In “The Great Gatsby and the Obscene Word” Barbara Will discusses the implications of the scene at the end of the novel where Nick erases an illegible, obscene word from the steps of Gatsby’s now empty house. While this scene may seem insignificant, it serves as a metaphor for Nick erasing all of Gatsby’s past wrongdoings since at the end of the novel he was thought to be a good person, despite being a bootlegger and a criminal. This obscene word is also supposed to represent how Gatsby came to represent the American dream after being somewhat of an outsider when nativism was popular in America. He did not initially fit into the concept of a “white American” since it was suggested that he came from a more diverse background and the last name
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At the end of The Great Gatsby, Nick tries to get everyone associated with Gatsby to attend his funeral, but no one comes except for Nick and Gatsby’s father, showing that Gatsby may not have been as well-liked as it had seemed. Still, Nick believes that overall Gatsby was a good person and that he was successful in life, even though the novel shows that Gatsby did not earn his money legally and did not win Daisy’s affection. This is shown in Nick removing the obscene word that represents the negative qualities of Gatsby that are forgotten after his death. However, the criticism focuses too much on the racial opinions of Nick and Tom and the nativism in the United States in the 1920s. While Nick and Tom might have made a few inappropriate racial comments, those were not a major theme in the novel and were just a part of the 1920s in America due to the presence of segregation and an isolationist foreign policy. Additionally, Will discusses how nativist beliefs shaped people’s opinions of Gatsby since it was vaguely hinted at that he may not be completely white and may be Jewish or have Jewish family, it was only briefly mentioned in an indirect manner. The suggestion that Nick and Tom judged Gatsby based only on ambiguous comments on both their possibly racist beliefs and Gatsby’s possible
At the end of The Great Gatsby, Nick tries to get everyone associated with Gatsby to attend his funeral, but no one comes except for Nick and Gatsby’s father, showing that Gatsby may not have been as well-liked as it had seemed. Still, Nick believes that overall Gatsby was a good person and that he was successful in life, even though the novel shows that Gatsby did not earn his money legally and did not win Daisy’s affection. This is shown in Nick removing the obscene word that represents the negative qualities of Gatsby that are forgotten after his death. However, the criticism focuses too much on the racial opinions of Nick and Tom and the nativism in the United States in the 1920s. While Nick and Tom might have made a few inappropriate racial comments, those were not a major theme in the novel and were just a part of the 1920s in America due to the presence of segregation and an isolationist foreign policy. Additionally, Will discusses how nativist beliefs shaped people’s opinions of Gatsby since it was vaguely hinted at that he may not be completely white and may be Jewish or have Jewish family, it was only briefly mentioned in an indirect manner. The suggestion that Nick and Tom judged Gatsby based only on ambiguous comments on both their possibly racist beliefs and Gatsby’s possible