The Great Gatsby Research Paper

When authors can articulate their voices through the characters they develop, the outcome is often great literature. This is exactly why F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby endures time and remains a classic today. Fitzgerald blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, resulting in a novel that is just as fascinating and enthralling as he was. Born in St. Paul Minnesota, Fitzgerald would achieve massive success, but not without facing the caveats of fortune. A catholic and midwesterner at heart, Fitzgerald would have to confront the struggles of the “jazz age” and the big city. The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the contrasting positions that Fitzgerald embodies: a critic of what is wrong with society and a man fully engulfed in its

In the grandeur of New York City, Nick is a sore thumb. Nick, himself, admits this, describing his humble bungalow as a “an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked (5). Moreover, he sees himself as an only a witness to the corruption of “jazz age”, rather than an accomplice. When Nick first introduces himself to the reader, he proudly boasts about his moral integrity, believing that “a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth. (25)” Fitzgerald establishes Nick as a figure who views himself as innately upright. While the resolution of Nick’s self-proclaimed integrity is put to test as he thrust into the storm of the 1920s, he always remains critical of those he sees as absorbed and lost to the decadence of the era. From the beginning of the novel, he establishes his contempt for the corruption that Gatsby represents, warning the reader that the he is “everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” (10) In the case of the filthy rich Tom and Daisy Buchanan, he shares similar judgments. When Tom and Daisy Buchanan ditch town after Myrtle’s murder, he comments that “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had

Gatsby, a bootlegger and a symbol of the organized crime of the 1920s, contrasts Fitzgerald, who was more consumed with the decadence, carlenesss, and partying of the “jazz age”. Both men, however, are of conscience of their positions, perpetually at conflict with their own corruption. In the case of Gatsby, he tries to hide the fact that his fortune comes from illegal activity, fully aware that his actions are wrong and immoral. When Nick asks Gatsby where his wealth comes from, Gatsby fabricates an elaborate background story. This is obviously a lie, as Nick comments that “I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered, ‘That's my affair,’” (68) Gatsby’s behavior reveals that our behavior isn’t always independent of shame, and that two often conflict with one other. Toward the end of the novel, Tom exposes Gatsby’s secret, revealing "I found out what your 'drug-stores' were." He turned to us and spoke rapidly. "He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (123). While the reader is hinted to the Gatsby’s far-from perfect record many times in the course of the book, this is the first time it is explicitly stated. For the reader, the late timing of this revelation is important and intentional on Fitzgerald’s part. It