By analyzing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with the formalist and Marxist theories, it becomes evident that the themes of the story are destruction, manipulation, and oppression of lower-class characters in order for higher-class characters to sustain their position of wealth, and gain power.
Firstly, the theme of destruction of lower-class characters is presented, as they are violently destroyed throughout the story to fulfill the selfish desires of the bourgeoisie. Myrtle Wilson, who lives a poor life at The Valley of Ashes is murdered by Daisy Buchanan, a high-class character known for her beauty and wealth. Daisy protects the power of her name by letting Jay Gatsby take the blame for Myrtle’s death because she does not admit her
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actions or show any signs of remorse. Gatsby, who also originates from a lower-class, pays the consequence of her selfishness with his life, being as she shields her reputation through hiding the fact that she was the one who murders Myrtle. George Wilson commits murder-suicide of himself and Gatsby, allowing Tom Buchanan, who continues his life as a high-class character, to have an advantage over his rival, Gatsby. Gatsby and Tom are rivals, seeing as they both wish to have control over the same woman, Daisy, and they are both rich and in possession of mansions. Nick Carraway says, “Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (Fitzgerald 170) This explains that Tom and Daisy are people that destroy those who threaten their power and wealth, but are uncaring to confess their wrongful actions to assist lower-class characters in need of support. A Marxist states, “People like the Wilsons don’t stand a chance in a world dominated by people like the Buchanans.” (Tyson 72) This clarifies the superiority that the bourgeoisie—Tom and Daisy—have over the low-ranked characters—Gatsby, Myrtle, and George—since the only deaths that occured in the story were the low-ranked characters. Thus, the higher-class characters are able to continue living their luxurious dreams after destroying their inferiors, and pretend as though they were not directly, or indirectly involved in the violent elimination of Gatsby, Myrtle, and George. Secondly, the theme of manipulation of lower-ranked people is seen from Tom’s manipulative behaviour to establish power over them and others. Tom causes George to believe that Gatsby is the one who killed Myrtle, without knowing what really occurred the night that Myrtle was hit by Gatsby’s car. Tom is blinded by his greed to dominate over Gatsby that he does not intervene with George’s plan to murder the person who killed his wife. Instead, as Tom is threatened with a gun, he tells George that the car belongs to Gatsby and Tom allows him to find Gatsby without getting any authorities involved or warning Gatsby about George’s dangerous behaviour. Nick confronts Tom about what he told George before the murder-suicide occurred, and he says that he told him the truth. Tom continues and speaks about Gatsby, “He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car.” (Fitzgerald 169) This demonstrates Tom’s unsympathetic behaviour towards lower-ranked characters, as he does not bother to think about other possible suspects of Myrtle’s death and rather, he uses his influence over George to his advantage to arrange Gatsby’s death so that he could rule over him and eliminate the threat between him and his wife, Daisy. In addition, Tom’s manipulation of low-ranked characters is also demonstrated by a symbol: Tom’s purchases. This can also be proved since Tom appeals to Daisy through his money and marries him, even though she had already fallen in love with Gatsby, of a lower-class. Tom spends his money for all the women in his life. He purchases a $350, 000 pearl-necklace for Daisy before they got married, he purchases many expensive items for his mistress, Myrtle, and the assumption can be made that he purchases many items for his multiple affairs from lower-classes, other than Myrtle. These purchases are a symbol that shows Tom’s way of manipulating those at a lower social rank in order to get what he desires. He uses his money and social rank to attract lower-class females and is explained through a formalist perspective, “the symbol was the $350,000 string of pearls Tom gave his bride-to-be”...”he ‘markets’ his socioeconomic status where it will put him at the greatest advantage—among women who are most desperate for and most easily awed by what he has to sell.” (Tyson 70) This explains the theme of manipulation that Tom expresses throughout the story. He desires these females that have a lower status than him because he can easily deceive them by offering them many gifts and pretending that he is fond of them, but in actuality, he only uses them to satisfy his ego and supremacy. As a consequence of Tom’s controlling behaviour towards low-ranked characters, he is able to benefit from them as he pleases. Finally, the theme of oppression of the proletariats shows that they are prevented from experiencing a better quality of life due to the bourgeoisie’s harsh and unfair treatment.
For instance, people who live in the Valley of Ashes are subject to a working life under the bourgeoisie for their whole lives. They are unable to move up from their low-rank status and this is identified through Myrtle’s life, as she resides there with her husband, George. To explain, Myrtle has an affair with Tom and receives several expensive gifts and experiences a living that is close to a higher-status life but, due to her socioeconomic status, she is prevented from the possibility of upgrading her low-class status through marriage. Instead, Tom treats her cruelly as she is slapped and receives a broken nose from him and Myrtle is also killed by a high-class character. The event of Tom slapping Myrtle is proof that he oppresses her due to her social-class. Tom never physically hurts Daisy but Myrtle does get physically hurt, showing that Myrtle would never experience a wealthy life as a bourgeoisie, especially in Daisy’s perspective. Myrtle is killed by Daisy, which takes away Myrtle’s desires and possibilities for a better life. Another example of harsh treatment from the bourgeoisie is that, Gatsby becomes new money and is considered to be a high class character through his mansion, fame, and money, but in reality, he continues to be treated as otherwise. This is seen when Gatsby’s life ends and many people avoid his funeral, and when Tom exposes the truth of Gatsby’s life of how he receives his money. Gatsby is treated harshly after his death as no one except for Henry C. Gatz, owl-eyed man, and Nick, came to commemorate his death. Both Klipspringer and Wolfsheim are closely related to Gatsby, since Klipspringer lives with and plays the piano for him, and Wolfsheim is his business associate, but both characters use excuses not to come to Gatsby’s funeral. Continuing, Gatsby’s face
is visibly shocked and afraid when Tom exposes his possibly dangerous and illegal activity, “That drug store business was just small change, but you’ve got something on now that Walter’s afraid to tell me about.” (Fitzgerald 128) This causes Daisy to become frightened by Gatsby, preventing him from advancing his romantic relationship with her. Tom uses this as leverage over Gatsby, given that Daisy will now think of Gatsby as a dangerous person with an unstable income and will no longer marry him because of it. Therefore, the effects of the bourgeoisie’s bitter treatment and domination over the proletariats cause the prevention of new opportunities in life for the lower-status characters like Myrtle, and Gatsby. In conclusion, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald presents the themes of destruction, manipulation, and oppression of lower-class characters to immorally benefit the lives of the bourgeoisie, when interpreted through the formalist and Marxist theories.
Myrtle Wilson came from a working class family with a low social standing. Due to her family’s lack of money, Myrtle’s options were limited to marrying men of equal or lower economic status than herself. As a result, Myrtle married George Wilson, a poor car mechanic. In her relationship with George, Myrtle lacked control due to her status as a woman and was thus forced to listen to her husband. However, because of her lower status, Myrtle did learn to use her physical attributes to her own advantage. In other words, Myrtle knew how to exaggerate her physical beauty in order to attract men such as Tom Buchanan; who would pay her with money and expensive gifts in return. Thus, “there is a clear connection between the material disadvantages” Myrtle faced and her lack of morals; given “the paucity of her allotment of the fundamental decencies” (Voegeli). In other words, because of her lack of economic backing, Myrtle Wilson grew up as a woman of lower class with less options in life; which limited her social power and drove her to act unlike any high class lady. Thus, Myrtle’s only option for increasing her status was through material services such as her relationship with Tom Buchanan. All in all, Myrtle Wilson’s economic status limited her to the life of a low class woman and her power others in her
A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting — before he could move from his door the business was over. The “death car,” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn’t even sure of its color — he told the first policeman that it was light green. The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust. Michaelis and this man reached her first, but when they had torn open her shirtwaist, still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap,
Whilst lounging among her ‘friends’ and colleagues, Fitzgerald is able to show how Myrte is submissive to anyone who poses as a threat to her. During the time period in which the novel is taking place,the roaring twenties, the male in any relationship was dominant over the woman. The word “broke” also shows a strong development in words. Fitzgerald did not give Myrtle's character a fractured nose, but instead, gave her a more painful alternative,a nose that was “broke.” Fitzgerald is also able to show how Myrtle can be stricken and will not say a word about it due to the cause of her own fear. Since Tom Buchanan was angry , he physically hurt her in a
Myrtle eventually had similar goals as Gatsby, but her life did not begin the same way. She was of the lower class of society and married a simple man. The two pursued a poor life, but Myrtle’s husband George was a decent man. Nevertheless, Myrtle became unsatisfied, and when the opportunity arose to better the quality of her life, she took it. Daisy’s husband Tom, an unfaithful, rough man not very committed to his marriage, began an affair with Myrtle.
Lying has deadly effects on both the individual who lies and those around them. This concept is demonstrated in The Great Gatsby. Although Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle have different motives for being deceitful, they all lie in order to fulfill their desires and personal needs. Myrtle’s desire to be wealthy is illustrated when she first meets Tom, dressed in his expensive clothing, as her attitude changes when she puts on the luxurious dress and when she encourages Tom to buy her a dog. Tom’s deception is clear when he hides his affair with Myrtle by placing Myrtle in a different train, withholding the truth from Mr. Wilson of the affair and convincing Myrtle and Catherine that he will one day marry Myrtle. Gatsby tries to convince himself and others that he is the son of wealthy people, he creates an appearance that he is a successful, educated man through the books in his library and assures himself that Daisy loves him. Tom’s dishonesty reveals that he is selfish, while Gatsby’s distortions expose his insecurities, and Myrtle’s misrepresentations show that her sole focus in life is to achieve materialistic success. Gatsby and Myrtle both lie in order to obtain the “American dream.” However, Tom, who appears to already have achieved the “American dream”, deceives others out of boredom and because he takes his wealthy lifestyle for granted. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the human flaw of dishonesty for personal gain and how lies have inevitably tragic consequences in his characterization of Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom.
Many of the occurrences in The Great Gatsby produced far-reaching effects for several of the characters. Of these occurrences, one of the most influential and important incidents was the death of Myrtle Wilson. While her life and death greatly affected the lives of all of the main and supporting characters, her death had a very significant effect on the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby displays how the time of the 1920s brought people to believe that wealth and material goods were the most important things in life, and that separation of the social classes was a necessary need. Fitzgerald’s choice to expose the 1920s for the corrupt time that it really was is what makes him one of the greatest authors of his time, and has people still reading one of his greatest novels, The Great Gatsby, decades
They are both born into impoverished families, but deny acceptance of their lower status. Myrtle and Gatsby also share similar aspirations, to gain money and higher status. They are attempting to rise above their social class. Fitzgerald’s interpretation of Gatsby however, is much different from his portrayal of Gatsby. Gatsby is a tragic hero. He has nothing but good intentions and aspires for love, while Myrtle is simply shown as a foolish woman who is so absorbed in greed that she sacrifices her morals and sanity, in exchange for money and higher status. Gatsby, unlike Myrtle, maintains redeemable qualities until his murder. Everything he does is for his love, Daisy, because he wants only the best for her even if his life turns to ruins as a result. In contrast, Myrtle who has the same aspirations as Gatsby, exhibits impure intentions. She wants to achieve her goals of becoming a wealthy, elite member of society, purely to feed her selfish, eager desires, at the cost of her husbands’ sanity. This is what removes any sympathy a person may have had for Myrtle. She is depicted as a silly imbecile who cheats her way out her marriage and into her
She wants someone who has a lot of wealth in order for her to live a luxiours life. She begins to have an affair with Tom and it causes harm to her marriage which she has with George. She says to herself when meeting Tom the first time, "You can 't live forever; you can 't live forever" (38). Myrtle realizes Tom is a wealthy individual and having an affair with him will help her climb out of the social class in which she is trapped in. She sees him as the perfect man representing the American Dream. She lives in the Valley of the Ashes with her husband, George, who is the owner of a garage. She married him because she thought he was a gentlemen and he knew something about breeding. But it turned out he was not financially stable and it causes Myrtle not to love him. This shows how Myrtle is acquisitive and she does not appreciate George for who he is. She realizes life is fading away from her along with her youth and in order to live the life she always desires, she must become Tom’s mistress. She wants to live the rich and famous life style which George could not provide. This shows how Myrtle is morally corrupt because she does not see the harm in having an extramarital affair and just looks to pursue wealth. This eventually leads to her own death. The chase for the American Dream causes corruption and destruction within
Gatsby plays the god-like character in this book so his means are good but both him and Myrtle do bad things to get higher in a crowd that will never take them in. To make themselves appear better to the other crowd, they lose some of the moral fiber that was there to begin with. (Fitzgerald, -page 83) Loss of morals in the 1920' in America caused the American dream to vanish. The god-like character of the book was a good person but he did bad things like bootlegging and joining in organized crime. Affairs happened in the elite crowd between Tom and Myrtle.
Myrtle is, as Daisy, impressed with Tom's wealth and appearance, but, like Jay Gatsby, is stuck in a fantastic, idealized perception of her object of affection. Even when abused and trampled over by Tom, Myrtle continues to adore him, just as Gatsby continues to dote upon Daisy after being obviously rejected by her. As far as ethical considerations, Gatsby tends to prove himself a sincere and caring person, while Daisy and Tom just destroy the lives of two people and then leave town to escape the consequences of their actions.
Myrtle believes she can scorn her true social class in an attempt to be accepted into Ton's, Jay Gatsby who bases his whole life on buying love with wealth, and Daisy, who instead of marrying the man she truly loves, marries someone with wealth. The romance of money lures the characters in The Great Gatsby into surrendering their values, but in the end, "the streets paved with gold led to a dead end" (Vogue, December 1999). The first example of a character whose morals are destroyed is Myrtle. Myrtle's attempt to enter into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. She enters the affair with Tom, hoping to adopt his way of life and be accepted into his class to escape from her own.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald creates an artificial world where money is the object of everyone's desire. The characters, the setting, and the plot are very deeply submerged in a Capitalism that ends up destroying many of them. Fitzgerald's criticism of Capitalism can be seen as a move to subtly promote Socialism, an ideology in which value is placed on the inherent value of an object rather than its market value. In a late collection of notes, Fitzgerald himself proclaims that he is "essentially Marxist." [i] Marxism is a specific branch of Socialist theory. Fitzgerald makes Gatsby a novel that is not inherently Marxist or even Socialist, but one that is imbued with Marxist theory. He does this by denouncing nonhumanitarianism, reification, and market value. Fitzgerald implies that the Capitalist system does not work because at the end of the novel, all of the characters that represent typical American Capitalism end up either dead or completely unhappy. Fitzgerald's criticisms work to warn 1920's Americans of their behavior and how destructive it can be.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald took place in the 1920’s when the nation was undergoing rapid economic, political, and social change. Looking through different literary lenses the reader is able to see the effects of these rapid changes. The marxist lens reflects the gap between rich and poor while the feminist lens showcases the patriarchal society.
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby reveals the carelessness and shallowness of the characters in the upper class. Society is totally corrupted and the character’s lives revolve around the money and extravagant lifestyles. All of the characters are surrounded with expensive and unnecessary itms, which in turn, dulls their dream of actual success. Scott F. Fitzgerald provides a powerful and everlasting message of a corrupt, materialistic society and the effects that it has on the idea of the American dream.