Half Femininity In The Great Gatsby

Jay Gatsby is portrayed as an emotional man when working to obtain Daisy Buchanan despite his tendency to objectify and degrade women. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald depicts Gatsby as more emotional and sensitive than some of the other characters. Kerr, in "Feeling ‘Half Feminine’: Modernism and the Politics of Emotion in The Great Gatsby" examines the effects of being a more feminine man in the 1920’s. “Gatsby's splendid dreams, like Daisy's tentative attempt to create a new and independent self, are no match for the reality of Tom's aggression. To be a feminine man in The Great Gatsby is to have an emotional interior always threatened with exposure and ridicule in the competition among men that bring material success and social position” (104). Jay Gatsby tends …show more content…
After Nick Carraway returns from Daisy’s house he sees Jay Gatsby reaching toward a symbol representing Daisy Buchanan as an obtainable goal. “ … he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far, as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock.” (Fitzgerald 24). Gatsby’s reach for the green light illustrates his sole goal of obtaining Daisy Buchanan. He depreciates the value of Daisy by assigning her to this green light. He sees her not just as a girl, but as an achievement or something to work for. Her life is made insignificant because of the objectification from Jay. Gatsby feels nervous to even have a hope of being with her again. He enjoys the idea of working to acquire her rather than the ability to find love again. Harold Bloom discusses how Daisy is used by Gatsby as his own personal accomplishment, “This investment of self in Daisy means, of course, that Gatsby needs Daisy to validate