- for a single occupant this initially seems to be an extravagant waste, put on merely to satisfy the interest of onlookers nad party-goers. Such a theory is reinforced by the knowledge that Gatsby had never even ‘used the pool once during the summer’ . Perhaps it is fitting that the most elaborate of Gatsby’s material possessions should be involved in his eventual tragic downfall. Although the marble pool may provide Gatsby with an outward sign of his wealth, he derives no satisfaction or pleasure from it.
There is an added air of artificiality to his mansion aside from the juxtaposition of it’s geographical location, provided by the ‘thin beard of raw ivy’ which veiled the ‘spanking new tower’. Such foliage had evidently been contrived to grow over the newly built structure rather than grow there naturally.
Similarly, with the example of the Buchanan residence, there is evidence once more of the geographical juxtaposition, in the form of a ‘sunken Italian garden, a half acre of pungent roses and a snub nosed motor boat’. Such features are clearly only a method of establishing the relative wealth of the Buchanans in materialistic form. Tom’s references to his residence help to reinforce this when he says; “I’ve got a nice place here”. Whilst providing his own compliments, Tom has expressed an acknowledgement of his wealth rather than an acknowledgement of the satisfaction which he derives from it (if it all).
It is through such an attitude where we begin to see the hollowness of the American Dream take form. The materialistic element of the dream has been established without the spiritualistic element which should accompany it; humility, grace and generosity have dissolved into greed and conceitedness.
The exhibition of material wealth which Gatsby’s mansion represents also forms the location for a series of lavish parties, a feature of the novel which helps to add to our perception of the era - a post war period of gaiety and wild enjoyment. Whilst the parties are attended by all manner of people from both East and West Egg, this is not supposed to be seen as any reflection of Gatsby’s popularity amidst society, in fact few people who were in attendance at the parties with Nick Carraway had even met their host and those who were were filled with malicious gossip against him - “a german spy during the war”, “I bet he killed a man”.
As conveyed to us through the aspect of Nick Carraway, the parties serve as a device to expose the values and attitudes of society outside the limited focus of the principal characters. Through the coloured variety of society in attendance at the parties, a common element becomes apparant - the artificial, insincere and hollow nature of the guests themselves.
We have already touched upon the sheer disrespect which is shown towards Gatsby as the host of the parties, only Nick shows a genuine desire to meet Gatsby out of courtesy. Other guests, upon being asked if they knew the whereabouts of the host merely “stared at (him) in such an amazed way and denied .. vehemently any knowledge of his whereabouts”. As Nick himself had established upon entering the melee of people at his arrival to the party, ‘few of the guests had actually been invited’. In it’s mildest form, such activity could be described as exploitation, but yet Gatsby allowed this to occur, in the doomed hope that DaisyBuchanan would one day wlak upon the acres of garden in revellry. In a sense, Gatsby’s idealism was ultimately the cause of the parties and the parties themselves are ultimately the cause of the deceit, fraud and self absorption which thrives there.
‘Guests’ at the party seem determined to put Gatsby down, aside from the accusations of illegal activities and involvement with Germany during the war, there is also another striking example of how the American Dream has failed Gatsby. The perception of a rather drunken guest who had found himself situated in Gatsby’s library was suprised that the books therein were actually real. Unaware of Gatsby’s scholarly background at Oxford, he is under the impression that the library would only be another possession and not of any use to him. He even goes so far as to accuse Gatsby of creating fake books “knowing when to stop .. didn’t cut the pages” as if Gatsby had meticulousy damaged each and every volume in the hope that they would be seen as having been read. Gatsby has been judged on his outward appearances only and perhaps we cannot blame such a bystander for arriving at such a conclusion. Can we however blame such an incident on the failure of the American Dream, producing a world dominated by material wealth, or solely Gatsby’s aloofness and lack of information relating to him which has forced society to speculate.
Gatsby’s success in achieveing material wealth however has not achieved it’s initial goal, in that Gatsby’s wealth has not been able to buy back Daisy. The pursuit of wealth, we discover has been fired by Gatsby’s idealism and unquenchable hope that Daisy would return to him if he were to match the wealth of the man she married, irrespective of the fact that she is married. Similarly in the case of Myrtle Wilson whose affair with Tom Buchanan shows similar disregard for their respective marriages, sets the tone of the period once more and exposes the values associated with the Jazz Age.
Myrtles affair and eventual tragic death are also directly linked with what I perceive to be the inherhent flaw with the American Dream. In establishing an affair with Tom Buchanan she has also made an attempt to cross the class barrier - such an attempt is desitined to failure with the emphashis which is placed upon class in society at that time. Although the American Dream had hoped to ultimately establish equality for all it had also attempted to improve materialistic wealth and well being. Although everyone had a job, everyone could have land, the American Dream was oblivious to the one problem associated with such competition : man’s insatiable greed. Thus the establishment of the have versus the have-nots situation could only have had the effect of fuelling class struggles. Myrtle’s death at the hands of Gatsby, the American Dream personified, can only be seen as Ironic and esssentially tragic.
This desire for more, the ‘unexpected’ side effect of the American Dream,can also be seen in the corruption of society. Jordan Baker’s incident with the golf ball allegations displays how the desire for increased worth in society has driven Jordan to degrade the honesty of society as a whole.
The American Dream in “The Great Gatsby” therefore can be viewed as essentially flawed. The artificial equality originally produced by America’s frontiers produced competition among equals rather than harmony - common sense and the laws of economics dictate that if one has more, another will have less and thus The American Dream did nothing to aid class differences.
In such a light the American Dream is doomed to failure by a society torn apart by class and prejudice. The dream as personified by Jay Gatsby is similarly doomed to failure by society and therein lies the tragic element to Gatsby’s death and the allegory which it contains - Myrtle’s husband’s vengeful act of murder as a representation of class and Gatsby as the American Dream left to die amidst the most elaborate of his material possessions, the marble pool.
Idealism eventually destroyed by realism, the harsh reality of the American Dream is exposed through the most poignant of Fitzgerald’s novels.
BIBLIOGRAPHY :
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
York Notes - Tang Soo Ping
Various Academic papers sourced from the Internet
