A Marxist Deconstruction of Capitalism Through The Great Gatsby.
Scott Fitzgerald's renowned masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, creates an artificial world where money is the essence of everyone's desire. The characters, the setting, and the plot are deeply submerged in a Capitalism that vows to shatter all hope for the American Dream. Fitzgerald's criticism of Capitalism can be seen as a move to subtly promote Socialism, an ideology (belief system) in which value is placed on the inherent value of an object rather than its market value (Tyson 54). Marxism is a specific branch of Socialist theory and Fitzgerald makes Gatsby a novel that is not innately Marxist or even Socialist, but one that is filled with Marxist theory. He initiates this by presenting the basics of the Capitalist society where nonhumanitarianism (not promoting the welfare of humanity), reification (treating a living thing as an object), and market value are common place. Fitzgerald implies that the Capitalist system is flawed because at the conclusion of the novel, all of the characters that represent typical American Capitalism fall from grace to a world of utter despair. Fitzgerald's criticisms work to warn 1920's Americans of their behavior and how destructive it can be.
Marxists believe very firmly in humanitarianism; they believe that as humans, we should look out for each other and care for each other, because we are all essentially on the same level. All of the characters in Gatsby nullify this idea, because they all exploit each other. For instance, Gatsby uses Nick to set up a meeting between he and Daisy. The characters also place very little value on individual human beings or on humanity as a whole. Each character is too wrapped up in him/herself that he/she does not take the time to care for others. Class levels are prominent - the rich are drastically separated from the poor, and the rich wish to keep it that way.