LaurenP+Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalytic Interpretation of //The Great Gatsby// By Lauren Petrillo F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel //The Great Gatsby// is an exercise in psychological destruction. Fitzgerald aptly portrays how obsession can transform lives and ultimately cause an individual’s destruction. In any aspect of live, determination is a useful tool that allows us to achieve our goals, however when determination becomes all-encompassing, an unhealthy obsession can take control over one’s life. Fitzgerald’s //Gatsby// effectively shows the devastating consequences that obsession can hold. The degree of obsession expressed by the central characters Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Daisy Buchanan are all examples of psychologically unfit individuals so consumed by the objects of their desire that they are oblivious to the deterioration of the lives around them. The object of Gatsby’s obsession, Daisy, is what turns a bright young man into a distressed voyeur. Though Gatsby himself does not do anything physically harmful to Daisy, his actions clearly show that he is not a mentally stable individual. He expresses his voyeuristic tendencies as he peers into the lives of those around him, especially and extensively Daisy’s, without the realization that his obsession is seriously disturbed. Gatsby in essence centers his entire being on reuniting with Daisy, and is oblivious to the fact that it is making him a hollow man. He holds lavish parties not for the company of those who actually attend, basically ignoring his guests as they take advantage of his “hospitality”, but for the slim hope that Daisy will appear before him. So deep into his quest for love, Gatsby is ignorant of how his behavior had crossed from the unassuming into delusional. This is especially seen the night Gatsby waits outside of Daisy’s home all night on an imagined vigil for her safety and literally watches her in her own home: “He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight—watching over nothing” (Fitzgerald 153). Ultimately, Daisy becomes Jay Gatsby’s demise, as he coldly overlooks her vehicular manslaughter of Mrs. Wilson, an event that will be the ignition of his murder. His flippant reaction to the car accident and descent into delirium proves just how mentally unfit Gatsby had become, a result of his obsession that he had cultivated unchecked for many, many years. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, is not exempt from the psychological destruction that obsession causes either, as much as he would have us believe otherwise. Upon meeting Gatsby, it becomes apparent that Nick is taken aback by him, almost smitten—his thoughts and actions consequently rely solely on Gatsby. His life begins to revolve around Gatsby and the mysteries that seem to follow him. His fascination with his neighbor had him so preoccupied that it begins to effect his own life as he throws away a real relationship with Jordan Baker, a character who was none too perfect herself, but nevertheless honestly interested in Nick: “Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away” (186). In addition to his obsession with Gatsby, Nick also exhibits narcissistic personality traits. Clever, calm, and extremely calculated, Nick appears to be the only character within the novel that could be considered an upstanding man; however, when looked at more thoroughly, it becomes clear that this is not so. Nick is an expert on manipulating the tone and path of conversations and confrontations with other characters, and always managed to come out appearing the moral superior. With an unhealthy fixation and serious personality defects, it is apparent that even Nick Carraway is not totally psychologically sound. The woman who is the cause of so much obsession and psychological frailty, Daisy Buchanan, also contains her own issues which are devastatingly crippling. The obsession that compels Daisy is her desire to remain a coquette-like, innocent being. Daisy makes this wish visible to Nick as she states that she wishes her daughter to be nothing more than “a fool—[that’s] the best thing a girl can be in the world, a beautiful little fool” (21). The desire to be nothing more than a vapid, complacent woman ultimately has grievous effects on the lives around her—in her desire to maintain the harmony of her plush existence Daisy cannot clearly state which man it is that she truly loves: “Oh, you want too much…I did love him once—but I loved you too” (140). This vacillation on her part causes dissonance between Gatsby and her husband Tom, subsequently ruining Gatsby’s life’s purpose and allowing her a cowardly return to her comfortable life. In her desire to maintain a perfect visage, Daisy’s obsession shows the ugliness of her person hidden deep below. Indeed, the psychological obsessions of Gatsby, Nick, and Daisy greatly impact their lives. Through their obsessions, their true characters are visible, and effectively show that it is through our faults that one’s nature can truly be evaluated.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. __The Great Gatsby__. New York: Schribner, 1999.