Modernism in 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Himanshi Parmar
P.G Student
Department of English
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar, Gujarat.
Abstract :
This research paper aims to emphasise reading of 'The Great Gatsby' through the lens of Modernism. M. H. Abrams states that, "The term Modernism is widely used to identify new and distinctive features in the subjects, forms, concepts and styles of literature and the other arts in the early decades of the present century, but especially after World War I." Modernism in simple words is breaking traditional norms. Fitzgerald's novel 'The Great Gatsby' is the most prominent example of Modernism. It includes many modernist techniques like Alienation, that is reflected in the character of Jay Gatsby, loss of control, corruption of American dream, Jazz Age, loud music,moneycentricism, Industrial revolution or Industrialism as post World War I effect, breaking of society's rules,feeling of restlessness, stream of consciousness technique introduced by narrator Nick Carraway along with Fragmented writing technique of Fitzgerald. All these points are covered in this research paper.
Keywords - American Dreams, Jazz age, Industrialism, Narrative Technique, stream of consciousness.
What is Modernism and Literary Modernism?
According to Oxford Dictionary, 'Modernism is a movement in the arts that aims to break with traditional styles or ideas'. While literary modernism has a different meaning. Literary modernism is a literary movement that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a response to the rapidly changing world of the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent technological and scientific advancements. It marked a break from traditional ways of thinking and storytelling, and sought to capture the complexity and fragmentation of the modern world.
Characteristics of Modernism -
Themes of Modernism -
Modernist literature deals with themes like societal decay, disillusionment, moral ambiguityFeeling of ,Alienation and isolation in a rapidly changing world,The individual versus society often questioning the traditional values and institutions that shape our lives, The search for identity,The role of the past - Many modernist works explore the relationship between the past and the present, often highlighting the ways in which the past shapes our understanding of the world, The nature of reality,The impact of technology and science and the impact of technological and scientific advancements on society, The role of art that questioning the traditional notions of beauty and representation.
Modernist Writers and their Works -
Some most prominent modernist writers are, James Joyce - Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, T.S. Eliot - The Waste Land, Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot and Molloy, William Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, D.H Lawrence - Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow and Women in Love, F. Scott Fitzgerald -The Great Gatsby. Etc.
'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald -
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, set in the 1920s in the fictional Long Island town of West Egg and East Egg. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, a young man who has just moved next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and enigmatic figure who throws extravagant parties every weekend.Gatsby is in love with a woman named Daisy Buchanan, who is Nick's cousin. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, white man who is having an affair with a woman named Myrtle. Gatsby, who is believed to have made his fortune through illegal means, is determined to win back Daisy's love and convince her to leave her husband. He invites Daisy to his house and they begin a secret relationship., but their happiness is short-lived.
Tom finds out about the affair and confronts Gatsby. Nick becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the lifestyle and morals of the wealthy elite.Tom takes Nick and Daisy to New York City, where they run into Gatsby at a hotel. Tom taunts Gatsby, revealing that he knows about his past and that Daisy was never in love with him. Gatsby is devastated, and Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle while driving Gatsby's car. Gatsby takes the blame for the accident and is shot and killed by George, Myrtle's husband.The novel ends with Nick reflecting on the events of the summer and the tragedy of Gatsby's life. He realizes that Gatsby's longing for the past and his pursuit of the American Dream ultimately led to his downfall.
The novel explores themes of love, wealth, class, and the search for identity in the modern world. The novel is a commentary on the moral and social decay of the wealthy elite in the 1920s, and the characters in the book struggle to find their place in this new world. Gatsby's longing for the past and his pursuit of the American Dream ultimately leads to his downfall. The novel explores themes of love, wealth, class, and the search for identity in the modern world.Fitzgerald's writing style is characterized by a stream-of-consciousness narration and the use of symbolism, which adds layers of meaning to the story and helps to convey the themes of the novel. The Great Gatsby is considered a classic of modernist literature and continues to be widely read and studied today.
Modernism in 'The Great Gatsby' -
'The Great Gatsby' was written after world war 1. So it covered various modernist aspects. The novel is considered a quintessential work of modernist literature. It includes many modernist techniques like Alienation, that is reflected in the character of Jay Gatsby, loss of control, corruption of American dream, Jazz Age, loud music,moneycentricism, Industrial revolution or Industrialism as post World War I effect, breaking of society's rules,feeling of restlessness, stream of consciousness technique introduced by narrator Nick Carraway along with Fragmented writing technique of Fitzgerald. These points are described here.
1- Alienation -
The characters in the novel are all struggling with feelings of isolation and disconnection from the world around them. Jay Gatsby, the novel's protagonist, is perhaps the most alienated character. Despite his immense wealth and popularity, he is unable to connect with those around him and is ultimately alone at the end of the novel. Gatsby's alienation is driven by his unrequited love for Daisy and his inability to fully understand or be understood by the people in his social circle.He has spent years pining for Daisy and has built his entire identity and lifestyle around the hope of winning her back. However, when he finally does reconnect with Daisy, he finds that he is unable to fully understand or connect with her.
He is also unable to bridge the gap between their vastly different social classes and backgrounds.Gatsby's isolation is also reflected in his relationships with the other characters in the novel. He is unable to fully connect with his party guests, who see him as a mysterious and somewhat comical figure. He also has few close friends, and his only true confidant is Nick, the narrator, who is an outsider in the world of the wealthy elite.Furthermore, Gatsby's past is an enigma, he is a self-made man and his background is shrouded in mystery, which added to his isolation. He is also not able to fully attain his dream and his longing for the past, which leads to his alienation. Here is the dialogue that showing Gatsby's longing for his past and isolated situation,
"That's my Middle West—not the wheat or the prairies or the lost Swede towns, but the thrilling returning trains of my youth, and the street lamps and sleigh bells in the frosty dark".
Many other characters are also isolated and alienated in the novel. Such as Daisy Buchanan, she too is alienated from her own life. She is trapped in a loveless marriage and feels unfulfilled by her wealthy lifestyle.She is also unable to fully connect with her daughter, Pammy, and feels distant from her.She is also isolated by her social class, she is a part of the wealthy elite, but unable to find authenticity and genuine connection among them. Her longing for the past and her inability to move on from it, further contributes to her isolation.Nick Carraway, the narrator, is also an outsider in the world of the wealthy elite and is often uncomfortable with their excesses and moral decay.
2 - corruption of American dream.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," the idea of the American Dream is portrayed as being corrupted by the wealthy elite of the time. The characters in the novel, including the titular character Jay Gatsby, are all obsessed with wealth and status, and will stop at nothing to attain it. Protagonist of the novel Jay Gatsby himself a bootlegger. The novel portrays that the American dream is not about hard work and upward mobility, but about using wealth and power to manipulate and control others. How Daisy and Tom left Gatsby die and don't even feel guilty for it is a perfect example of this. this dialogue by Nick is showing corruption of American dream in Tom and Daisy's character,
I could forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. They was all very careless and confused.They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
Those who have money have power all the way. Representation of 'Valley of Ashes' is reflecting the negative side of American dreams and the worst condition of poor, black people. But Ultimately, this corruption of the American Dream leads to tragic consequences for the characters in the novel.
3 - Jazz age -
The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is set in the Jazz Age, a period in the 1920s characterized by the rise of jazz music, flapper culture, and economic prosperity. The novel depicts the excesses and decadence of the era, as well as the moral decay and disillusionment that accompanied it. In the novel we find several references of Jazz age such as 1) The parties at Gatsby's mansion: Gatsby throws extravagant parties at his mansion, which are filled with jazz music, dancing, and alcohol. These parties are a reflection of the excesses and decadence of the era, 2) The flapper culture: Characters such as Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker embody the flapper culture of the 1920s, characterized by their short hair, short dresses, and liberated attitude towards sex and alcohol. 3) The rise of jazz music: Jazz music is mentioned throughout the novel, and it serves as a symbol of the cultural changes taking place during the 1920s. 4)The decline of traditional values: The novel depicts a decline in traditional moral and social values, as characters engage in extramarital affairs and other forms of immoral behavior. 5)The economic prosperity: The 1920s were a time of economic prosperity, and this is reflected in the characters' lavish lifestyles and their preoccupation with wealth and status. 6)The disillusionment of the era: The novel also explores the disillusionment that accompanied the excesses of the era, as the characters struggle with feelings of emptiness and dissatisfaction despite their wealth and status.
4 - Industrialism and money centrism -
'The Great Gatsby Focuses on the rapid industrialization and economic growth of the era affected the characters and their relationships.The novel depicts the rise of a wealthy class, as characters like Jay Gatsby amass great wealth through various means, including bootlegging and stock speculation, Industrialization create new class in society called 'Newly Rich' people. Along with it characters in the novel are preoccupied with wealth and status, and they use their money to indulge in lavish lifestyles and conspicuous consumption.This pursuit of wealth and status leads them to abandon traditional values and engage in morally questionable behavior. Money is in the centre of the novel. Most of the rich class is shown as materialistic people, as characters are driven by their desire for wealth, status, and material possessions, rather than by more noble or meaningful goals.
5 - Stream of Consciousness technique -
As per Merriam Webster dictionary 'Stream of Consciousness' is the continuous unedited chronological flow of conscious experience through the mind. In other words 'Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax, and rough grammar.'
'The Great Gatsby' employs the stream of consciousness technique to give insight into the thoughts and emotions of the characters. This narrative technique allows the reader to experience the character's mental and emotional states as they occur, rather than the author simply describing them. Through this technique, Fitzgerald is able to reveal the innermost thoughts and motivations of the characters, adding depth and complexity to their personalities. For example, the narrator, Nick Carraway, uses a stream of consciousness to reveal his own thoughts and feelings about Gatsby. Jay Gatsby himself uses a stream of consciousness to convey his longing and love for Daisy. Overall, the stream of consciousness technique in The Great Gatsby adds richness and nuance to the characters and their relationships, making the novel a deeper and more engaging reading experience.
6 - Fragmented writing technique of Fitzgerald in the novel -
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald also employs a fragmented writing technique. This technique is characterized by short, choppy sentences and abrupt shifts in time, place, and subject matter. This style reflects the fragmented and disjointed nature of the characters' thoughts and emotions, as well as the fast-paced and frenetic lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties.The novel is also full of symbols and imagery for example The green light,The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg etc. Which are often presented in a fragmented or disjointed way, adding to the sense of dream-like unreality.Fitzgerald also uses this technique to create a sense of disorientation and uncertainty in the reader, mirroring the confusion and disillusionment of the characters. The novel's structure, which jumps back and forth in time, also adds to the sense of fragmentation, as well as the sense of nostalgia and longing that pervades the book.
Conclusion -
To sum up, the novel 'The Great Gatsby' serves as a shining example of modernism. The novel also includes aspects like Loss of control, feeling of restlessness etc. Fitzgerald not only used fragmented writing technique but also chose to write a novel in stream of consciousness, the novel was also written with various perspectives and might that's the reason why the novel came as the best example of modernist literature.
Citation -
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940. The Great Gatsby. New York :C. Scribner's sons, 1925.
Frisella, Emily. "Stream of Consciousness." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 5 May 2017. Web. 22 Jan 2023.
“Stream of consciousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stream%20of%20consciousness. Accessed 22 Jan. 2023.
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