Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby and the American Dream's Moral Decay

Introduction: Reassessing Fitzgerald's Legacy

There is little doubt that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote one of the most captivating novels about the American Dream and the decaying American mentality when he penned The Great Gatsby. Julie Evans points out how the author seems to have become a victim of this very mentality through both his work and his life, dying a "broken alcoholic" (Evans). Nevertheless, Fitzgerald should be remembered not for how he died but for what he wrote — a masterpiece that looks unflinchingly at the moral bankruptcy of an entire generation.

Evans on Fame, Failure, and Artistic Greatness

The truth about life is that it is neither entirely good nor entirely bad. Evans recognizes that, as wonderful as Fitzgerald's writing is, it is not perfect, and it does not make his life perfect. She examines Fitzgerald's life through a realistic lens, noting both his failures and his accomplishments. She points out that Fitzgerald achieved fame early in his career, but it was a kind of fame that elevated him "wrongly" (Evans) — in her view, as a prophet of a "decade in which America wanted only to be entertained" (Evans). This status prevented him from achieving any "serious greatness" (Evans).

This greatness is what Evans hopes to share with readers, because the notion is worth serious consideration. Despite his problems, and buried beneath the turmoil of his personal drama, there is lasting significance in Fitzgerald's work. Evans writes that her fear is that "those who do not feel the epiphanies of his prose, do not feel. This is one of the most human, and humanising, voices of the past hundred years" (Evans). Fitzgerald should not be haunted by the ghost of his past.

Fitzgerald as the Voice of a Generation

Instead of dwelling on his past, Fitzgerald's greatness lies in his ability to articulate perfectly the mindset of his generation. Gatsby was great, too, in his own way, and only Nick could see this. Nick was not blinded by the excess that groped at each and every soul of the Roaring Twenties. Nick was a fictional character able to resist temptation, but Fitzgerald was not. Evans writes that if Fitzgerald ever was:

"superficial, the honesty of his superficialities turned out to be a truer picture of the American Dream (and a truer prediction of the American century) than the mysticism and pose-ridden individualism of many of his contemporaries, and successors. It was Fitzgerald, too, who nailed the arbitrariness of its score sheet, nailed the obvious concomitance of success with rapid, violent disillusion." (Evans)

In this passage, Evans captures a broader truth about life in general. We are surrounded by those who believe they are above everyone else, and then there are those who see the dangers of life, warn about them through their art, yet swerve into those very dangers anyway. This is a hard and painful truth, and it has nothing to do with talent. Most artists reveal themselves to be broken in one way or another, yet they shine as stars in their own right, because talent cannot be dictated.

Conclusion: Fitzgerald's Lasting Literary Contribution

Evans concludes her article by declaring that Fitzgerald turns out alright in the end. He may have died young and broken, but this does not change the fact of his contributions to the literary canon. We tend to exalt artistic geniuses, from rock stars to talk show hosts. Americans are captivated by people who capture thoughts and emotions and express them to the world. Fitzgerald was like Gatsby in that he was a victim of the society in which he lived. That Gatsby lives on is proof that Fitzgerald created more than just characters on paper — he created his world in the truest sense and laid it bare for all to see.

Evans, Julie. "An American Sublime." New Statesman (1996). 129.4501 (Aug. 28, 2000): p38. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 June 2011.