Jay Gatsby: A Warning to us all
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
twists through flashbacks of the characters
perplexing pasts, frivolous conversation and
parties, and bouts of frustration with the culture of
the Roaring Twenties. It was a novel progressive
for its time, and is now regarded as one of the
most accurate depictions of the 1920’s. After WWI America became a prosperous nation for a
time. The nation was in a state of celebration. The realm of the twenties was one primarily
concerned with that of excess, imprudence, and gratification. It is a world where people are so
concerned with seizing the occasion that they have lost touch with any sense of morality and
have developed a disregard for how their actions affect others. As a result they resort to crime,
adultery and other corrupt acts in attempts to satisfy their appetites. Fitzgerald's book proves to
be an accurate observation of the time, capturing the anxiety and melancholy prowling beneath
the roar. The age was glamorous and romantic and was more concerned with image and how one
appeared to others than anything else. Jay Gatsby is set up at the beginning of the novel to be the
picture of the American Dream, but when his dreams crumble beneath him, this image ceases to
exist. Fitzgerald meant his novel to be a commentary on the problem with setting ones sights on
a single thing. Just as in Gatsby’s case, it is possible to lose that very thing we have worked so
hard for, and as a result are ultimately left with nothing.
Many consider the general philosophy of the Roaring Twenties to be Modernism.
Modernism in literature was an artistic trend whose writers sought to find new ways to
communicate to their audiences. Throughout this trend writers stripped away descriptions of
characters and setting and avoided direct statement of themes and resolutions. Part of the beauty
of this fragmented style of writing was that it enabled the reader to choose a meaning for himself.
These techniques and many others are apparent in The Great Gatsby, which is why it is now
considered to be one of the great American novels. The sometimes-ambiguous nature of text of
the time period, became a trademark for many famous writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. His
characters develop along lines of self-indulgence, ignorance, and disregard for those outside of
their realm. The events of the novel unfold in a realistic manner
As discussed above the story stresses the problem with having a single dream. All of
Jay’s efforts were focused and wasted on Daisy, and when her love for him doesn’t prove
resilient, his whole life begins to deteriorate. In this way Jay’s ambition became his tragic flaw.
Fitzgerald is warning us that if one puts everything they have into attaining one thing, and in the
end don’t achieve what it is they want, they will be left with nothing. The book serves as a
commentary of Americans of the day, and in a way can be seen as a foreshadowing of the Great
Depression. Being completely irresponsible and frivolous can be fun for a while but, as seen
through the events of the novel, will not prove to have positive results. Jay Gatsby serves as a
warning to all Americans.
One of the most significant symbols in the novel is the green light emanating from the
end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock. The green paint at the center of both canvases unites the separate
works into one and acts as the focal point of my artwork. It discernibly symbolizes the green
light from the novel and acts as the catalyst to the remainder of the incidents in the novel, some
of which are represented in different sections of the work. Throughout the novels events, the
audience discovers that the green light isn’t solely a light, but acts as a symbol; a symbol which
represents Gatsby’s aspirations for the future. Jay Gatsby’s blind pursual of this dream is what
finally leads to his demise. In general, all symbols in the novel are intimately connected to
dreams: Gatsby’s dream of Daisy causes him to associate her image with everything he values,
just as he associates the green light with his dream for the future.
The artwork, which I created to represent aspects and symbols of the great Gatsby can be
read and analyzed best if read clockwise. In the top left section of the artwork I created, the red
handprints represent the crime and shady dealings that Gatsby resorts to in attempts to gain
wealth and leave his past of meager fortune and hard work behind him. The fact that Gatsby
resorts to crime is the first indication that the cards will not come out in his favor. Underneath
the splotchy handprints lay scrapings of charcoal. The smeared charcoal represents Gatsby’s past
and the obvious attempts to erase the charcoal depict Gatsby’s great desire to move away from
his background of humble means. The stark contrasts against the black charcoal of the red
handprints underlines the futility of Gatsby’s attempts. Trying to escape his past through
dishonest means can only lead to disaster.
From left to right, daisies trail across the canvas indicating that Gatsby made the drastic
changes in his life and lifestyles solely for Daisy. In the top right area of the work, the viewer
can see a mess of extravagant objects. The sponge painted mask further denotes Gatsby’s efforts
to make himself into something he perceptibly is not. Throughout the novel the reader might
interpret Gatsby’s “mysterious” nature simply as something that indicates his inability to
copiously fit in with the upper class. The jumble and disarray of color and assortments of
textures further suggests Jay’s overcompensation for his modest past. The peacock feathers are
representative of the times in that they convey frivolity and pretentiousness. The randomly
dispersed pieces of mirror further denote the vanity of the people who attend Gatsby’s parties
and of those who buy into Jay’s spectacle. If this artwork were to emit sound, this section would
release a sound representative of the roar of the Roaring Twenties.
At the commencement of chapter three in the novel Fitzgerald provides his audience with
a depiction of the great measures Gatsby goes to in order to bring about one of his extravagant
parties. Nick goes into specific detail about “… a machine in the kitchen which could extract
juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a
butler’s thumb (pg. 45).”This particular observation is evidence that Nick is beginning to buy
into the frivolity just as the other party attendants. The way Nick barely comments on and almost
dismisses the fact that the butler would have to monotonously push the button two hundred times
is the epitome of the mindset of the privileged class, in that the hard work of others is made out
to be unimportant. Nick's attitude toward Gatsby is paradoxical: early in the novel he seems to
frown at Gatsby's excess and lack of manners, but later in the novel he admires, and even
romanticizes Gatsby’s life style as in this passage. This portrayal can be tied to the idea of how
disposable all the wealth really was.
Fading from the chaotically baroque section of the canvas is the section depicting where
everything begins to fall apart in the novel. The scattered remnants of peacock feathers suggest
the disintegration of Gatsby’s image. The foremost point in the novel where this deterioration of
Gatsby’s grandiose character is after Daisy smashes Myrtle while recklessly driving Gatsby’s
yellow automobile. Gatsby, without hesitation, wishes to take the fall for his beloved, and Daisy
shamelessly uses him finally illuminating how little he means to her. In this way Gatsby become
disposable. The band of tiffany blue and silver paper represents Gatsby’s concealer of wealth.
The rips and tears in the paper indicate the revealing of Gatsby’s true nature. What is ultimately
revealed to be beneath is blank canvas, which portrays the man Jay has unknowingly made
himself become; a man who hasn’t lived for himself, and therefore hasn’t lived.
The last lines of the book discuss the green light and reiterate how they exemplify
Gatsby’s dream. The lines read:
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.
It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms
farther ... And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne
back ceaselessly into the past (pg. 186).
These words beautifully close the novel and somehow leave the audience with more to ponder
rather than with resolution. Through Nick’s thoughts, Fitzgerald is urging his audience to
examine their own lives. We as humans are constantly drawn down by our pasts even as we
strive to sail forward towards our goals. We often find it hard to let our pasts remain in the past,
and in this way they begin to define us. As in Fitzgerald’s characters, we become trapped by our
pasts when we become more concerned with recreating them than having new experiences and
creating new memories. Gatsby begins to let his past affairs with Daisy outline his ideas about
what the future will bear. In this way Fitzgerald crafts Gatsby into a model for the American
dream and then utterly shatters this idea when it all falls apart for Gatsby. The image that the
quote instills of vessels pushing on against the current is one that beautifully embodies the
struggle of life.
All the events of the book can all be tied to the final quote relating to the moment when
Gatsby is seen reaching with his arms outstretched for the green light. The more Gatsby
endeavored to acquire, the less he was left with, which is what Fitzgerald is primarily advising
his readers to be wary of. Like with the green light, the opportunity and glamour of the times in
America began to recede before the publics’ eyes as the Great Depression came about. In this
way the themes in Great Gatsby can be tied to the events occurring in America at the time. The
1920s marked a time of great post-war economic progress, and Fitzgerald depicts the frenzy of
society with striking accuracy. Though, Fitzgerald could have no way of foreseeing the stock
market crash of 1929, the world he presents in The Great Gatsby seems clearly to be headed for
disaster. In this way Fitzgerald’s novel became an even more accurate depiction of the times than
he realized; the people of America thought they were unassailable just as Gatsby did, and then
came the stock market crash