Capitalism without Brake: Automobilism and Agency in The Great Gatsby
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One of the most powerful and enduring symbols of American capitalism is automobile. It transforms the economic and cultural landscape of America in the early twentieth century. It is no coincidence that the narrative of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is closely tied to automobilism, as the narrative depicts a particular phase of capitalism—that of the 1920s. This essay, which examines automobilism in the novel, attempts to reconsider its major topic of human subjectivity. I argue that human agency is limited, if not impossible, under the automotive capitalist system of America. The inability to handle the capitalist system is revealed in the scene where Gatsby and Daisy are unable to stop the car before hitting Myrtle. Myrtle’s death may be seen as an inevitable consequence of America’s capitalist development at breakneck speed. In the novel, the individual attempt to claim human subjectivity is doomed to be futile. All the more so for women, as the crash reveals the circumscribed nature of female subjectivity, for the crash is a culmination of both Daisy and Myrtle’s attempted escapes from patriarchal control. This essay traces such futility by examining characters’ illusory sense of empowerment that is aroused by driving fast, while their identities and their relationships are mediated through cars in consumer society.
Abstract
One of the most powerful and enduring symbols of American capitalism is automobile. It transforms the economic and cultural landscape of America in the early twentieth century. It is no coincidence that the narrative of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is closely tied to automobilism, as the narrative depicts a particular phase of capitalism—that of the 1920s. This essay, which examines automobilism in the novel, attempts to reconsider its major topic of human subjectivity. I argue that human agency is limited, if not impossible, under the automotive capitalist system of America. The inability to handle the capitalist system is revealed in the scene where Gatsby and Daisy are unable to stop the car before hitting Myrtle. Myrtle’s death may be seen as an inevitable consequence of America’s capitalist development at breakneck speed. In the novel, the individual attempt to claim human subjectivity is doomed to be futile. All the more so for women, as the crash reveals the circumscribed nature of female subjectivity, for the crash is a culmination of both Daisy and Myrtle’s attempted escapes from patriarchal control. This essay traces such futility by examining characters’ illusory sense of empowerment that is aroused by driving fast, while their identities and their relationships are mediated through cars in consumer society.
참고문헌 (12)
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