Psycholanalytic and Marxist approaches in 'The Great Gatsby'

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In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald (reprinted, 2016) depicted the developing American society of the 1920s. The narrative approach of the author remains simple and surprising at the same time. As the plot develops, the reader starts getting a clear picture of the psychological differences between the people of West Egg against the East Egg of Long Island. The ideology remains focused on showing the differences between the personal and social point of view that tries to reflect gaps in the American Dream. The characters of this novel are all true representatives of different lifestyles and ideologies of 1920s America.  

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Here, the core concentration is on gaining the psychoanalytical elements and the Marxist features as established in The Great Gatsby. In doing so, the psychoanalytical understanding of Freud gets noted as the chief way of exploration. For, identifying the Marxist's features, the class-oriented differences by capitalism, under Marxist theory appear to be the appropriate means for analysis.

Freudian Id, Ego and Superego

As this novel gets critically investigated from a psychoanalytical point of view, it reveals Freudian interpretations of id, ego and superego; along with the Lacanian notion of self-constitution, followed by name-of-the-father, and symbolic order.

According to the interpretation of Freudian psychoanalysis by Hahn (2013), the id is inherent in a person that is dominated by the pleasure principle. The ego, on the other hand, has been identified by Freud as an extended part of the id that acts as a defence mechanism to meet the desire of the id (Hahn, 2013). The ego avoids pain but at the same time remains realistic about the concerns that will come the way to attain pleasure. The superego as established by Freud is an amalgamation of self-reproach and guilt that helps an individual to maintain pride along with the state of self-satisfaction (Hahn, 2013).

In The Great Gatsby, the reader can find the id in the immoral and violent character of Tom Buchanan. As Tom betrays his wife Daisy, and hurts his mistress Myrtle; a very keen representation of instinctive aggressiveness or id can be noted in him. Nick Carraway is the ego. Unlike Tom, he refrains the act of impulsiveness and avoids any instance of pain to either of the other characters, especially Tom and Jay Gatsby. Nick is not only realistic as ego but also is very much aware of the consequences that might follow after every impulsive decision. The essence of the superego is well represented by Jay Gatsby, who shows signs of self-reproach by not attending the elite parties at his mansion and expresses guilt for not being able to get hold of his love –Daisy. However, being the superego, Jay is also successful in urging Nick to bring his love interest to his mansion and attains the satisfaction of having her.

 

Class Struggles under Capitalism

Being a plot from the 1920s, The Great Gatsby reveals the inclination towards having an elite lifestyle than any other class. The protagonist Jay Gatsby is a true representative of the wealthiest class of that American era. The entire plot reveals the constant struggle of being rich or otherwise being a part of a high-class community. Even human emotions like love, jealousy and infatuations are all connected to the status of owning wealth. The life of Jay Gatsby from Rags to Riches is a true example of showing the importance of wealth in the American society of the 1920s. It is only his extravagant expenditures and luxurious lifestyle that make Daisy fall for him. The capitalistic status of Gatsby also won him a friendship with Nick. The Marxist way of exchanging values remains significant as Gatsby starts earning friendship and love, and to a great extent, it was his capital that made him worth these values. It has been made very evident by Fitzgerald that money can buy you everything, including human compassion and trust. For instance, Tom was successful in handling his sexual urges, irrespective of being married. His practice of offering costly gifts to Myrtle is an extensive way of owning even the illegal human needs through money.

It is interesting to note that Fitzgerald never promoted such ideologies of class struggles, which are dominated by capitalism. This gets evident when Nick informs the reader that despite throwing lavish parties, there was hardly anyone at the funeral of Jay Gatsby. The arrangements of Gatsby’s lavish parties were just a symbolic representation of the nation’s wealthy resources (Tyson, 2006). It is the rise of Jay Gatsby from being the son of a class that is marked as “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (Fitzgerald, 2016, p. 104), to the extravagant “colossal” mansion of Long Island that has “a marble swimming pool and over forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald, 2016, p. 9).

Conclusion

Eventually, it can be noted that The Great Gatsby excels in representing the psychoanalytical elements and the Marxist features in the best possible manner. As a narrative, Fitzgerald justifies the distinguished psychological statures and class-oriented statuses related to the American dream. He is empirically evident in showing that human values are much above and capitalistic show-off. It is the basic human values that matter at the end of the day.

 

 

  

References

Fitzgerald, F. S. (2016) The Great Gatsby. Wisehouse Classics Edition

Hahn, C. (2013) Id, Ego and Superego. The avoidance of anxiety. GRIN Publishing

Tyson, L.  (2006) Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. Routledge; 2nd edition