Unattainable Wealth. The Great Gatsby introduces a young man who deserts his fruitless beginnings in order to

Transcription

1 Unattainable Wealth The Great Gatsby introduces a young man who deserts his fruitless beginnings in order to acquire a more impressive fate. The transformation occurs on Lake Superior s sandy shores one afternoon, when James Gatz adopts his new persona as Jay Gatsby. By contrasting three distinct stages of Jay Gatsby s life, F. Scott Fitzgerald proves that a person s past does not determine the wealth of their future. Understanding the origins of James Gatz, the conception of Jay Gatsby, and the life he aimed to pursue, however, call into question whether James Gatz s aspirations were ever realistic to attain. A child born to destitute farmers, James Gatz did not accept the social limitations surrounding his upbringing. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all, Although born a Gatz, James did not associate himself with the title. In his opinion, the life he inherited acted merely as an inconvenience until opportunities arose for a better existence, one not marred by the meagerness experienced in his youth. From a young age, a hidden persona already lurked beneath a plain exterior, one that refused to be extinguished, despite the misfortunes presented by social incongruity. At seventeen, James Gatz still lived in a haze of listless inadequacy until a man named Dan Cody dropped his yacht s anchor in Lake Superior. In that moment, a switch flicked on inside Gatz, and his alternate self sprung forth out from mental obscurity and manifested into an alternate being. It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a rowboat and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him in half an hour. For years, Jay Gatsby had been laying in wait, quietly anticipating that one particular instance in which he would impact someone else s life, providing his own endeavors with meaning. The simple act of heroism beckoned Jay Gatsby forth from

2 imagination, the moment of gallantry hinting at a prospect of adventure Gatz yearned to attain. In informing Cody of the danger, the pretense of James Gatz dropped, and ceased in relevance. In every semblance of appearance, only Jay Gatsby had and would continue to exist. Even before Dan Cody s debut, the idea of Jay Gatsby was prevalent in James Gatz s mind. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. Figurative language hints that the use of conception quite literally means that James Gatz s imagination birthed Jay Gatsby. His mind molded Gatsby into more than a persona; he became an identity with a distinct beginning that would one day meet an end. An idea of life, as well as death, are tied into the conception of Jay Gatsby, making him just as real as the man whose mind fabricated him. The Eggs were already fertilized that day James Gatz found himself walking aimlessly around Lake Superior; Dan Cody merely acted as the provocation forcing Jay Gatsby to spring into existence. An allusion to God reinforces Jay Gatsby s idea of self, and the yearnings for the better existence he so desperately desires. He was a son of God and he must be about His Father s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. This line further reinforces the idea that Gatz truly believed Gatsby to be a creation of God, and therefore a corporal human being meant to fulfill a destined life. To Gatsby, God intended for him an exorbitant lifestyle, justifying his pursuit of affluence. In this frame of mind, Gatsby appears limitless to Gatz, more than an ideal to strive for, but an idol ordained by God. All of his dreams and ambitions are well in reach for Gatsby, someone that can do far more and far greater things than James Gatz ever could. It appears almost like Gatz has bestowed the entirety of his faith in Jay Gatsby, and becoming the other man ensures a life of luxury and beauty.

3 A line between two realities thinly separates James Gatz s aspirations and Jay Gatsby s future. Until the moment of the metamorphosis, Gatz narrowly contends with imagining the riches a new life would beget. The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night. A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out of his brain. Ostentatious diction support Gatz s longing for material luxuriance. The words grotesque and fantastic stress the desire James Gatz feels toward an extravagant existence, while the phrase ineffable gaudiness impresses his hunger for possessions of material, not personal value. James Gatz imagines a life filled to the brim with splendor, but his daydreams lack needed substance. Gatz allows his imagination to run wild, and with it any semblance of limitation concerning what he could and would achieve. For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy s wing. Without Gatsby, Gatz lacks the means to achieve his fancies, so he settles on listless dreams, resolving that his desires will one day reign true. The figurative language that a fairy s wing supports the weight of the world reveals that Gatz believed that to acquire results, one must simply have hope and resolve, and that wishes deliver rewards. His innocent outlook and wide-eyed faith endured with James Gatz, and even in death, Jay Gatsby never truly faced the harsh unreality of reality. While Gatz faded into oblivion, Gatsby chased an unattainable goal until the end of his days, never even realizing what it was that eluded him. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald proves that a man with meager beginnings can transform himself into something nothing less than extraordinary. Jay Gatsby s plight for recognition and acceptance into the wealthy circles of society convince readers that anyone can change their fate given conviction and motivation to achieve their dreams. Fitzgerald dually expresses that a limit exists as to what can feasibly be attained. Jay Gatsby unknowingly

4 sacrifices his life pursuing his materialistic desires. He lived in luxury, yet so dearly missed something necessary to his existence: limitation. James Gatz dreamed a new life for himself so grandiose that it obscured the fundamental design in the construction. Gatsby s love for Daisy Buchanan becomes the singular force driving him forward, as her essence represents boundless wealth itself. Death acts as Gatsby s ultimate tribute to love, and in doing so it saves him from the reality that not every wish comes true. Emily McCoy, 2013

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