... where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”12. In this passage we see Nick drawing attention to the ashes this is done by alliteration, and at the same time it also puts emphasis on how horrible a place it is. The use of colour grey shows that maybe these men are by products of the American dream13 and are now left to crumble away.
Also, in chapter two there are many references to colour blue. For example when Nick first meets Myrtle, Tom Buchanan’s mistress, she’s wearing a “spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine”14.The colour blue can be mostly related to being unhappy, feeling blue, and because of this we can draw to the conclusion that Myrtle is not happy with her life, this is because she comes from the valley of ashes where life is grey and there is possibly on escape.
After, Nick’s initial meeting with Myrtle, Mrs Wilson, Nick makes a point to carry on calling her “Mrs Wilson”15. This may show that Nick feels he is supercilious towards this and that maybe he is trying to prove a point in saying Mrs Wilson. The point could be that he feels this affair is wrong and that they are both married to other people, so, in saying Mrs Wilson Nick is trying to show the Myrtle belongs to someone else and not to Tom Buchanan.
Later on in the chapter we see Myrtle being cynical this is because when they arrive in New York Nick is invited into the flat Myrtle owns with Tom when there she starts acting supercilious towards others they have invited over. At one point Mrs McKee comments on the dress Myrtle is wearing t which she replies “this crazy old thing ... I just slip it on sometimes when I don’t care what I look like”16. From this we can gather that she is acting as though she is superior to the others and can afford expensive clothes just to wear around the house. However, we know this is not the case, form seeing where she comes from the valley of ashes.
Towards the end of chapter two we see myrtle acting in an almost disrespecting way towards Tom Buchanan. This can be seen as cynical because Myrtle is only concerned with herself saying “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-”17. This may show that she does not like the fact that she has to “share” Tom with his wife and therefore feels she has the right to mention her name as Daisy plays a key role in how much time Tom spends with Myrtle. Also how Tom reacts to what Myrtle is saying and doing is very cynical. This is because he feels he has the right to cause physical harm to Myrtle. As seen when Nick narrates “making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”18. This may show that Tom is very misanthrope towards women and as a result feels he can treat women any way he likes. This is clearly backed up by him having an affair with myrtle behind Daisy’s back and causing physical harm to myrtle.
The novel displays, within the first two chapters, many cynical lines and phrases. However, sometimes these cynical lines and phrases are not cynical to begin with, but are turned into them by what a character later says and does. For this reason I am inclined to believe in the critic Edwin Clarkes view “With sensitive insight and keen psychological observation, Fitzgerald discloses in these people a meanness of spirit, carelessness and absence of loyalties. He cannot hate them, for they are dumb in their insensate selfishness, and only to be pitied”19. Although, there are some parts that I feel are incorrect for example “he cannot hate them for they are dumb”. The reason I do not believe this to be correct is because some characters are, in my opinion, made to be hated one example is Tom Buchanan. This is because in how he is described and what he says and does makes him quite an unfavourable character and because of his role along with many others turn the book into quite a cynical novel.