Gatsby Case
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The 1925 literary classic The Great Gatsby, written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald could be seen as a social commentary about the role of women during the Jazz Age in Long Island, New York. Fitzgerald portrays women as second class citizens who take a submissive role to men. He portrays them as powerless, foolish, gullible and naïve. The men, on the other hand are overly-macho and characterized by their physicality. They are also controlling and abusive. This paper will analyze how men viewed women in the book, how women viewed themselves and how men will go to extremes- and put themselves in danger to fulfill the chivalrous male role they believe they have to fulfill.
There are many quotes from the book that demonstrate the way men at that era viewed women and how they treated them. The following quote was one that stood out the most because it shows violence on more than one level:
“Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisys name.
“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson. “Ill say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai — ”
Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.
Violence is one of the key themes in this novel. Out of all the characters, Tom Buchanan embodies it the most. Tom, an ex-football player is always intimidating others with his strength. In this quote, as Myrtle taunts him by saying his wife Daisys name over and over again and he does not hesitate to slap her across the face, breaking her nose.
Fitzgerald does not only show that men view women as a simpler being than them. He goes on to show that some women have accepted that role and wholeheartedly believe it to be true.
“”Listen, Nick; let me tell you what I said when she was born. Would you like to hear?”
“Very much.”
“Itll show you how Ive gotten to feel about – things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. All right, I said, Im glad its a girl. And I hope shell be a fool–thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.””
This quote demonstrates that Daisy thinks that it would be best for all girls and they would be happier if they stayed “beautiful little fools”. As Fitzgerald elaborates throughout the book on what he meant by fool: a foolish girl is one who is carefree, careless, lighthearted and ignorant in