Thact: The Great Gatsby

 The Great Gatsby

Hello everyone, this blog is responding to a thinking activity task assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad sir. It's based on the modern novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F.Scott.Fitzgerald. 

#Read the article on the Book cover art and its connection to the novel's themes - and write your understanding of the symbolic significance of the book cover. 

The iconic "Celestial Eyes" cover art by Francis Cugat for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a work of art in itself, and it goes beyond just being a pretty picture. 

Different aspects of the painting, like dark blue Background color, contributes to the overall atmosphere of the novel and reflects its Central themes.

1. Dark Blue Background

Dark blue background represents the darker side of the American dream, Hope, Loneliness and other ways.

*Sadness and Cynicism: The dark blue color will represent a kind of sadness, loneliness, and desperation, feelings with which Gatsby identifies his inner self. In fact, amidst the sparkling parties and ostentatious extravagance, there is something bleak and desperate in Gatsby's life: he yearns for an impossible dream, Daisy Buchanan.

*Tragic Undertones: The dark blue also has an undercurrent of the darker side of the ‘American Dream’. Gatsby's relentless pursuit towards amassing wealth and social status is shown to be hollow and destructive. The color underscores the fact that material success masks an inner void pointing toward inevitable disillusionment when the unattainable is pursued.

    2. The Disembodied Eyes 

These eyes are open to interpretation-they can represent a divine or moral gaze, evoking images of God or a higher moral authority, or mirror the ever-watchful, judgmental presence of society, like Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's billboard in the novel.  

In the novel context, it weighs the inevitable moral accountability that casts shadows over characters' excesses and mendaciousness.

    3. The green Light

The green light at the end of Daisy's dock represents Gatsby's unattainable dream of love and happiness. The green light is always out of reach, symbolizing the elusive nature of Gatsby's desires and the impossibility of recapturing the past.

   4. The City Light

Depicting the city lights within the backdrop of the setting further underlines criticism for the American Dream. They symbolize the glitter and glamour of a society bedazzled by wealth and status, yet singularly empty and vapid. It connects to the novel's point of how shallow success often finds itself underpinned by hollow.

#Write about 'Understanding Jay Gatsby's character'.

‘Gatsby as Tragic Dreamer’

Gatsby's greatness and his tragedy lie in his desperate attempt to overcome a past filled with pain and inadequacy. In the literary analysis, his transformation and unyielding hope paint him as a romantic hero of the American Dream. In contrast, the psychoanalytic perspective reveals the inner cost of this dream: a man haunted by guilt, burdened by shame, and grieving for the self he lost along the way.

Gatsby is a man who has completely remade himself-from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby-who embodies the myth of reinvention that is central to the American Dream. His transformation isn't just about amassing wealth; it's about building a persona that can win back a lost love, Daisy Buchanan. 

He is full of extravagant parties, mysterious wealth, and an aura of charm-is designed to hide the insecurities stemming from his origins. His self-made myth is as much a protective shield as it is a way to attract the love and acceptance he craves. Central to Gatsby's character is his obsessive longing for Daisy Buchanan. His entire identity is tied up in the dream of a perfect love that, in reality, remains ever out of reach. This idealization of the past, and of Daisy herself, underscores the tragic dimensions of his character.

If we analyze from a psychoanalytic lens: Jay Gatsby is a character whose high drama hides intense internal angst and deep-seated wounds. His persistent remaking of himself from James Gatz to the mysterious Gatsby becomes a defense against the shame and guilt of his more modest origins. It represents his unconscious effort to achieve a kind of American Dream that has been idealized in his psyche. This movement away from his past limitations will also be symbolized by lavish parties and a display of riches that serve only as a smokescreen both for himself and others to not look at the emotional emptiness and inner strife that still hounds him.

Bellowing beneath his charming and self-assured mask lies a deep sorrow—sorrow for the lost past, for the mythic love he had with Daisy, and for the life that could have been. This unconsummated bereavement forms the core of understanding Gatsby's psychological weakness; it gives fuel to his obsessive desire to go back to a fantasized perfection and prevents him from opening his eyes to the ineluctable fact of change and loss. His inner conflict-constantly and perpetually, a struggle between aspiration and self-doubt-reveals the tragic dimension of his character, suggesting that his pursuit of an unattainable dream is as much a self-destructive quest as it is a hopeful leap toward self-actualization.

#How faithful is Luhrmann's film adaptation to the original novel?

Baz Luhrmann's 2013 movie is faithful to the core plot and characters of The Great Gatsby. However, it retains all the relevant elements of the book among them are Nick's narration, the mystique of Gatsby, the immense parties, and the tragic love of Daisy and Gatsby. In return, the movie uses the style with bright colors, fast cuts, and a modern soundtrack to bring the Jazz Age alive for today's audiences. While these visual and stylistic choices sometimes make the movie feel more like a big spectacle than the quiet, reflective tone of the book, most people agree that it captures the overall spirit and themes of Fitzgerald's classic story.

#Write a brief note on the symbolic significance of 'Green Light' and 'Billboard of The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelberg'.

In The Great Gatsby, the green light is the unyielding hope of Gatsby and the magic attached to his dreams. It symbolizes the longings of Gatsby concerning his future with Daisy and his broader pursuit of the American Dream. Unfortunately, the green light glows so brightly that it is always beyond reach—a reminder that idealized goals often remain forever out of reach, in love as well as in life. 

The billboard of the Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg stands as a haunting emblem of moral decay and the loss of spiritual values in modern society. The dilapidated, unblinking eyes on the billboard are widely interpreted as representing an omniscient, god-like presence that silently judges the moral corruption and emptiness that pervade the world of the novel. This symbol underscores the fact that, within the dazzling pursuit of wealth and pleasure, lies a profound lack of ethical oversight and genuine human connection.

#Write a brief note on the theme of 'The American Dream' and 'Class Conflict' in the novel.

The theme of The American Dream is presented as an attractive yet vacuous pursuit. Jay Gatsby is the epitome of the self-made concept of becoming a millionaire and rising from a lowly to a high-class status by achieving enormous wealth and lavish status. But Fitzgerald shows that beneath the sheen and glitz, the American Dream is greatly flawed. Gatsby's ill-gotten wealth cannot buy him true happiness or the love he truly desires, as this idea points out that the dream is corrupted by materialism and empty ideals.

The novel further explores Class Conflict by underlining the great distinction between old money and new money. Characters such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan typify the East Egg's aristocracy of established blood, their fine manners, and their money being made over generations distinguish them from Gatsby and others of West Egg's self-made persons. The desert is further underscored by the existence of the desolate Valley of Ashes, a metaphor for the forgotten working-class burdened by industrial decay. Finally, Fitzgerald critiques a society where social mobility is limited by rigid class boundaries, suggesting that wealth alone cannot bridge the gap between those worlds.

References: 

Barad, Dilip. “Great Gatsby.” blogger.com, https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/06/great-gatsby.html . Accessed 03 February 2025.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby (Penguin Modern Classics). Penguin UK, 2000. Accessed 3 February 2025.

“The Great Gatsby: The Challenge of Adapting a Classic Novel to Film.” The Artifice, 31 January 2013, https://the-artifice.com/the-great-gatsby-adapting-classic-novel-to-film/ . Accessed 3 February 2025.

Thank you!!!