Gatsby Is a Fairy-Tale Hero for the Middle Class

Robert Emmet Long suggests that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s vision in The Great Gatsby describes a fairy tale situation, filled with enchantment and illusions. The birth of the American dream, rising from the middle class, creates a fairy tale-like enchantment or illusion, distorting reality. This enchantment, Long writes, hides reality for those under its shadow. He describes how it may hide social barriers, and make them seem to disappear. True reality, however, is not eliminated because of the enchantment, and the barriers eventually reemerge full force, often causing failure. He also writes about his view revolving around the impending evil that contrasts the good in society. He describes how the Buchanan’s and Wilson’s life styles appear to be “bewitched by evil forces, which are beyond containment or control” (71). They eventually cause a “good prince” (71), Gatsby, to give way to the “dark prince” (71). In the fairy tale world of Gatsby, certain enchantments may make things appear better than they are, but eventually give way to what truly exists, and the evils that this reality may involve.
Long describes The Great Gatsby as a struggle between good and evil forces. Gatsby represents the good, or the hope that exists within society. Although this feeling of hope is suggestive of positive and beneficial feelings, it has the tendency to cause overly confident people to fabricate their goals until a point where they are out of reach. This holds true in Fitzgerald’s novel as Gatsby is perfect example of this hope. He remains successful and has acquired enormous wealth his dream of finally achieving his love with Daisy lies slightly out of his grasp. This is because of his instability and lack of real upper class background. Although he has somehow slipped through the social barrier that now does not seem as solid or restricting to him, Long’s predictions seem to hold true, as he is still not truly and upperclassmen at heart, and he is not fully able to succeed in trying to be one. Thus, his dream of being with her disappears in failure, leaving him with disappointment. Long’s assertions also hold true for the impending evils in the world, as evil does seem to eventually outlast the goodness and “good prince” of Gatsby. He eventually ends up dead, along with Wilson, while the source of the evils, the Buchanans, live on as if nothing has ever happened. In Great Gatsby, all evils are hidden at some point, only to reemerge and for the most part, triumph, over the goodness of the original fairy tale.
Robert Emmanuel Long is a critic of British and American Literature. He also has contributed as a writer and editor to many literature pieces, in addition to writing numerous pieces for various journals and other writing sources. He has contributed to The Nation, and The Saturday Review, along with many other contributions to various sources.

Continuum. 11 Dec. 2008 .
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1992.
Long, Robert Emmet. “Gatsby Is a Fairy-Tale Hero for the Middle Class.” The Achieving of The Great Gatsby. N.p.: Associated UP, 1979. 68-71.

Kyree Clark
Hunter Oppler