Isolation In The Great Gatsby

Finnian Johnson
Mrs. McElliott
AP Language
2 June 2023
Gatsbys battle with isolation, a literary analysis of The Great Gatsby
Fitzgeralds Portrayal of the era of the 1920s New York known as The Great Gatsby, is commonly known for its story built arround the time of economic prosperity in the 1920s. Characters such as Gatsby and Tom Buchanon commonly flaunt and showcase their wealth both living in large houses and living a lavish lifestyle. One problem with this is that the Phrase “Money does not buy happiness” is a common appearance in the novel, with characters feeling each a want that money can not satisfy. Gatsbys isolation and lack of friends leads to desperation and irrational decisions. Choosing to appear to people with a fake personality

During Gatsby's party when no one knows who Gatsby is, Nick and the members of the groups discuss the many things that they have heard about Gatsby. To their surprise many of them don't match up, such as they heard he was, “‘a german spy during the war’” ( Fitzgerald22) or that “‘ he told me he once was an oxford man, I don't think he went ‘“(25) , and they think “‘he killed a man’”(23). Gatsby telling each of them different stories like how he was an Oxford man and portraying himself falsely leads many of the party members to doubting him as they hear different and conflicting stories mixed with other rumors . By telling conflicting stories that don't match up Gatsby makes them trust him less and distance themselves from him even though the stories were designed to make him look better. Distancing themselves from Gatsby leads to having a personal or social disconnect between Gatsby and the partygoers, furthering his isolation. While Gatsby looks like a popular person during the party, many of the people at the party do not even know who he is and just came for the entertainment making Gatsby, although the host the loneliest person there, this isolation leads to him telling irrational stories to meet new people with a more likable but fake personality, that is easily seen as fake. Taking a more rational approach to it he could

Gatsby's living alone, shows many similarities to people who feel isolated such as feeling, “ uninvolved, unwanted, worthless, helpless, desperate, panicked, hopeless, abandoned, vulnerable, rejected, and depressed “,all being strong emotions that are difficult to overcome (Smith1). Gatsbys isolation drives him to feeling many negative and strong emotions that make him feel easily alienated which can easily lead to making bad decisions to seek out de- alienation and in order to regain normality. Similar to how Gatsby feels alienated by his lack of friends, Nick does at the start of the party when he seeks out Jordan to have a partner and fit in at the party. Although the bustling city of new york arround Gatsby is a happy and lively place, it seems as though he is the only one who is alone even in a large city and coping with these emotions, he constantky seeks out and throws massive partys and yet he is still lonely and dealing with feelings of alienation. The parties and his isolation almost are also are a vicious cycle of torment for him in his life as the more parties he has the more he realieses he will not find good friends and the more alienated he becomes making him take a heavier load of the negative emotions onto him. Feeling alienated eventually swallows up Gatsby and makes him become irrational losing control and forcing him to