Gatsby, like every character in The Great Gatsby is complex.
This is his story in songs.
He starts his journey a poor but ambitious young man. When his father shows us Gatsby’s childhood notebooks in chapter nine, we see that he was a dedicated individual. He had a plan in mind and would stop at nothing to achieve it.
This is what readers remember Gatsby as, the American Hero. He is defined by his determination for wealth, the physical embodied of the American Dream/”pulling yourself up by the boot straps”/rags-to-riches archetype. At first glance this is true, but if the story was meant to glorify this idealism, why was he fated with such a tragic end? Hence I disagree, If Gatsby was an Archetype he’d be the fool, not the tragic hero. To see why, we’d need to truly grasp Gatsby’s depth of character and to do that we need the full picture.
God forbid we get tunnel vision
Let’s start with his ambition growing up, with the song Vienna by Billy Joel.
“Slow down you crazy child
You’re so ambitious for a juvenile
… (Gatsby was abnormally ambitious, the odds were stacked against him but instead of laying down and admitting defeat he used his circumstances to power his ambitions)
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
… (Gatsby was left with an ultimatum: sink or swim. He could either let his past determine his future or defy the odds knowing it would take everything he has to achieve it.)
Slow down you’re doing fine
You can’t be everything you want to be before your time
Although it’s so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)
Too bad, but it’s the life you lead”
… (I think Gatsby romanized this process. This is hard grueling work and for a child to have to except his circumstance, it would make sense physiologically for the mind to make this process seem more like a game or a hero’s journey to lighten up the mental strain of reality. This alludes to a deeper theme in the TGG of individuals (especially Gatsby) believing the glorified version of a story rather than the harsh reality.)
Then one fateful day he mets Daisy and he falls in love. Every good love story needs a song about falling blindly in love, for this we have This side of paradise by Coyote Theory.
“Ask me why my heart’s inside my throat
I’ve never been in love, I’ve been alone
Feel like I’ve been living life asleep
Love so strong it makes me feel so weak
Are you lonely? (Are you lonely?)
Our fingers dancing when they meet
You seem so lonely (are you lonely?)
I’ll be the only dream you seek
….
You’re the ground my feet won’t reach
So if you’re lonely, darling you’re glowing
If you’re lonely, come be lonely with me”
(Falling in love with Daisy was Gatsby’s greatest ailment. If he was a planet orbiting the sun, the sun was his passion towards a better future. when he met Daisy, Daisy became his sun. His entire world shifted orbit to now center around Daisy and the future he wanted with her. This love was so world chaning for Gatsby that he assumed it was the same for Daisy, because of course it had to be. Like any great love story, the lovers are tied by the soul and since he felt that connection so deeply, he had no doubt it was reciprocated. This assumption sets the stage for the greatest tragedy Gatsby will face.)
Life has other plans for the star-crossed lovers and Gatsby is drafted for war. Although we are not given Gatsby’s POV during this time, from what we can infer (having Daisy now as his center of gravity) he whole heartedly believed Daisy would wait for him, that their love could never be separated. However, Gatsby is not naive enough to think suitors won’t try to persuade Daisy otherwise, bring us to our next song WFM by RealestK.
“Temptations
It’s knocking on your door
And you’re waiting
On me, baby (on me, whoa)
Won’t you hold me close
…(Daisy is being tempted to lose hope for Gatsby’s return, suitors could be quite literally knocking on her door waiting for her to recover from Gatsby)
Baby, take my hand
I promise we’ll be fine
‘Cause baby, I am yours
And baby, you are mine
…(I feel like this is what Gatsby was saying in his head while away, trying to telepathically communicate to Daisy to stay strong while he is away and even when he returned, in very delusional way.)
And I don’t understand, baby, why can’t you
wait for me?(x4)”
To his dismay, he was gone for too long and Daisy had to marry someone while he was way for her own sake. this leads me to the next song, This night opened by eyes by The Smiths
“This night has opened my eyes
And I will never sleep again
(I feel like Gatsby was this dramatic when he found out)
You kicked and cried like a bullied child
A grown man of 25
Oh, he said he’d cure your ills
But he didn’t and he never will
(Daisy was held back by her parents when Gatsby was sent off, she similarly had romanticized their love story, which is a very naive/childish thing to do. When she had to come to terms with the reality of her fate, she met Tom who was promising at first but didn’t really live up to idea of love Daisy had for herself)
Oh, save your life
‘Because you’ve only got one
The dream has gone
But the baby is real
Oh, you did a good thing
She could have been a poet
Or, she could have been a fool
Oh, you did a bad thing”
(Daisy’s dream was to marry for love but she let that dream go when Gatsby left and she had a daughter. Her daughter can also lead with her heart (the poet) or she could be a fool and follow along without a care in the world.)
Although Daisy’s choice didn’t discourage Gatsby, similar to his background, he didn’t let the reality of circumstances hold him back. If it worked once, it will again. Won’t it? He set his plan in motion, believing deep down that she still loved him and that this will work out. His plan spanned 5 years, and when the pieces finally fell into place, they reunited in the same way black holes collide. To describe their secret relationship at the time, we have Middle of the Night by Elley Duhe.
“I summoned you, please come to me
Don’t bury thoughts that you really want
I fill you up, drink from my cup
Within me lies what you really want
(Gatsby has his beliefs reinstated when Daisy continues a relationship with him, regardless of her being married to her Husband Tom. This fuels the delusion Gatsby has of them being fate destined lovers, furthering his obsession to have her)
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
Just call my name, I’m yours to tame
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
I’m wide awake, I crave your taste
All night long ’til morning comes
I’m getting what is mine, you gon’ get yours, oh no, ooh
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night, oh”
(I have a working theory that things in the light are things that are known while things in the dark are things “hidden”/unknown. Hence, their relationship happens at the darkest hour, hidden and only for themselves. This also shows the craving they had towards one another, like magnets colliding.)
The last part of Gatsby’s plan was to have their relationship out in the open, which included telling her husband of their plans. When the secret was finally out, Gatsby was so certain of Daisy’s undying love for him that he spoke for her. Claiming that she has always loved him and never loved Tom, because again he believes they are destined lovers who’s hearts could only belong to one another. Unfortunately, Gatsby did not account for the possibility of Daisy also having loved Tom. This shatters Gatsby’s image of their love, leaving Gatsby speechless and in dismay. The song I chose for this development is Fuentes de Ortiz by Ed Maverick
“Ya dime si quieres estar conmigo o si mejor me voy (Tell me if you want to be with me or I’d just leave)
Tus besos dicen que tú sí me quieres pero tus palabras no (Your kisses tell me that you want to be with me but your words say something different)
…
(Daisy is a complicated character in her own right but Gatsby had a very limited image of her in his mind. She had other worries, priories, she probably wanted this whole situation to go much differently, but he had assumed too much and when this perspective of her shocked him out of his tunnel vision, he was left confused)
Y en la noche en que las estrellas salen (And at night when the stars shine)
Yo pienso en ti, mi amor (I think of you, my love)
¿Qué me hiciste?, de mi cabeza no sales (What are you doing to me, from my heart you never leave)
Y no lo digo por mamón (and I don’t say that as a [lovestruck] idiot)
(Gatsby spends nights looking out at the stars and docks to see Daisy’s green light. This idea that the green light was meant to show how she was still holding hope for him further fed into his illusion. Over the course if half a decade, I believe his love became more of an obsession)
Si me dices para ti que soy (if you tell me what I am to you)
No dudaré en hacerte tan feliz (I wouldn’t hesitate to make you so happy)
Eres especial para mí (you are special to me)
…
Ya dime si tú me quieres por favor (so tell me if you want me, please)
Y he sufrido y me he empedado tanto por tu amor” (i have suffered and worked hard for your love)
Yo te olvidaré desde las Fuentes de Ortiz (I will forget you from the fountains of Ortiz)
(From how Gatsby reacted at the end of the book, I think he is too far gone to even consider leaving Daisy. He perhaps sees their hardship as another test of their love that he can overcome.)
Gatsby chose to hold on to his delusions, believing that Daisy would prefer him no matter what so he continued to believed she would come back to him even after she stayed at her home with Tom.
We follow Gatsby, looking through the eyes of Nick, because if we were reading the story from Gatsby’s POV the description of this love story would be much different. If we followed Gatsby he would tell the story as star-crossed lovers, would give us chapters of his pining, adoration, description of Daisy, and his hatred for Tom. Fitzgerald spared us by giving us Nick. while his eyes are nothing close to unbiased, at least the story between Daisy and Gatsby is being seen from the outside in, to limit the illusion they both had about one another. (like how in real life when a couple is so obviously infatuated with one another that they ignore problematic traits of their relationship but both of their friends are well aware about how bad they are together)
Gatsby starts his life ambitiously aiming for greatness. He has everything he could possibly want, expect the one thing he wants the most, and it’s something that money can’t buy. Then, when it’s almost in his grasp, it all shatters before him. Finally concluding with his death, unknowing dying on Daisy’s behalf.
Song List:
- Billy Joel – Vienna (Old Rock)
- RealestK – WFM (Hip Hop/R&B)
- The Smiths – This night opened by eyes (alternative Indie)
- In the Middle of the Night
- Ed Maverick – Fuentes de Ortiz (Spaniard alternative Indie)
Happy Listening – Lucid Lamb