The Great Gatsby and America - Literary Analysis

From the beginning, Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is the story of America, which encapsulates some of America’s foundational values in the novel’s major and minor characters.

The subject of this novel is Jay Gatsby himself, who in his earlier years embodies the Aristotelian value of happiness. As a young James Gatz, before he adopted his larger than life persona, he scheduled his time and set goals for himself. This discipline he hoped would better himself as a person, eventually allowing him to rise in station above his humble North Dakota roots. Just like Benjamin Franklin and America’s forefathers, young Gatz had a vision for his future and for himself as a member of society. As his father later told Nick, “Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that” (173). The keyword there being “was.” As he got older and experienced the world, however, his intentions to become a better person and to rise in station conversely grew. What began as an attempt to attain a more virtuous life, resulted in an inflated sense of self-worth and more temptation than he could withstand. Gatsby rose to the level of greatness, James Gatz always dreamed of, but it came at a price considering the empty, shallow, and materialistic life he led resulting in his tragic demise.

There are those, however, that hold on to certain virtues throughout life. Fitzgerald includes such characters in juxtaposition to Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan throughout stages of the novel. Michaelis, the Greek owner of the diner located near Mr. Wilson’s garage, shows empathy to Mr. Wilson after the death of his wife by trying to inquire about his family or a similar subject that may bring him comfort. The prophetic and drunken party-goer referred to as Owl Eyes is also virtuous in his curiosity about life. When we meet him in chapter three, he’s absorbed in the wonder and magnitude of Gatsby’s library and all the knowledge it holds. The way he separates himself from a crowd allows him to have perspective on the confusing and disorderly life many participated in. In fact, after Gatsby’s death, Owl Eyes was one of two people that realized just how unfortunate the deceased’s life was, not the glittering and self-important spectacle of a party he liked others to believe. The second person who understood this was of course, Nick Carraway, the protagonist. Nick takes on the virtue of humility in many aspects of his life. This stems from advice his father gave him early on in life, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, […] just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had” (1). He does not boast to be an important man like Gatsby or Tom nor does he claim to be materialistically wealthy like Daisy nor proud and corrupt like Jordan. He comes from humble roots to live in a small cottage adjacent to the gross spectacles of his West Egg neighborhood and modestly tries his hand at the common business of bonds. Like Owl Eyes, Nick has perspective on Gatsby, the Buchanan’s, and all their affairs in the midst of summer 1922 once he returns home to the Middle West. Much like the earlier explorers in search of America, Nick too was in search of a greater meaning to life, which he finds in Gatsby, the only man “exempt from [his] reaction” (1). Nick shows empathy and compassion only to Gatsby and to the promise of America’s virtuous beginnings, but was repelled by how many of his other acquaintances turned out, a product of America’s increasingly materialistic and consumer-based society that has been repeated throughout generations.