”The Great Gatsby” is the most famous novel by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, an American author considered as one of the most prominent members of the Lost Generation of 1920’. In his work Fitzgerald often expressed his disappointment and dissatisfaction regarding the postwar reality. His writing was strongly influenced by ideological and moral transformations of America society in the 20ties of the 20th century.

The novel is a critical social story, I would even say a cautionary tale concerning the American Dream. It tells a story about the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, illustrating a portrait of the Jazz Age of the Roaring Twenties in the background. A period known for unprecedented economical prosperity, flapper culture, moral decadence, bootlegging and other criminal activities.

Knowing the content of the novel one could ask since Fitzgerald showed the life of the American higher class society in such a pejorative way how is it that the title of the novel is “The GREAT Gatsby”, containing the adjective GREAT there? In what sense was Gatsby great, if he was great at all, or is the title meant to be taken ironically? All these questions I am going to address in the next parts of my essay, showing my opinion of the interpretation of the title, including information on how I arrived at this stance.

Nevertheless, before analyzing the title it is worth mentioning that Fitzgerald was not happy to give his novel the name by which we now know it. First of all, he actually struggled to produce a name at all. Choosing the title he considered names like : “On the road to West Egg”, “Under the red, white and blue”, “The high – bouncing Lover”, “Trimalchio”, “Trimalchio in West Egg” or “Among Ash-heaps and millionaires”, which would be actually my favorite one.

What is more “The Great Gatsby” title was not Fitzgerald’s wish at least. While the novel was at the printers, Fitzgerald wrote to his editor Max Perkins saying that he decided to title the novel “Trimalchio in West Egg” but the editor advised him against using it because the reference seemed to be too obscure for ordinary readers and that people would not be able to pronounce it. His wife Zelda and Perkins both expressed their preference for “The Great Gatsby” and after a month Fitzgerald agreed.

Soon before the publication the writer once again wanted to re-title his novel. This time to “Trimalchio” or “Gold-Hated Gatsby” but Perkins advised once again against changing the current one. Then the novel was in the bookshops and The Great Gatsby had to stay.

When it comes to the interpretation of the title of the novel in my mind there are several different things to consider. For me it depends on what kind of reader we are. If while reading a book we want to get to know something about the author himself (I mean some biographical facts, work characteristics, information about his outlook on life etc.) or we just take a book, read it without any research of the background. From my point of view it does matter. Knowing anything from that information I have mentioned above it is easier to “understand” in the right way message the author is trying to convey.

The same here. For example, if we take into account that information about Fitzgerald’s ideas choosing the title for his novel. Namely, if he considered incorporating the name Trimalchio, who was not a positive feature but a social climber and hedonist ( from the classical poem Satiricon ) so we can definitely presume that the author of the novel didn’t consider Gatsby as great at all.

What is more, knowing Fitzgerald’s attitude towards the reality of the 1920s (what he feels about the lifestyle, priorities and moral values of the higher class in those times) we may also draw some conclusions about what he wanted to show by including the adjective Great in the title.

There are many themes mocking Jay Gatsby’s supposed “greatness”, but in my personal opinion this “greatness” does not refer to Gatsby at all. I think that it should be taken on a more social level, including society in general, implying their prominence and showing what the Jazz Age society identified as Great. It was in their eyes that he was great, not in his own. What others considered to be great was merely a ‘front’ put on in public, in order to feign confidence.

Although he had everything that was associated with greatness, having an ideal life, even if he symbolized the state of idealism that had been common in times when the novel had been published I don’t think he felt great. He was not happy. Those materialistic things did not fulfill him.

For me, exactly that is the reference to the American Dream. I think that Fitzgerald wanted to shatter the myth about the perfect American dream. In the 1920s everyone believed that the American Dream was a wonderful perfect reality full off happiness. The author may have tried to portray it as “unrealistic” and unattainable. Although Gatsby had plenty of money, a lot of parties etc he was lonely. I think that the author is showing that simply achieving greatness” is not always as radiant as it seemed to be in the American Dream. I know it may seem hypocritical, because actually the author of the novel was one of those greatest members of that kind of society, but through reading his work it is not difficult to feel that he was not happy with that reality at all. Focusing just on Gatsby’s character for me there are three ways of considering his “greatness”. He is considered ‘great’ in a paradoxical sense, by the measurement of dreams, his wealth, his larger-than-life personality, the festivities and joviality that, to others in the novel, marked him as a man of high stature and almost god-like in personal proportions. From a more materialistic view he was really great. It seems that he was one on the wealthiest people on Long Island, and definitely one of the wealthiest in West Egg. He had a beautiful mansion, the nicest, most expensive stuff, including his car, clothes etc. and he had the greatest parties. Everyone wanted to be there, everyone treated them as legendary events, everyone seems to know his name and was endlessly interested in his life. So in that way, he was, well, a “great” local celebrity. Then I believe that there is also an irony. Gatsby’s dreamlike life would be a sham. He rose to the top of society in a dishonest way; he earned his fortune through illegal activities. The “old money” folk saw right through his appearance. To them he was not “great” – he was just a figure in a sideshow, a freak, a carnival oddity, “The Great Gatsby”. When his house of cards crumbles, all those friends of his turn out to simply be people who take advantage of his generosity and riches.

But for me there is also another way to see the meaning of the adjective describing Gatsby. Take for example Nick’s words to Gatsby: “You´re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” These words refer to what I would like to show now about him. Mainly, that he, theoretical a criminal, a living facade was the most real person in that degenerate society. He was able to love, a feeling that others (aside from Nick) were able to emphasize only in case of money, well-being, an extremely high life standard, all pure materialistic things. That is what made Gatsby a great tragic figure. His authentic love led to his death, a love that proved to be an illusion.

Also, Nick believed that Gatsby was truly a good person; the man was generous, loyal, and sincere. In this way, Gatsby was great. He was a victim of Tom and Daisy’s selfish, shallow addiction to their wealth and lifestyle.

In my opinion we shouldn’t ambiguity estimate Gatsby as great or not great, good or bad. I think that it is a more complex person on one side great on the other not so great, but it does not define him as bad or good. To sum up I just want to say that I received his person in a positive way. He might have chosen a less honest way to make his dreams come true but for me he was good at heart and that is what made him great.