"The Grotesque End Product of the American Dream" by Richard Lehan

Richard Lehan believes that “Gatsby never learns that his dream is dead, but that realization is Nick’s nightmare” (Lehan 104). Lehan equates Gatsby’s dream with nostalgia, pragmatism, and a woman. Gatsby moves to West Egg because he “longs for the unattainable” (107). Gatsby is from a different time period that is being replaced by a new “order” (107). Since Gatsby is too caught up in his past, he prevents himself from moving forward. Lehan claims that Gatsby is the “absurd incarnation of Benjamin Franklin” (109). Lehan explains how Gatsby became a self-made man without the style and authenticity of the upper class. All of Gatsby’s actions reflect his desire to be with Daisy. However, Daisy was never destined to be with him. Gatsby never realizes this fate, but Nick becomes restless upon seeing Gatsby’s dream fade away. Nick returns home to the West because he can no longer “exercise the will to realize an ideal” (106). Lehan views Nick’s return as “a meaningless gesture that is antiheroic” (106).

Lehan discusses many precise conclusions regarding Gatsby’s dream. Gatsby yearns for his past relationship with Daisy and still has hope of being with her. Nick noticed how Gatsby always “talked about the past,” as if “he wanted to recover something” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby wants to relive the days of romance when Daisy was madly in love with him. Although Gatsby has made a fortune, his new money cannot buy him the high class taste that Daisy likes. Gatsby’s “cream colored” car “bright with nickel and green leather” displays his tacky and flamboyant style (63). Gatsby tries to attract Daisy with his huge mansion, luxurious cars, and over-the-top parties. Gatsby fails to see his dreams have “diminished by one” (93). Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy is more comfortable with Tom’s old money. Daisy will never leave the security and stability that Tom provides with his old money. Nick is troubled by Gatsby’s eternal hope for being with Daisy. After Gatsby’s untimely death, Nick returns to the West to restore his morals. His return is anything but “meaningless” (Lehan 106). Nick wants to leave the immaturity of the recent events and grasp what is left of his ideals.

Richard Lehan is an English professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lehan has written many literary criticisms on books written by American and European authors who include Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Bram Stoker, Rider Haggard, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Raymond Chandler.

Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner Paperback
Fiction, 1992.
Lehan, Richard. “The Grotesque End Product of the American Dream.” Focus on F. Scott
Fitzgeral’s The Great Gatsby: The Nowhere Hero: 104-10.

Kevin Chen
Daniel Jean
Mullin Weerakoon