(NOTE: This is an essay I wrote for my AP American Seminar class in high school - Wyoming Seminary - in September 2009 during my junior year).
Throughout the history of the
United States, Americans have embraced the notion that our country is inherently the most faultless nation in the world. Such thinking is defined as
American exceptionalism. The economic prosperity and military might that our nation
has enjoyed has created this culture in which Americans expect excellence from
their leaders and government, admiring
seemingly impeccable Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy, forgetting their shortcomings in office. Indeed,
this notion of perpetually seeking the best is reflected in the idea of the
American Dream, which inspires individuals to be the absolute best they can be. Having been raised to believe in
American exceptionalism, our society embraces the belief we are a near-perfect
nation; thus, we glorify ideals that represent flawlessness and strive for
perfection, as reflected in The Great
Gatsby. This admiration of flawlessness is seen as Jay Gatsby seeks
perfection in Daisy Buchanan and as he goes to great lengths to portray himself
as unblemished.
Nowhere is this adoration of flawlessness more evident
than in Jay Gatsby himself, the protagonist of the novel. Gatsby subscribes to
the view that perfection can be sought and must be attained. After all, the
novel describes Gatsby as an individual who “believed in the green light, the
orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” and that “tomorrow
we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther” if that light is
unattainable. This depiction of Gatsby paints him as a man who possesses a
great deal of confidence in the existence of an “orgastic” future that defines
a utopian world. The thought that Gatsby would subscribe to the belief that the
bright future, represented by the green light, is achievable, no matter how
short an individual falls of that goal day after day, reveals his glorification
of perfection. It is clear that the auspicious future and life that Gatsby
sought was, from his perspective, reflected in Daisy. Nick recounts after
Gatsby’s death that “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the
green light at the end of Daisy’s dock…and his dream must have seemed so close
that he could hardly fail to grasp it…[but] it was already behind him." Gatsby believed wholeheartedly that life with Daisy symbolized the fulfillment
of true happiness and success for him. Indeed, the instance in which this
quality of seeking perfection in Gatsby’s life is, in fact, most prominent is
in his affection for Daisy Buchanan.
Given
the incredible wealth Jay Gatsby enjoys, his insistent love for Daisy
illustrates that he perceives even his own affluent life as imperfect still.
Although Gatsby resides in a house which is described by Nick Carraway as a
“place [that] looks like the World Fair," he clearly believes Daisy
Buchanan is a missing piece of the puzzle in his quest for perfection. The fact
that Gatsby can recall that it was precisely “five years next November” that he had last met Daisy indicates the fervent obsession he has had with her.
As a result, the behavior and language used by Gatsby regarding Daisy signifies
his adulation of her as a supposed human representation of perfection,
believing her to be flawless. In fact, upon first meeting Daisy after a five
year hiatus, Gatsby’s reserved nature and treatment of her as if she were a
godly figure causes him to “act like a little boy” in her presence. He
even remarks to her that he is “sorry about the clock” in his house and
nervously asks Nick at one point, “where are you going?" Such conduct
leads Nick to conclude that Gatsby is clearly in a nervous state, exposing his
sense of inferiority to Daisy, someone whom he sees as so flawless that he
pressures himself to impress her.
Therefore,
throughout much of the novel, Mr. Gatsby makes it his duty to satisfy the needs
of Daisy, serve her, believe in her beauty, and treat her as the embodiment of
perfection. Gatsby’s joyous reactions to the warmest moments of his
relationship with Daisy display this longing for her. After “every vestige of
embarrassment was gone” in Mr. Gatsby’s first encounter with Daisy after
five years, Gatsby “literally glowed” and “without a word or a gesture of
exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room." This ecstasy in being able to form a meaningful conversation with Daisy before
night’s end is seen by Nick in broader terms. Nick examines the “colossal
vitality of [Gatsby’s] illusion” and how “he had thrown himself into it
with a creative passion” and that “no amount of fire or freshness can
challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart." The bliss of Gatsby
in this instance is thus portrayed by Nick in the aforementioned passages as
part of Gatsby’s larger vision of a flawless life and future that he seeks in
his heart. He believes in this illusion that that life can be attained through
Daisy. The “illusion” of perfection that he strives to make reality is seen by
Gatsby as achievable by claiming Daisy, a woman whose “fluctuating, feverish warmth” of voice is perceived by Nick as appealing to Gatsby. Indeed, Nick
testifies that the “deathless song” of her voice “held [Gatsby] most."
Perhaps
it should not be a surprise to the reader that the flawlessness Gatsby yearns
for in life impedes him from accepting the flawed reality of life and the
flawed nature of Daisy. When confronted with Daisy’s marriage with Tom Buchanan
and the complications it represents in Gatsby’s affair with Daisy, Gatsby
insists that “[Daisy] loves me” and accepts the self-depicted version of reality that “both of us
loved each other all that time” and that “she only married [Tom] because
I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me." These statements
exhibit Jay Gatsby’s unwillingness to be content with imperfection in his
relationship with Daisy Buchanan and his life. Upon Daisy’s concession that “it
wouldn’t be true” to say that she “never loved Tom," Gatsby
willfully ignores such words, claiming that “[Tom is] not going to take care
her of anymore." The fact that Daisy’s love for Jay Gatsby conflicted
with her marriage with Tom Buchanan is a fact and imperfection that Gatsby
despises to admit given how much he values Daisy as the key to everlasting
flawlessness.
Jay Gatsby’s
glorifying of perfection and seeking of flawlessness is not only reflected in
his love for Daisy Buchanan but also in the manner in which he presents
himself. Throughout American history, leaders who have exhibited seeming perfection in their work and
lives have been revered in our society and history. However, selective memories
of these individuals have obstructed an honest view of these figures. In Tear Down This Myth, Will Bunch explores
how this has affected Americans’ perceptions of Ronald Reagan. He asserts that
while a fairly controversial figure in his tenure, Reagan has come to be
revered as the savior of conservatism and one of America’s most effective
Presidents, both of which are debatable.
Instead, Americans ignore the faults and shortcomings of his presidency.
Similarly, Americans never want to hear the souring aspects of a supposedly
upbeat story, something Franklin D. Roosevelt was aware of and thus he took to
great lengths to obscure his use of a wheelchair. In the novel, Gatsby seeks to
emulate such an image of perfection,
mindful of the public admiration that it inspires, while downplaying his
shortcomings. For instance, the common usage of the term “old sport” by Gatsby
as a means of informally trading barbs with Nick represents an attempt at
charisma. An effort at displaying intelligence is seen in Gatsby enjoying
taking pride in supposed intellectual bravados, insisting that the books in his
library “are real” and that he is an “Oxford man” and his frequent
ballyhooing of his “hydroplane” and service in World War I shows his
desire to be well-regarded as a selfless servant of his country. In fact,
Gatsby chooses to ignore and wishes the masses would ignore the fact he had not
truly read those books and that his Oxford education is at best dubious. It is
evident in these cases that Jay Gatsby is well aware of the flawlessness
admired in individuals in America and that he not only seeks to be that
perfection but to flaunt it as well.
Striving
for perfection is dangerous. On the one hand, this attitude on the part of an
individual allows them to be the best they can be, never succumb to
failure, and believe in the American Dream of working hard and overcoming obstacles
to achieve success. In fact, the conventional wisdom of embracing American exceptionalism in our culture did allow the United States to psychologically recover
from such devastating events as the September 11, 2001 attacks. The attacks united
Americans in a kind of patriotic fervor that permitted an emotional recovery as a nation as a country. However, if perfection is not achieved, an individual could
resort to denial or severe disappointment that
never allows for any meaningful self-confidence. In the months leading up to the collapse of
Lehman Brothers in September 2008, American economists and financial experts
were ignorant of potential signs that the financial industry could be falling
apart before their eyes. They had become believers of the myth of the
perfection of the stock market and economy of the United States. It was assumed
our boom-and-bust capitalist economy would “correct itself,” since it was
asserted that the economy will surely never collapse – even after lessons “learned” from the Panics of 1819 and
1837, the Great Depression, and the stagflation of the 1970’s and early 1980’s.
In the case of Jay Gatsby, who refused to believe Daisy could possibly love Tom
Buchanan, denial absorbed him. In such instances, striving for perfection is,
at best, risky if flawlessness is not met. Therefore, seeking the absolute best
outcome in life and in supposed heroes is a path which could produce a
healthy relentless pursuit of success yet simultaneously be dangerously risky.
