J GATSBY AND THE EXTERNAL AGENTS OF HIS FALL

The Great Gatsby, as the icon of 20th century American Novel generated a wide range of criticism and reactions, since its publication in 1925. J Gatsby is believed to be an undeniably true American following his American dream. He strongly believes in his success by employing all the means he owns. This is the force behind Gatsby's strong but blind belief in the fantasy of his ideally sketched future. Although he achieves his dream of financial success he tragically falls. Any classic tragic fall, definitely, claims a tragic hero guilty of a tragic flaw. Psychoanalytic studies have been conducted to identify the inner causes of this fall related to the lack of family, secured social position and his desires. This paper, however, attempts to bring the external destructive agents of this modern tragic hero into the spotlight. The opportunity to earn wealth, to construct a fake social identity and to believe that the impossible is possible pushes him down the hill. And that is nothing more than the very American Dream itself. This includes the possibility of social mobility, connecting with the members of higher social ranks and the wealth facilitating him to use the machinery and the new inventions of the age.


Introduction
Benjamin Franklin's transfiguration from a poor apprentice to the first millionaire of the United States imprinted its impact on the American culture.Moreover, the awakening thoughts of newly established America's thinkers, such as Emerson and the encouraging pamphlets like Thomas Pain's Common Sense brought millions of people from around the world to the newly discovered land.Tired of European social class discrimination and dull traditions, people, from any social rank, rich or poor, sailed to the land to start anew and give birth to their new identity.They have been persuaded that America is the promising land of their dreams.This social condition of America, that affected the whole world as Walt Whitman had foretold, (High, 1986) gave rise to themes and characters of American literature and turned to be one of the central themes of various works of Literature.But both in reality and Fiction the same fate was not waiting for those who wanted to make their identity by their own choice rather than, inheriting it from their fathers, the point that John F. Callahan justifies as polarities of American experience (2006), whereas it can also be considered as the lurking reality in the innards of the overwhelming American Dream.

Discussion and Analysis
One of the fictional characters, whose destiny in following his desire proved to be different than what was expected, is J.Gatsby, the central character of The Great Gatsby by F.Scott.Fitzgerald.After the American Civil War, the newly established America promised the satisfaction of all worldly desires and the equal social and economic opportunities for all people regardless of their social and economic status.Therefore, people started to sketch their desired future, then strongly believing in the possibility of elevation, they stepped the way.
Apart from the fact that the citizens of America were provided with the opportunity to follow their seemingly impossible dreams and make them come true, every individual had to find his/her own way of achieving that.All the ways though, pass through economic success.This study identifies three agents that were both the stimulus and the tool by which J.Gatsby attempts to achieve his dream; social mobility, love and machinery.Not only, has he strongly relied on the opportunities that the American dream promises, but he also believed in the truth of his major stimulant, love of Daisy, an upper class fair lady.Her love fueled his roaring teenage zeal to transform himself and his life.
Malaysian Journal of Languages and Linguistics Vol.(7) 1 2018: MJLL ISSN 2231-8593 (Print) MJLL ISSN 2289-8212 (Online) Prior to discussing the three agents, which build and destroy simultaneously, the paper renders a brief background of the roots of his tendency to make a change.He started by denying his parents and family background by leaving them behind, as a teenager.Then he took the very first step of identifying himself which is re-naming.He changed his name from James Gatz to J. Gatsby.
"His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. the truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself.He was a son of God.……… So he invented just the sort of J.Gatsby that a seventeen year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end."(Fitzgerald,G.G,p.105)Although he was totally determined to continue the way that he had already started, he could not find his way yet.Different professions saved him food and shelter."But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot."(G.G, 105)He was repeatedly fantasizing about his future, he could not be indifferent "to the drums of his destiny"(G.G,106).Such an ambitious young boy fell for a girl out of his reach, due to her upper social and economic status and was desired by most of the young soldiers going to war, with whom she was flirting around.His first confrontation with Daisy irrecoverably scarred his heart and he found himself eternally bound to her.
"His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white office came up to his own.He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God.So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star.
Then he kissed her.At his lip's touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete" (G.G, 119).
Their first kiss incarnated him and wed him to her like a real husband.The renewal of this emotion is what Gatsby desires for."He believes that he can repeat the past."(G.G, 118) As mentioned earlier, the very immediate action is to take the economic ladder of social elevation.The more he gains, the upper he moves.In this mobility the 'purpose justifies the means'; bootlegging in his case.
The question is why J.Gatsby could not make it?He had all the necessary tools to fix his life.Wealth, the must have machinery and technology of an upper class gentleman and he was lucky enough to live in a promising land.In this paper, the researcher focuses on the fact that the same agents that were supposed to assist him in making his way through upper class life pushed him down the hill.This paper focuses on the role of Love, social mobility and the technology on J.Gatsby's downfall.The American experience life may seem simple today but it was not this simple back in the early years of twentieth century (Callahan, 2006).

Love and social mobility
Beside the fact that Gatsby as a voracious teenager leaves his family and his roots to move up the ladder to fulfill his desire, love of Daisy was a stronger motivation for him to devote all his life and energy to make a rich gentleman out of himself; A wealthy educated gentleman, whom a fair lady of an upper class can be proud of.Whatever the reasons might be Gatsby successfully makes his way through and settles as the mysterious wealthy gentleman of the neighborhood.In spite of his success he could not win Daisy.He was too certain about Daisy's love to him, moreover his strong trust in the so called American dream that leaves no dubiety of achieving his dreams.
The reality of social mobility, however, was not trustable to that extent.His efforts in moving from one class to another were futile.It has even been symbolically rendered by the author as the two geographically unbridgeable lands; West Egg and East Egg called as "new rich" and "old established wealthy" by Richard Lehan (Great Gatsby, p.57).The distance between Gatsby's residency and that of Daisy, creates the sense of the everlasting gap between these two individuals, as the representatives of different classes, two different worlds.The only sign over the horrible gap he tends to fill is the green light urging him to have hope.
Tom Buchanan, Gatsby's rival, bitterly represents the reality behind the American Dream and the impossibility of social mobility.Daisy's husband is the proxy of the "old established wealthy", who has inherited the wealth, the social status and the one who rules the woman of his own class.He endeavors to make Gatsby observe the reality but is blinded with his misunderstandings.In the following section I will discuss his misunderstanding concerning Daisy's love and his misunderstanding of the possibility of social mobility.
Gatsby mired in his past, hurries towards achieving his unfulfilled desires in future.He mistakenly assumes that Daisy shares the same emotions with him that they once felt, as youngsters.The situation now is totally different for Daisy as a mother and as the wife of a socially strong man and more importantly as a woman belonging to an upper social class.
Daisy, on the other hand, was stuck in between an old flame of love and her husband Tom, "a wealthy bullying womanizer".J, Gatsby, is now back with the charm, wealth and the same desire to have her as his wife.His extravagant parties and eccentric behavior were all to remind Daisy of those days and to prove her that he is the one for her and can provide her what she requires.
His belief in the illusion that with wealth he can buy an upper class in society along with his blind assumption that the passage of time is unable to change people and their emotions, persuaded him to exceed his limits.Compelling every one, Daisy, Tom, Nick and Jordan to confront the moment, he believed will be his winning time, in chapter 7.
Could he handle his fake identity, "Mr.Nobody from Nowhere",(G.G 138) among the members of the upper class?Spending too much time with them, Tom kept asking questions and pushing him to his limits.Then, feeling nervous due to Daisy's hesitation in confessing her past love, Gatsby loses control and betrays his real personality.Tom feels insecure not that he is losing his wife, but the fact that he is losing her to a "swindler"."She is not leaving me!..... Certainly not for a common swindler who'd have to steal the ring he put on her finger" (G.G, 142).Tom continues to uncover Gatsby's corrupted business.The whole situation was turning against what Gatsby planned, therefore he lost the loyalty to himself and betrayed.Unexpected and unbelievable for her, Daisy was frightened, the worst possible condition for Gatsby.His trust in the immortality of their love is now shattered down into pieces.His lifelong dedication starts to shake, but he is still hopeful.Love of a woman of an upper class fuels him to achieve his purpose but there was no success.Whether he wanted to have a woman using the possibility of social mobility or to elevate via a woman from upper class, both proved futile.

Possessions and social mobility
Gatsby desired an upper class social position, for which he gave his life.He entered a big game, but he did not know the rules.Daisy's love and his hope to marry her, fuelled him to continue the way painstakingly.He geographically was in propinquity of the upper-class, but he was not cognizant of the rules of society and the lurking reality of the American Dream.He could reach that place and palace but was unable to go beyond, due to his unsecure social position.Whereas Tom could fall into the working class Myrtle's arms and then easily return to the luxury of her fair wife.
Gatsby, longs for that position through possessions; the palace, the automobile, the telephone and the home appliances.He could own them because he could afford.It really did not matter how he earned the money or even the condition of society might have encouraged such boot leggings.The economical aspect of American dream came true about Gatsby.He had the money and he faked his identity through his possessions and properties.Without that wealth he would not be able to approach Daisy and to be in close contact with the members of the upper class.Therefore, the very money itself which every one of the members of society could earn, regardless of their family roots and social situation, made them misunderstand their real status in society.They could own the machines, objects and everything that the upper class enjoyed.Why shouldn't they experience the same life and class as theirs?
The current cultural condition of the time, where everyone was considered equal, concerning social and cultural opportunities proved to be a myth in this novel.Moreover, the very situation itself was the root of the calamity that Gatsby and Myrtle ended up in.He thought he would go up the ladder, provided by money and the facilities, and he would own the woman he loves (G.G 86, 87).

The modern technology
As mentioned earlier owning some of the newly invented machines, like the automobile and telephone, were an inseparable part of upper class people's lives.There are recurrent occasions, when Gatsby and Tom use the phone, an inanimate object disrupting the flow of their real lives.From the very first the reader notices that the phone ringing diffuses embarrassment through the household, "telephonic logic….collapsing real time and virtual space".Phone ringing makes the sound of secrets heard, the hidden corruption in the core of a slick life; it could be a mistress or a corrupt business.Since mostly men pick up the phone and it only belongs to the wealthy people, that sounds like the manifestation of masculine power.Tom and Gatsby can afford the new technology and they use it for various purposes.Finally it destroys them.
Knowing the fact that wealth is the central value in the American culture, through which one can start anew in the world and build the ideal life.Gatsby, under the cover of his gentlemanly looks and traits, lives his corrupted profession.But, people eagerly attend his generously extravagant parties and make an icon of him.He is the most important person in the party but invisible to the guests.Everything about him is in accordance with the standards of American hero but when it comes to his identity, everything turns upside down.There was, however, a ready-made life story: "I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west-all dead now.I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years.It is a family tradition.''(Great Gatsby,70) in this well crafted identity the values of an upper class American are depicted; highly educated wealthy ancestors, trained and educated in the best university and off course extraordinarily affluent; the truth that American Dream denies as the necessity of social mobility.Being ignorant of this truth Gatsby fails.He possesses the same things that Tom does, as the representative of an established upper class member.The two things that this paper focuses on at this stage, are the telephone and the car, regarding their role in Gatsby's downfall.
The destructive force of telephone is unraveled from the very first scenes but it culminates when Gatsby was shot during the night he stayed up to receive Daisy's call.Telephone is supposed to be a communicator in general and the messenger of love for Gatsby in particular, where as in this novel it proves to be the destroyer.Even after he was murdered Nick's continuous efforts to call friends for the funeral service was futile and it could not help him in communicating with others.Telephone provides information through the novel rather than assisting people in their social communications.It informs the reader and reminds Daisy and Jordan of Tom's affairs, it informs of Gatsby's evil economic activities.This is the negative impact of this modern object of technology presented by the author.And its dark effects on Gatsby's destiny.What if he could not afford the object or he did not think that it is a must have belonging for a man of his rank.He might not end up murdered innocently in his luxurious pool.
The roaring of engines of the twenties make a loud disaster in the story.The car accident, in chapter seven, marks the end of their romantic relationship and Gatsby's downfall.It was kind of the author to kill Gatsby, still thinking that Daisy was on the other side of the line him and he was approaching the future that he had sacrificed all his life to.
On the way back from New York, due to Tom's insistence, Gatsby and Daisy drove home in Tom's car.Tom, on the other hand, would drove back home in Gatsby's automobile.Then, Fitzgerald literally shows the reader what happens if the impossible becomes possible.What would be the end of a lower class man in place of an upper class?Darkness of the night, the hopeful lower class woman, Myrtle, the spoiled upper class Daisy and arrogant Gatsby all lead to the catastrophic end.Does not it mean that if Gatsby drives Tom's car and try to possess such a social position it equals his destruction.Therefore, there is no safe possibility of social mobility.If he wants to earn what he has not inherited, he is doomed to be destroyed.The destructive agents are those modern pieces of technology that the social and cultural conditions of American Dream make them accessible for the members of all classes!There are instances of the phone ringing and interrupting the reality of life, like it comes from another world.'' They [Daisy and Gatsby] stood side by side examining it [clippings].I was going to see the rubies when the phone rang and Gatsby took up the receiver.'yes… well, I can't talk now…"'.(Great Gatsby, 100) Gatsby like other characters of the novel does not favor the interference of technology.But since it is considered as the signs of the upper class life, they bought all.
Although some critics believe in the polarity of American Dream, success and failure, like John F.Callahan, the point is if the lower class did not rely on the possibility of class elevation in the context of American life experience, they would safely continue their own life, satisfied or unsatisfied.Nobody, however, could criticize the members of the upper class, because that is the rule of the upper-class.Gatsby and Myrtle both are killed on their journey to a better life condition, while, Tom and Daisy worked things out and nobody blamed them for the two murdered ones, who cares for nobodies in American society!These two characters and many other men and women trusted the American dream, ignoring its bitter core of reality.