Frantic Pursuit of the American

¶ … frantic pursuit of the American Dream persists several generations after F. Scott Fitzgerald penned the Great Gatsby. In fact, stories like the Great Gatsby continue to fill the pages of celebrity gossip tabloids. F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a sad portrait of the nouveaux riche in his novel, exposing the shallowness and hypocrisy that characterizes the heartless pursuit of wealth and social prestige. Gatsby "the great" is exposed as someone who succeeds in impressing others with his lavish parties while never actually acquiring any respect. The emptiness of his funeral at the end of the novel attests to his failures, to the vacuousness of material dreams. In the Great Gatsby Fitzgerald comments also on the changes in social norms, gender norms in particular. Greater sexual freedom for both men and women needs to be rooted in genuine social and political transformation. Fitzgerald shows that a superficial change in gender norms does not alone lead to more fulfilling relationships. Therefore, F. Scott Fitzgerald satirizes American culture by showing how the pursuit of fame and fortune is mistaken for the pursuit of happiness.

Narrator Nick does eventually escape West Egg, proving that it is possible to transcend the American Dream. Even though Nick comes from a privileged background, he does not define himself by his Ivy League background or his family pedigree. Nick is not overly impressed with Gatsby's parties or his claims to fame. Nick is more interested in Gatsby as a friend and human being, evidenced by his reaction to Gatsby's death. As Fitzgerald makes fun of Gatsby, the author does not disparage wealth in itself, or the sort of lively jazz parties that characterized the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald simply reveals the different means by which people pursue wealth and power. The difference between old and new wealth is that the latter tends toward ostentatiousness and pretension. Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby do not enjoy even a semblance of intimacy as they pursue empty affairs.

On the other hand, Nick is genuinely concerned for the human side of his friendships and romantic liaisons. Unlike Gatsby or Tom, Nick seems to truly understand the meaning of universal suffrage and other key gender revolutions taking place during the 1920s. He is deeply disturbed by what he finds in West Egg, in particular what passes for manners. Extramarital affairs, rather than political and economic empowerment for women, are the result of the Roaring Twenties in the Great Gatsby. Nick finds that his love interest Jordan "looked like a good illustration" more than a human being by the time he leaves West Egg.

The tragedies that take place are not simply a result of Gatsby's infamous parties. Rather, the broken relationships and Myrtle's death are symbols of the breakdown of the American Dream. Through the characters of Tom and Gatsby, Fitzgerald critiques the relentless pursuit of wealth and prestige. Fitzgerald does mock Gatsby in particular, though. His phony English accent and pretentious manner of speaking are tremendously irksome, as if Gatsby has no past, no identity. Fitzgerald contrasts Gatsby with Nick, who never forgets his life in the Midwest and therefore returns to it in the end.