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Fitzgeraldand Cather:The GreatGatsby
TOM QUIRK
Universityof Missouri-Columbia
p. I89. "Paul's Case" was firstpublishedin McClure'sand later collectedin The Troll
Garden(I905) and Youthand theBrightMeduisa(I920). Since Fitzgeraldmentions"Paul's
Case" and "Seduction,"bothof whichare includedin Youthand the BrightMedusa,in his
letterto Catheras beinghis favoritestoriesby her,it is likelythathe read the storyin this
lastcollection.
13 "Absolution" was firstpublishedin theAmericanMercuryin June,I924, pp. I36-5I;
it is reprinted in Fitzgerald'sThe GreatGatsby:The Novel, the Critics,the Background,
HenryDan Piper,ed. (New York: CharlesScribner's Sons, I970), pp. 83-92.
The GreatGatsby 58I
concerningthe composition
16 Information of The Great Gatsbyis primarilybased on
KennethEble's "The CraftofRevision:The GreatGatsby,"AmericanLiterature, 36 (Autumn
I964), 3I5-26; and supplemented by Piper,pp. I38-54, and MatthewBrucolli'sSome Sort
of Epic Grandeur:The Life of F. ScottFitzgerald(New York: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich,
I98I), pp. I95-2I9.
The GreatGatsby 585
seemedto be a much"olderman,"Fitzgeraldreplied:"It seemsof
almostmysticalsignificance to me thatyou thoughthe was older-
the man I had in mind,half-unconsciously, was older."'7This dis-
crepancy is notone ofdetail-whatwe knowofGatsby'sbackground
numerically tallieswithhis actualage-; it is rathera matterof the
emotionalqualityof Gatsby'scharacter. He is notso old as to possess
MeyerWolfsheim'stiredsentimentality, who excuseshimselfat the
restaurant becausehe belongsto "anothergeneration"(p. 73). But
Gatsbyis wellintothat"menacing"decadewhichNick imaginesfor
himselfon his thirtieth birthday:"Thirty-thepromiseof a decade
of loneliness, a thinninglistof singlemento know,a thinningbrief-
case of enthusiasm, thinninghair" (p. 136). Gatsby'senthusiasms
alreadyhavethinnedto one,his enthusiasm forDaisy.
Gatsby'sobsessionsare, as Nick speculates,with "some idea of
himself":"He talkeda lot about the past,and I gatheredthathe
wantedto recoversomething, someidea ofhimselfperhaps,thathad
gone intolovingDaisy. His lifehad been confusedand disordered
sincethen,butifhe couldoncereturnto a certainstarting place and
go overit all slowly,he could findout what thatthingwas" (pp.
III-I2). That "thing,"in fact,probablyneverexistedforGatsby(or
forJimmie Gatz forthatmatter).For NickrendersGatsby'srecollec-
tionsof his love forDaisy fiveyearsbeforein such romanticand
distorteddetail thatwe immediatelyrecognizethe futilityof his
dreams.The moonlit"blocksof thesidewalk"in Daisy'shometown
reallyformeda ladderto a "secretplace abovethetrees"where,once
climbed,Gatsbycould "gulp down theincomparablemilkof won-
der" (p. II2). As he kissedDaisy thatautumneveningin Louisville,
he listened"fora momentlongerto the tuning-fork thathad been
struckupon a star.Then he kissedher.At his lips' touchshe blos-
somed for him like a flowerand the incarnationwas complete"
(p. 112).
The "incarnation" of whichNick speaks,and whichis unbeliev-
able preciselyto the degreethatit is poetic,is thatparticularized
moment, as itis sustainedbymemory, whenGatsbybelievedhisown
Platonicselfhad for an instanttouchedthe earth; and it is that
which neveractuallyexisted,thathe seeksand which is
identity,
symbolizedby thegreenlightacrossthewater.It is Gatsby'sfutile
17 Letter to Maxwell Perkins,c. 20 Dec. I924. Letters,
pp. I7I-75.
586 American Literature
withthe American
identifies
dreamwhichFitzgeraldexplicitly
of the noveland whichthusmakesa
Dreamin theconclusion
ofhischaracter:
figure
mythical
I becameawareoftheoldislandherethatflowered onceforDutchsailors'
eyes-a fresh,greenbreastofthenewworld. Its vanishedtrees,thetrees
thathadmadewayforGatsby's house,hadoncepandered in whispersto
thelastand greatest of all humandreams;fora transitory enchanted
moment manmusthaveheldhisbreathin thepresence ofthiscontinent,
compelledinto an aesthetic contemplationhe neitherunderstood nor
desired,faceto faceforthelast timein history withsomething com-
mensurate to hiscapacityforwonder. (p. I82)
Thisis theage-olddreamGatsbyseeks,butitis a vainstriving:"He
had comea longwayto thisbluelawn,and hisdreammusthave
seemedsoclosethathecouldhardly failtograspit.He didnotknow
thatitwasalready behindhim,somewherebackin thevastobscurity
beyond thecity, oftherepublic
wherethedarkfields rolledon under
thenight"(p. I82).
These famousconcludingpassagesof The GreatGatsbynot only
Gatsby'sstoryinto
beartheweightofthenoveland,in fact,transport
itas well.The finalpara-
buttheyhadinformed
therealmofmyth,
graphsgrew out of a singlelyricalsentencewhichFitzgeraldhad
originally usedtoconcludethefirstchapter.He crossedthatsentence
out,workedup theparagraphs, and placed themat theconclusion.
In doing so, he introducedthe greenlightwhich had beforebeen
confinedto ChapterV, and thenworkedit intotheconcludingpara-
graphofChapterI as well.Thus,he gaveGatsby'syearnings a single
and dramaticfocus,forthisgreenlight,as symbol,is inextricably
wed to Gatsby'sconsciousness of it. Throughrevision,he made his
smalltownboyfromNorthDakota a jaded and mysteriously sinis-
terfigure,forwhom theworldat largedoes not go "glimmering,"
but forwhom a singleand resolutepur-
as it had in "Absolution,"
pose,existingin thefreesolutionof his own imaginedmemory,of
a possessionfiveyearspast,is palpablylocatedand symbolized in the
greenlightat theendofDaisy'sdock.
Fitzgerald'screativeimagination, as ArthurMizenerhas pointed
out, was an instinctive ratherthan a calculatingone. Despite his
claimsthathe was attempting to writea novelof form,theauthor's
relationto his materialin Gatsbywas probablyfeltratherthandis-
The GreatGatsby 587
cerned.SurelyMaxwell Perkinsmusthave been dismayedby the
replyhe receivedafterhe had writtenFitzgeraldcommendinghim
on his achievement withthisnoveland makinga fewsuggestions:
"You oncetoldme youwerenota naturalwriter," he wrote,"-my
God! You haveplainlymasteredthecraft,ofcourse;butyouneeded
far more than craftsmanship for this."18Fitzgerald'sresponsein-
cludeda curiousremark:"My firstinstinctafteryourletterwas to
let [Gatsby]go and have Tom Buchanandominatethe book . . .
but Gatsbysticksin my heart."'9If we imaginewhat a small and
trivialbook his novel mighthave been withTom Buchananas the
dominantcharacter, we mustrealizehow muchwe have to thank
forFitzgerald's"heart."Butmorethanthat,we can understand how,
in his meticulousattentionto individualsentences,his "craftsman-
ship,"he was somehowblind to the largersuccessesof his novel
exceptin the mostinstinctive way. This may help to explainwhy
he mightrecognizea paragraphthat"strangely paralleled"one of
Cather'sin A Lost Lady and, at the same time,to have failedto
remember thetitleofthatnovelor to recognizetheultimately larger
influenceswhich"Paul's Case" and Alexander'sBridgehad exerted
uponhim.
II