Failure and the Degeneration of America in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsb

The broad Gatsby is a bold and damning social commentary of the States which critiques its degeneration from a nation of infinite hope and opportunity to a place of honourable destitution. The novel is set during the Roaring Twenties, an era of dire excesses, wild lavish parties and sadly, an era of regret and lost potential. As the audience, they fix us on a journey guided and regularised by the moral voice of Nick Carraway, a character who is simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life. Nevertheless, when Carraway rejects the East, returning to the comparatively secure morality of his contractable West, we realize that gaiety was merely a thin facade, and that behind it lurked a hideous ugliness that penetrated to the essence of the human spirit. It was during the Jazz generation that the general man, a man no different to James Gatz, pursued the vehement icons of his age. As religion gradually faded away, it was money that had become an fair game of veneration. The desire to become wealthy was parceled in the form of the American day-dream, a savage ideal that was fundamentally flawed from the outset. The fallacy of the American Dream cursed all who aspired to its promises while the upper class enjoyed the luxuries that accompanied their status, exploiting those below them as a means to reaffirm their superiority. Consequently, James Gatz, under the influence of characters like Dan Cody and Meyer Wolfshiem, underwent a self-transformation to become Gatsby, a new man who was founded on his Plutonic conception of himself. As the embodiment of idealism and innocence, Gatsby strives to cre... ...ut also the necessity of human kind. It is a novel with a haunting tone that questions the actually essence of our pursuits in life and ultimately, the meaning of life itself. It can hardly be hoped that we will heed this powerful message. Works Cited and Consulted Berman, Ronald. The Great Gatsby and Fitzge ralds area of Ideas. Tuscaloosa U of Alabama P, 1997. Chambers, can B. The Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. London Macmillan/New York St Martins P, 1989. deKoster, Katie, ed. Readings on The Great Gatsby. San Diego Greenhaven, 1998. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Simon and Schuster Inc., New York 1991. Higgins, John A. F. Scott Fitzgerald A Study of the Stories. New York St. Johns UP, 1971. Whitley, John S. F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. London Edward Arnold, 1976.