Social & Public Perception of Gatsby and Fitzgerald

Social Situation

The public perception of Jay Gatsby’s various identities and lifestyle reflects Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s own life failures and achievements. 

The social situation both men grew up in influenced the path they both took to attain greatness, but brought them towards the same ends. Although they grew up in contrasting atmospheres with different family dynamics, both men made a name for themselves and became wealthy. Although the cost and means were different for each man, their goals provide them with some common ground.

Identity

The public’s opinion plays an important role in identity in this novel, as it influences the public persona. It acts as an underlying factor that dictates action and behavior, because of the need to maintain a certain composure and reputation. Gatsby is the epitome of aliases, as  he spends his entire life trying to reinvent his image. 

Both were able to obtain the public identity of brilliant young men who are full of promise, but they both began to degrade. Fitzgerald's newfound wealth caused him to develop the reputation of a playboy – a wealthy man who spends his time enjoying himself with no regard for responsibility – which hindered his reputation as a writer. This is reflected in Gatsby's romance with Daisy, as she represents his tragic flaw of ambition. She is his vice and she is what initializes his downfall as the tragic hero. 

"A seventeen-year-old James Gatz invents Jay Gatsby, and it is to this vision that he remains true. Ultimately, it is this vision that betrays him...Gatsby represents the world of the ostentatious newly rich; however, he remains a romantic idealist. He is a paradox: the innocent bootlegger" (Hickey).

“He looked…as if he had ‘killed a man’” (Fitzgerald 128).

Wealth and Moral Decay

“...used to go there by the hundreds” (Fitzgerald 166).

“Well, the fact is - the truth of the matter is that I'm staying with some people up here in Greenwich, and they rather expect me to be with them tomorrow” (Fitzgerald 160).

Like Fitzgerald however, Gatsby also experiences moral decay. But while wealth is the direct instigator for moral decay in Fitzgerald’s life, it is only an indirect instigator in Gatsby’s moral decay. Wealth is only the means for the fulfillment of Gatsby's dreams. However, wealth is what also allows him to reach Daisy, and because Daisy is his ultimate downfall, wealth can be considered only as an indirect factor in Gatsby’s decline. In other words, Daisy is to Gatsby, what money is to Fitzgerald.

At the end of the novel, Gatsby has nothing to show for his 5 years of hard work, as the illusion of his public identity has been shattered -- Gatsby’s identity as an ambitious West Egger is utterly and completely dead. Instead, he has become the face of crime and bootlegging, and no one, not even Klipspringer or Wolfshiem want to associate themselves with him.

Fitzgerald uses Gatsby as an autobiographical character, by portraying his own degradation from a literary genius to a playboy.  Both men manage to reach a peak in their life where the public supports them greatly. But power always comes with responsibility, and in this scenario, the greatness comes at the price of corruption and excess which leads to moral decay.