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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.
2 comments:
You've inspired me to read the book. Thanks for this analysis!
Thank you Mow.
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