계급, 사랑, 성의 문제를 통해서 본 『위대한 개츠비』 다시 읽기

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new reading of The Great Gatsby in terms of class, love, and sexuality. From the perspective of social classes of the main characters in this novel, it could be safely said that Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy belong to the upper leisure class, while Jay Gatsby, George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson to the lower working class. Meanwhile, Nick Carraway, the narrator of this novel, could be referred to as the middle class character who is rational and moral. Social classes can be compared to a ladder in that people in the lower class try to climb up the ladder of class. In this novel, it is Gatsby and Myrtle who attempt to go up eagerly from their own class to the upper class. Gatsby tries to climb up the ladder of his romantic love with Daisy, while Myrtle takes advantage of her sexuality toward Tom Buchanan to accomplish her aim. However, those in the upper class do not allow the lower class people to come into the sphere of their own class. Therefore, Tom and Daisy strive to defend it and conspire together. Consequently, Gatsby and Myrtle fall victims to their self-defence. According to the classification of class by Friedrich Nietzsche, however, the first class comprises those who are obviously superior to the mass intellectually; the second includes those whose eminence is chiefly muscular, and the third is made of mediocre. Based on Nietzsche, Nick and Gatsby belong to the superior class intellectually; Nick may be referred to as the moral and rational intellectual, while Gatsby as the romantic and creative intellectual. Tom Buchanan undoubtedly belongs to the second class of muscular eminence, and the other characters in the text belong to the third class of mediocre.