In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, gender pours an important
role into the "pool" of relationships seen throughout the story. Most noticeably, the women in this story are
never seen without a man. Daisy has Tom, Myrtle has Wilson, and even Jordan
begins to peruse a relationship with Nick. (Even though they were "set up" by the Buchanan's). Since this book was written before the rise of women’s rights, it
demonstrates that the social normality was to assume that every woman depended
on a man.
There are always
relationships that occur between the same genders as well. Gatsby and Nick learn to understand each
other greater than any other pair of people in the story- independent of
gender. There is a difference in
relationships between all men, all women, and then a mix. Similar to Lord of the Flies, by William Golding who stated in an interview
that including men and women in a story adds the underlying possibility of
reproduction- which takes away from real and focused conversation.
Gatsby-a man-becomes successful by himself. Yet, the women in this story all rely on
family or married in wealth to become successful. Not surprisingly this story
does not pass the Bechdel Test. To pass
this test a piece of literature has to have at least two woman characters-who
are named-that must carry on an extended conversation that doesn't have to do
with men. This demonstrates that in the
1920s women were still seen as inferior, and evidently influence the outcome of
The Great Gatsby- yet they remain static characters throughout.
AH! Great connection to the Bechdel test.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used Fitzgerald's portrayal of women's dependence on men to answer the question. Also, the application of the Bechdel test to The Great Gatsby is an interesting point to consider. The comic notes how common of an occurrence failure of the Bechdel test is, and that is sad.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared the relationship between women, men, and women with men. The inclusion of outside information such as William Golding and the Bechdel Test definitely boasts your logos.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind, it's from Nick's perspective; Most likely Jordan and Daisy talked to each other not about Tom. As well Tom's sexism is very much discouraged (Chapter 7). P. S. No (important) guy appears without a woman either.
ReplyDelete