East vs. West

Education is wasted on the young. If I had not returned to college, I would never had read The Great Gatsby again. Had I not re-read this treasure, I would never have understood the brilliance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing. I read this book once before, like so many other people, when I was in high school. It is a shame that teenagers have to read this book because they probably don’t get to really see what the book is about. Of course, they probably have a teacher standing in front of the class telling them, but who listens when you are thinking about your boyfriend and the football game on Friday night?

I was completely astounded by this book. Mainly, I think, because I missed so much of it the first time around. I did not see the amazing symbols (the green light, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, and Valley of the Ashes for example). Nor did I even notice the beautiful way Fitzgerald writes. The way he puts sentences together is simply amazing, and his understanding of descriptive writing just blows me away!

So, I must say that I am thrilled to have been introduced to this long-forgotten friend. In addition, I believe I am making some sense of why this book was on our reading list for American Studies (it had escaped me previously as to how this was related to the “Wild West”).

First, I was struck by the similarities between East Egg, West Egg, the East Coast, and the West Coast. East Egg represents the aristocracy of old money and class – something that Americans thought they were leaving behind in Europe. This type of attitude did not seem to be part of the American dream. West Egg represents new money and citizens who are considered crude and with garish manners. In the United States, it could be said that the East Coast represents money, power, and class, while the West Coast represents frontierism, new money, and crassness (at least back in the Wild West days).

I also found a real link between Gatsby and the Wild West Show of Buffalo Bill. Gatsby’s life was built around a dream (of being with Daisy), and he formulated this huge show of wealth and material items to impress her and make her believe he is all she could hope for. However, this is merely a show – Gatsby is an actor in his own strange play. Gatsby spent most of his life creating a new identity in a new place to get what he wanted. Buffalo Bill created a new identity to get what he wanted (fame) as well. Buffalo Bill created a new story about the settling of the West.

In Chapter 9 of The Great Gatsby Nick muses after Gatsby’s death about how West Egg would look to the explorers of the “New World”, and thinks that America was once a destination for explorers and those who dream of a new life. This would coincide with both Gatsby and Buffalo Bill. Both men, one fictional and one “real”, were inventors of their own images, and masters of their destiny. As we know, only one was successful in manipulating his destiny.

We should not forget that Fitzgerald was really commenting on social values of the day, and perhaps Gatsby should be required reading for all Americans lest we forget that it’s ok to dream, but be careful the dream doesn’t turn into a nightmare…