Taylor Rose
Mrs. Rogers
Honors English III
20 December 2010
Classic Literature or Waste of Time?
Gaping lines between social classes, unhappiness, and battles between desires and integrity, all influence and conflict the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. While some may argue that the story of upper-class struggles does not apply to all people in general, The Great Gatsby exposes life situations that live within the homes of many different types of families. Through character development and quarrels of personal values, The Great Gatsby proves to be classic literature, upholding trends of timelessness, universality, and morality years after its time.
The Great Gatsby challenges readers of any time period to examine their own character as well as their actions in trying situations. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s character development of Jay Gatsby and his conflict of love pertains to a variety of readers because of its timelessness, universality, and morality, confirming The Great Gatsby as classic literature. Throughout the novel, Gatsby clashes between his illusory view of the world and reality. Eventually, he completely loses sight of his “real” life because he becomes so consumed with trying to exhume his past love with Daisy, that even his best friend “couldn’t bear to shake him free,” (148). While those who oppose the novel may argue that Gatsby’s love-sick struggles do not apply to the common man, the principle of allowing oneself to become obsessed with something or someone to the point of a distorted reality pertains to many battles and conflicts throughout life in general. The element of timelessness in The Great Gatsby allows it to be applicable to readers far after its time because the principles shown through main characters involve inner divergence that concern readers in multiple aspects of their lives. Also, Fitzgerald’s character development has an affect on audiences because of its universality, germane to people throughout the western world “regardless of when and where it was written” (“What”). The Great Gatsby embodies the theme of issues discerning consumption from reality, which impinges on people regardless of their time and place. Because Gatsby’s denial about his past and his fixation with “trying to repeat the past” weaves in and out of many people’s lives, The Great Gatsby establishes a universal conflict that affects all types of people, and causes them to examine their own lives and situations (110). Lastly, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work still lives today because his character development questions morality. When audiences read The Great Gatsby, it causes them to examine their morals seen though the inner clashes that the characters experience, in Gatsby’s case, his priority of his past over his reality, and his allowance of Daisy to completely consume his life. This causes the audience to then analyze their own views on the troubles that Gatsby endures and determine whether or not they experience that same tension in their lives. After analyzing Gatsby’s priority of repeating his past and disregarding the reality of his life, the audience is challenged to compare their own decisions to his. Embodied in Gatsby’s character development, Fitzgerald expresses troubles that possess timelessness, universality, and morality, that endures the test of time and pertains to readers years after the book was written, true characteristics of classic literature.
In The Great Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan play an essential role displaying the divergence of morals that still affects readers today because of their timelessness, universality, and morality, establishing The Great Gatsby as classic literature. Although some may argue that Tom and Daisy cannot compare to most Americans or Westerners because of their outstanding social class, the issues that impact their marriage as well as their personalities exist in a variety of people’s lives. The main conflict within Tom and Daisy’s life is that between lust and integrity. Tom and Daisy both have at least one affair throughout the duration of their marriage. Because the issue of infidelity affects the lives of many people and proves to be a constant struggle in various relationships, The Great Gatsby, through Tom and Daisy, demonstrates timelessness because regardless of the time period, the principle of fidelity still relates to many Americans and Westerners. While those in opposition to The Great Gatsby may argue that not all relationships undergo issues of infidelity, Tom and Daisy’s relationship still involves testing morality, another characteristic of classic literature. While the Buchanans combat infidelity, readers can still relate to their situation because they can examine themselves introspectively to see if they would hypothetically handle the situation differently, or if they would give in to their impulses, disregarding integrity. Because Fitzgerald incorporates moral principles that exemplify controversy and inner discordance between lust and loyalty, the timelessness, universality, and morality of The Great Gatsby still challenges audiences today.
Overall, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby establishes itself as classic literature because of its timelessness, universality, and morality, masterfully illustrated through the character development of Jay Gatsby and the relationship of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. While critics may argue that the plot and characters cannot be applied to the average person, Fitzgerald’s integral principles intertwine themselves into many people’s lives, no matter their time period, social class, or integral wellbeing. The Great Gatsby proves to be classic literature by challenging its audience and creating characters and situations that students and audiences still evaluate and relate to today.
