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Fitzgerald summed this idea up well in The Great Gatsby by saying, “Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry” (57). Even if one didn’t have the means to have the best of everything, it was still expected of them. Myrtle was enraged when she found out her husband didn’t wear his own suit to his wedding. “He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in…and the man came after it one day when he was out…I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried…all afternoon” (Fitzgerald, 24). Daisy also displays the importance of material excess, also in dress, when looking at Gatsby’s clothes, “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald, 59). This concept of excess caused people to place the most importance and meaning on purely physical, material, and ultimately temporary
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Each character within The Great Gatsby is either himself disillusioned or is affected by disillusionment. Gatsby can probably be seen as the person suffering the most under this disillusionment because everything that he has strived for in life, all his wealth and material gain, was for a false hope and cause: Daisy. Though his life seemed completely full, from the huge boisterous parties during the week to the numerous people he surrounded himself with, he ended up alone in his purely material world. This is blatantly evident at his funeral; “The minister glanced several times at his watch so [Nick] took him aside and asked him to wait half an hour. But it wasn’t any use. Nobody came” (Fitzgerald,). Daisy and Tom were also both disillusioned, mainly in their relationship. Tom paraded around with mistresses and Daisy was toying with Gatsby’s heart; both were in their separate fantasy worlds, imagining a life they subconsciously knew they would never lead. That is ultimately why they remained together in the end, despite the adulterous way they treated their relationship. Nick himself was also disillusioned; “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I has ever known” (Fitzgerald, 39), thus characterizing himself in opposition to the masses. He is “inclined to reserve all judgments” (Fitzgerald, 3), events in the novel do not attest to his self-characterization. Though he wants to take the moral high ground, his best friend ends up being probably one of the more morally corrupt characters, Gatsby. He also says about Jordan’s cheating during her tournament, “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply—I was casually sorry, and then I forgot” (Fitzgerald, 38). His utter awe and wonder of this “new
Each character within The Great Gatsby is either himself disillusioned or is affected by disillusionment. Gatsby can probably be seen as the person suffering the most under this disillusionment because everything that he has strived for in life, all his wealth and material gain, was for a false hope and cause: Daisy. Though his life seemed completely full, from the huge boisterous parties during the week to the numerous people he surrounded himself with, he ended up alone in his purely material world. This is blatantly evident at his funeral; “The minister glanced several times at his watch so [Nick] took him aside and asked him to wait half an hour. But it wasn’t any use. Nobody came” (Fitzgerald,). Daisy and Tom were also both disillusioned, mainly in their relationship. Tom paraded around with mistresses and Daisy was toying with Gatsby’s heart; both were in their separate fantasy worlds, imagining a life they subconsciously knew they would never lead. That is ultimately why they remained together in the end, despite the adulterous way they treated their relationship. Nick himself was also disillusioned; “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I has ever known” (Fitzgerald, 39), thus characterizing himself in opposition to the masses. He is “inclined to reserve all judgments” (Fitzgerald, 3), events in the novel do not attest to his self-characterization. Though he wants to take the moral high ground, his best friend ends up being probably one of the more morally corrupt characters, Gatsby. He also says about Jordan’s cheating during her tournament, “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply—I was casually sorry, and then I forgot” (Fitzgerald, 38). His utter awe and wonder of this “new