Old sports! How good it is to see you again, or, more accurately, how good it is to write this text, that shall hopefully befall your eyes, describing the hollowness of the American dream during a climax of late-stage capitalism.
For the uninitiated, or those who were first introduced to homoerotic subtext through another piece of classic literature, The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway, a young Minnesotan returning from World War I, who has recently rented an apartment in West Egg, a fictional suburb in Long Island where the “new rich” (the tacky people) abound. The story follows Nick’s relationships with a variety of characters, including: Jay Gatsby, mysterious millionaire (he’s a bootlegger) and lover of the past (he’s trying really hard to recreating the romance, and props to Nick because he does attempt to shut this delusion down) Daisy, Nick’s cousin and pseudo-feminist scholar, Tom, Daisy’s husband and the worst person you’ve ever met
What is in Gatsby’s past that he so desperately clings to? Daisy. The novel tracks his obsession of reuniting with her; he even buys an ostentatious mansion across from hers and throws extravagant, lay-on-the-driveway-esque parties in a bid to impress her. A variety of events occur, and spoiler alert, things do not go well for Gatsby. He ends up taking the fall for Daisy when she commits vehicular manslaughter (she kills Tom’s mistress, Myrtle), and then is shot to death in his pool by George, Myrtle’s husband, after Tom (the worst person ever) provides him with misleading information. George then shoots himself and Daisy and Tom get the heck out of dodge, free from the consequences of their actions and presumably ready to destroy more lives.
The Great Gatsby portrays themes of class rivalry via Tom and Daisy’s status as “old money” and Gatsby’s of “new money” (missing the much larger point that all rich people are equally annoying) and, of course, the unattainability and destructive force of the American dream. English educators proselytize about the failures and inherent corruption that comes with the chase and incessant consumption of wealth, only for there to still be Jeff “Makes His Employees Pee In Bottles” Bezos stans running amuck in the wild. But let’s get into what I really want to talk about in regards to the Fitzgerald novel.
A Rant – You Can Be Edgy
You would have assumed, at the rate school boards attempt to ban The Great Gatsby, high schoolers had never been exposed to the foreign concepts of sex and swearing. Now, you may be so comfortably accustomed to the glabellar lines you’ve developed trying to discern how you’re teacher is convinced that Nick and Gatbsy’s relationship is platonic (the description of Gatsby’s car as “monstrous in length” and “swollen” is not doing much to support said conclusion) that you’ve rarely spared a thought to the perception of The Great Gatsby and much less ever considered it the target of banishment.
However, according to the American Library Association, The Great Gatsby, tops the list for books that have faced possible bans over the years, mostly for its vulgar language and sexual references, something high schoolers would have never encountered, if it had not been for this monstrosity of a novel being forced upon their all too innocent eyes. In 1987, the Bay County School District in Pensacola, Florida attempted to ban The Great Gatsby, along with 63 other books (they were kind of on a roll that year). However, they were unsuccessful in their efforts to do so (the roll had ended). People have also taken up issue with the discussions of sex in the novel, taking issue with the infidelity expressed through Daisy and Tom’s respective affairs. Another issue I see no problem with, not only are the descriptions of sex vague and non-explicit, but Tom, whose personality can only be described as bad is, in fact, quite literally the worst, so I see no issue with him getting cheated on. In fact, I champion it. In my ideal world, he is the one Daisy runs over. Some capitalism pick-mes also banded together, infuriated over the fact the American Dream was portrayed in a negative light. They also presumably espoused how much they loved being treated like human workhorses and how they would only pee in bottles if it would help Bezos could go to space again.
The title of this section is more of a joke than anything else, but I find with the call to ban The Great Gatsby, as well as other books that receive a similar backlash, people are attempting to present a singular narrative of the world to students. Such bans further limit students’ exposure to different experiences and perspectives, which actively harms their development into a knowledgeable, empathetic individual. If anything it’s a detriment to student’s development to treat these topics as too heavy or inappropriate for them to handle because it makes them less prepared to talk about them with maturity when they’re adults (presumably when they’re ready to hear the f-word for the first time) and in the real world. This not only goes for sex, but for any topic labeled mature such as racism, just being gay, substance use or swearing, etc.
Anyway, reading The Great Gatsby can be your act of personal opposition towards school boards that suck and for that I love it.
Moments I Loved
Gatsby Jumps Out A Window Into The Pouring Rain
At this point in the novel, Nick has set up a meeting with Daisy (per Gatsby’s request), so that Gatsby and Daisy can be reunited. However, on the chosen day it begins to rain—nay pour—and because Gatsby studied literary foreshadowing he knows karmic overlord, F. Scott Fitzgerald, has a terrible and awkward encounter planned for him and Daisy. His solution to this is to jump out of Nick’s kitchen window into the pouring rain once Daisy arrives, a last ditch attempt to skirt his fate blossoming into fruition. He then makes his way to the front door – knocks, and re-enters after a few minutes, supposedly because he realized he was acting like an idiot. Gatsby then proceeds to start the conversation on the most wince-inducing and wettest footing imaginable, with the uncomfortableness persisting like a thick fog. And why wouldn’t it? The once dry and obsessed-with-the-moment-being-perfect Gatsby now appears soaking wet, which, you know, is the decidedly not perfect way to greet someone you want to steal away from their (terrible) husband.
Since I too make incredibly stupid decisions, only to then immediately regret them, and do something even more ill-advised as a result, this scene really resonated with me on a personal level. I may make fun of Gatsby for jumping out of a window into the pouring rain, but I am no better. What is the saying? “The people you hate are a reflection of your own flaws.”
Tom Is Back At It Again, But This Time It’s With Horses
At this juncture of the novel, Nick, who is presumably still describing cars as “swollen”, is hanging out at Gatsby’s mansion, when Tom and his buddies decide to drop by. And how do they decide to arrive? In their luxurious cars, to make the poor cry tears of shame? By foot, to show off their disgustingly tight khaki pants? By skateboard to show those punks at 7-11 that, yes, they are in fact, in with the kids? No, they woke up that morning and decided they would become the worst version of themselves (not a difficult version of themselves to achieve), and arrive on horseback. However, this does seem fitting for Tom. Of course he would need transportation just as pompous and scary as his personality. And yes, I do find horses scary, it’s something about their mouths. They’re too long. I said it. Everyone, as I understand it, is always thinking about this, but never saying it aloud, fearful the horse-lovers will come for them. The equestrians can come for me if they want. I remain unfazed.
But this is amazing characterization for Tom. At no point is Fitzgerald letting anyone off the Tom Buchanan hate train, instead he keeps adding timber to the fire.
Gatsby Has A Meltdown- Ft. Shirts
After the awkwardness of their first encounter has passed, Gatsby offers Daisy and Nick a formal tour of his home. The tour is going relatively well, although imagining the “squish, squish” sound Gatsby’s shoes must be making is physically painful. Anyway, at the end of the tour, Gatsby shows Daisy and Nick his closet, which is filled to the brim with beautiful and expensive shirts. At the sight of all this wealth, Daisy begins to weep, which causes Gatsby to cry because he thinks Daisy is crying because she’s so happy to see him again (rough), and Nick? Well, he isn’t crying, he’s just standing there wondering if shirts can be described as “swollen”. Then something possesses Gatsby to begin throwing his shirts haphazardly into the air, not the greatest move, objectively speaking. Some of them are silk, Gatsby! They’ll wrinkle.
More ill-advised decision-making that I can’t condone, but cannot claim with one-hundred percent certainty that I would not engage in similar behavior. You know that whole spiel, you hate reflections of your flaws. But I also could have just thought this was just a funny moment. What then? What if Gatsby’s poor decision-making resonated with no part of my being? You know nothing of my insecurities or short-comings.