Marxism in the Great Gatsby
Many might argue the validity and genuineness of “The American Dream” concept with regards to how much good it means to the common man. In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel, The Great Gatsby, which featured a sad story about Jay Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby had fallen in love and wanted to be with the love of his life, but it was not easy for him because he was just an officer in the army and did not have much. He forfeited his dream to find wealth, and when he got it, it was not the reason him not possessing what he desired most rather the person the commodities made him (Richard). Moreover, F.S. Fitzgerald did this work amid a period in time when the American society was just experiencing post World War I economic boom which to him was as a result of the capitalist nature of the society at the time (Giltrow and Stouck). The desire to align with the rising economic situation was in the hearts of many, Gatsby included. This paper will, therefore, seek to relate Mr. Gatsby unfortunate escapades in his chase for “The American Dream” with the Marxist perspective. Also, how The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald defines itself compared to the Marxist perspective in what it would consider not the right way to achieving” The American Dream”.
To be honest, the philosophy of “The American Dream” still lingers in the minds of many American people to date. However, the question is, what does it mean? Vanneman and Cannon state that “America has celebrated itself as the land of opportunity…In America, wealth and position were to be organized differently– open to every new person of talent and hard work. The frontier beckoned to those seeking a new chance…The fabulous wealth of the continent promised abundance for all who were willing to work” (257). Deductions can, therefore, be that the full understanding of this concept originates in the ideology of freedom, welfare and success especially for the many immigrants who were seeking greener pastures in the land of the free, America, especially in the 19th century. “The American Dream” narratives were therefore solely founded in the desire and want for individuals to find success, good social class and improved welfare. Furthermore, to achieve these things, hard work was a priority for all such individuals. In The Great Gatsby, these are the typical characteristics of individuals such as Jay Gatsby who despite having a social life that requires his attention, he intertwines into the world of riches and wealth (Lance). This book, therefore, introduces various aspects of the Marxist theory in that, the society during Gatsby’s time was characterized with capitalism, the perception of “The American Dream” and the different view of the meaning of social-economic position of individuals.
A society where the large section of people have to work very hard to achieve the so-called “American Dream” and more so in FitzGerald’ world where money is what many desire could be described as a capitalist society. In addition, such a society comprises of a classification of people with private ownership of resources and the largest section of people have to work for them in order to earn a good social-economic standing (Greenleaf). George and Myrtle are a good example of people that Fitzgerald put to represent the larger section of the society and Mr. Jay Gatsby has all the wealth and resources. A capitalist society it is because despite Gatsby having all the possessions, he is an example of no contentment even after achieving “The American Dream”. Jay Gatsby did not previously have all the wealth. In fact, he served in the American Expeditionary Forces as an officer where he met Daisy Buchanan, and the two fell in love (Eble). However, Gatsby was not well-off economically hence he was deployed to serve in a foreign country and Daisy ended up marrying Tom Buchanan, a wealthy individual for the east, New York (Eble). When Jay Gatsby got back in the 1920s amid the dazzling economic period, he became what the Marxist would describe as a bourgeoisie, a wealthy individual who owns a pool of capital assets and goods in a capitalist set up (Greenleaf). There is, therefore, a part of Fitzgerald’s writing that puts the setting, the plot and the characters of his book in a society so deep into capitalism that in the end most of them find themselves in unprecedented unfortunate states. Moreover, Fitzgerald does not seem to warrant the state of affairs of the less fortunate in his fictional society because the kinds of troubles they face are clearly unfortunate (Gervais). Viewing characters such a George and Myrtle from a Marxist perspective, it is clear that they are representatives of the lower class who, in their search for “The American Dream”, strive to improve their social-economic situation every day in every way they can (Lance). They understand that the best and probably the only way to make through such a capitalist society is to work very hard in the market. It is therefore clear that the positions of the less fortunate, or what the Marxist would refer to as the proletariat, including the likes of George and Myrtle, have characters that could be easily overlooked in the plight of their social economic realities. It happens that Jay Gatsby seems to also assume such a character as Fitzgerald defines him in the plot.
Such glorifications for instance in Gatsby is seen in how Fitzgerald characterizes him as the kind of person who thinks of people as some kind of possession or commodity (Greenleaf). To Gatsby, people have value and what matter is what he can exchange for them. Fitzgerald paints Gatsby’s character as charming and sympathetic compared to his bourgeoisie friends in Tom, Nick and Daisy but this does not hide the fact that he is any different in commoditizing the world as they do (Lance). Gatsby is a very aggressive person in how he approaches his world of commodities. This is clear with how he pursues Daisy despite the fact that she is married just because of the mere fact that they used to be in love. He quantifies the emotional part of their life to a commodity that he sees in Daisy, that he even thinks the best way to get hold of her is by becoming as rich as Tom (Eble). When he fails to entice her through commoditization, he pursues a savage and antagonistic approach to get hold of his desires. The Marxist perspective puts the aspect of commoditization in this plot on the spot with regards to how Gatsby behaves. His wealth and riches clearly rule not only his economic life but social life. From the book, it is clear that Gatsby sits in a position of unfair advantage over the rest based on the kind of life that he leads. A swimming pool behind a mansion, a library, and a hydroplane are some of the riches that he gained from a life if corruption and smuggling guns (Richard). He lived in luxury but his riches were as a result of evil underworld activities that included swindling the lower class in the society he lived in. He therefore, despite that he seems as the successful man who followed his dreams and worked hard to attain his wealth, does not represent an alternative to capitalism. After all, his wealth is ill-gotten; from the backs of those that actually live honest lives hence he is no better than the rest of rich people (Lance). His characterization appears to resemble that of an honest American man going after his dreams, but it is clear that his direction towards that do not offer an ethical route from a commoditized society he is engulfed into (Vanneman and Cannon). Thus, as it can be understood from Gatsby’s character, going after “The American Dream” did not land him into the alternative side of a better social and economic position, not according to Marxism, but rather, having all the riches just pushed him into the capitalized society where he commoditizes people like. Jay Gatsby happens to therefore land in the commoditization world of Tom and Daisy that is characterized with wealth and riches. Fitzgerald’s fictional world puts such people in negative light but tends to glorify the likes of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan.
The plot paints Gatsby as a person following “The American Dream” but as it is later revealed, he is no different from the rest of the bourgeoisies based on the Marxists perspective (Greenleaf). To some people however, Gatsby is just a representative of “The American Dream” in which most Americans dream of, and that whatever befalls him in the end is only an inevitable result of such a dream (Vanneman and Cannon). To reiterate the Marxists perspective in this, Gatsby and Co. are the kind of people that uses the honesty and motive of the phrase “The American Dream” to wrongfully motivate and find their way to the top. In addition, Gatsby works hard not in finding his way into wealth and riches the way the dream defines it, but he changes his life via corrupt and illegal activities (Eble). One might argue that such were allegations and that he garnered his wealth otherwise but the author makes it clear that in Gatsby’s society, not everyone was in a position to work as hard as him to be in the same position. In that case, the perception that coming from nothing to something might be achieving the American Dream only to be a commoditizing citizen of the lower class in the society is exactly what Marxist would find mind boggling. The validity of “The American Dream”, according to the Marxist exists but in this case, Gatsby does not represent it neither do most of his capitalist counterparts. His success is as a result of eating on other people’s backs which therefore represents a problem with regards to perception of “The American Dream” (Gervais). Furthermore, The Great Gatsby brings out an aspect of the American culture that uncovers unfortunate outcomes of capitalism to the less fortunate like George and Myrtle (Lance). Even in the event that the likes of Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Gatsby find a way of circumnavigating all of it. The plot however flaws in that, it positions the likes of Gatsby in the category of those people that work hard to liberate them and improve their social economic positions but end up doing it the wrong way (Giltrow and Stouck). To make it worse, they use their positions of wealth to commoditize others and it does not always end up well for them.
However, it is not every one in Fitzgerald’s world that sees Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan as the white knights of the society. Nick Carraway, a veteran in the Great War originating from the Midwest, and who recently moved to New York, tends to disapprove of the latter characters as he is himself from a capitalist background like them(Greenleaf). Nick acts a representative of the person that would view the kind of riches that Gatsby and Tom have as a symbol of possessions and power. Gatsby’s wealth and possessions are what he desired a few years back but even after having all of it, he still wants to pursue Tom’s possession in Daisy which does not end up well for him. In that note, there is another inconsistent in Fitzgerald’s plot, based on the Marxists view. The view that riches and wealthy positions looks to take the center stage in the plot by having the audience relate with the language representing the world of the likes of Gatsby (Eble). Nick complements such a language of those people who have apparently achieved “The American Dream” because he and his family made a lot of money working the hardware business. Such success put him through education in a good school such as Yale, becoming a specialist in literature and business and his move to New York is seen as way to reinforce his wealth through working in bond business. Arriving in New York puts him under the radar of people like of Daisy, Tom and Gatsby but they do not necessarily appeal to him probably because they were no different to him in terms of his social-economic position (Gervais). However, Nick finally finds himself in the middle of the three and he also gets romantically involved with Jordan. Such moves by Nick Carroway do not go hand in hand with his principles of not getting engulfed into the world of dishonesty, but that is exactly where he finds himself (Lance). This is another feature that the Marxist would describe as associated with a capitalist society. The tendency to maintain a life of diminishing honesty with oneself and those around him is expressed by Nick’s character (Lance). All in all, Nick brings out the element of the significance of social class which is a major characteristic of a capitalist society.
The Great Gatsby came at a time when a great section of the society was experiencing the elements of capitalism first hand. However, to many, living in such a time required a belief in “The American Dream” for liberation and a leap from unwanted economic and social backgrounds into the life of their dreams in America. However, the book presents a situation whereby the likes Gatsby achieve the dream in what under a normal social order would be considered unethical. Therefore, with reference to the Marxist perspective, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional society does not only represent a society yearning to live a life of their dreams, but also one where such life is achieved on the expense of those less fortunate in the society.
Works Cited
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