Diagnosing the American Dream: Trouble in the Vibrations of The Great Gatsby

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Peter W Wakefield, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-11
• Publisher: BU College of General Studies
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 by the College of General Studies, Boston University
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): https://sites.bu.edu/impact/previous-issues/impact-winter-2019/diagnosing-the-american-dream/
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Impact: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 8
• End Page: 15
• Keywords: F. Scott Fitzgerald; Jay Gatsby; lynching and anti-lynching debate; tectonic fault lines; earthquakes; American dreams; The Great Gatsby
• Research Categories: Literature, American; Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies

Abstract

Not an earthquake, but currents and vibrations: F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces Jay Gatsby as a seismograph—”[…] there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes thousands of miles away” (Fitzgerald 2). This paper explores those vibrations, finding in Jay Gatsby’s geographic registration a diagnosis of tectonic fault lines in the American nation and in an American identity that are inseparable from the land and history of the American continent. My suggestion is that Fitzgerald’s novel is disturbed by a darker version of failed American dreams than the usual school analysis of this classic novel dares broach. Specifically, I want to excavate issues of American racism and White supremacy in The Great Gatsby and relate these to lynchings and national anti-lynching debates that were contemporaneous to the composition of this novel and especially prominent in New York City, where Fitzgerald either lived or yearned to live during the time he wrote his most famous work.