Why I Think The Great Gatsby Is As Good As Any TV Show

             When I finished The Great Gatsby I got that feeling you get when you finish a TV show that lasts eight seasons… I didn’t know what to do with my life. Without Jay Gatsby’s glamorous company and extravagant lifestyle, my life seemed as bland as Nick’s before he moved to West Egg. Further, I realized I’d forgotten how to feel the slew of emotions I reserved for each of Fitzgerald’s jazzy characters like that asshole Tom. So, as a way of passing my new free time, I am on a mission to determine what it is that made Fitzgerald’s cast so lifelike and lovable. In particular, I want to know what sets them apart from other literary characters, and where Fitzgerald’s depictions of them differ from most authors.

It starts with Nick. Nick’s narration could be characterized with a light touch, almost like he uses an invisible hand to narrate the novel, as he doesn’t force ideas or perspectives on the readers. This is true especially in the sense that Nick never outright tells you how characters feel or act. Where Fitzgerald differs from the vast majority of authors is in his use of Nick as a method of examining the motives behind character's emotions. And he does this in his on point descriptions of characters’ tone and body language. As a result, the menagerie of characters that make The Great Gatsby the masterpiece that it is are more realistic, believable, and understandable.

Checkout a video of Tom here,

and see what I am talking

about.

You can imagine Tom’s haughty and assertive personality because of Nick’s emphasis on his macho body language. The reason Tom becomes such a lifelike and convincing character is because you can imagine how he slaps Myrtle or swaggers into his mansion. Tom’s authenticity as character is a result of Nick’s narration, and the emphasis placed on Tom’s arrogant and aggressive body language. Even in Nick’s first mention of Tom in The Great Gatsby, Tom comes off as arrogant and aggressive, “Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch…Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.” (Pg. 15). Through his description of Tom’s body language, Nick establishes your concept of Tom as an aggressive and assertive man. He does this again later on in the passage, describing Tom’s eyes as establishing “dominance” and giving the appearance of “always leaning aggressively forward.” Here, again, you don’t need Nick’s confirmation and opinion on whether or not he thinks Tom is aggressive, because his description of Tom’s facial expression is convincing enough. Toward the end of the same page, Nick describes Tom’s voice, “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it,” (Pg. 15). When one imagines the “gruff husky tenor”in addition to a fractious personality and a “touch of paternal contempt”, it is near impossible not to dislike what Tom’s voice would sound like. Here, instead of using body language, Nick portrays Tom’s detestable personality through his tone. By the end of Nick’s description, you have a real understanding of what Tom would stand, walk, and talk like, and also you get a real impression of how much you would dislike Tom for his assertive and overly-macho attitude, all as a result of examining Tom’s personality through body language and tone. Further, Nick’s descriptions of Tom’s aggressive and domineering body language when compared to Gatsby’s more subtle and solitary gestures provides an explanation of their individual relationships with Daisy, Gatsby’s relationship being more intimate and gentle, and Tom’s relationship being characterized by dominance and control of Daisy.

Gatsby’s dream of obtaining Daisy’s love drives The Great Gatsby’s story. However, Gatsby’s dreams are made real to the audience and they maintain a gravity and actuality throughout the novel because Nick does not blatantly discuss them. Instead, Nick points out characteristics of Gatsby’s personality like hope and naivete to life in the novel, particularly in his descriptions of Gatsby’s body language and tone. When Gatsby meets Daisy for the first time in almost five years, it is clear he is nervous and as a result his artificial image of success and confidence deteriorates, and we see Gatsby’s underlying personality, “Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom. His head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock, and from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy, who was sitting, frightened but graceful, on the edge of a stiff chair.” (pg. 132). While Nick could have said plainly that Gatsby was incredibly nervous to see Daisy, he instead makes it much more believable and realistic for you by describing how awkward Gatsby’s body language is when he sees Daisy. Nick’s description of Gatsby, with “his hands still in his pockets,” leaning with a “strained counterfeit of perfect ease” demonstrates to you that Gatsby is uncomfortable. This description allows you to empathize with Gatsby’s mix of nervous and eager emotions, and introduces those feelings in a more organic way by demonstrating them through Gatsby’s body language. Using this method of examining Gatsby’s feelings through his body language, Nick effectively conveys Gatsby’s emotions through his behavior, and as result Gatsby comes off as a much more realistic character to us. In a similar manner to how Nick examines Gatsby’s emotions through his body language, Nick also explores how Daisy’s voice affects Gatsby, and in doing so Nick explains the relationship between the two characters.   

See an example of Daisy's
melodic voice in action
here.

Nick's descriptions of Daisy’s melodic and enchanting voice are as captivating as the voice itself, and further, demonstrate how tone is used effectively to determine characters’ emotions. In examining these descriptions of Daisy’s voice, Fitzgerald guides our understanding of the emotions behind Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Nick repeatedly describes Daisy’s voice throughout the novel, especially emphasizing the captivating and enchanting effect it has on men. Nick describes Daisy’s voice as “The kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, that whispered ‘Listen,’” (Pg. 19). Nick’s description of Daisy’s voice provides insight into Gatsby’s infatuation with her. This description of Daisy's voice is effective in explaining Gatsby’s feelings for Daisy because Nick explains exactly what it feels like to be enchanted by her voice. Instead of plainly claiming that Daisy had a mesmerizing voice and that Gatsby was enchanted by it, Nick examines himself how her voice makes the ear “follow up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.”, and how Daisy's “sad and lovely” face coupled that voice. Nick’s description of Daisy helps you empathize with and understand Gatsby in his feelings towards Daisy. Nick’s description of Daisy’s tone aided in creating not only a more realistic Daisy, but also a more realistic love between Daisy and Gatsby.

             If you think about it, The Great Gatsby is kind of like TV. Shows are more powerful than books in one manner: you can see and hear each of the characters. You are more involved in a show than you are in a book. With Fitzgerald however, that is simply not the case. The Great Gatsby is the masterpiece that it is because it compares to a TV show in the actuality and colorfulness of its characters, and the world they are in. The Great Gatsby depicts the Roaring Twenties as an outrageously fantastic and boisterous time, to the point that Fitzgerald’s world brinks on fantasy. And his characters are no less fantastical, because we can imagine them as if they were real. Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy are all alive and individual, with unique emotions, perspectives, purposes, and intentions. What makes The Great Gatsby’s cast of characters real is that you know them, how they move, how they sound, and how they react to Fitzgerald’s depiction of the Roaring Twenties, and because you know them so well, and you have that idea of what they are like, it just hurt that much more when they are gone.