Fitzgerald's Portrayal of Women

Throughout all of Fitzgerald’s stories, he conveys the sense that women are merely foolish objects. For example, in the Diamond as the Big as the Ritz, Kismine actually gets offended when John called her sophisticated. She even argues to show John she isn’t as intelligent as he thinks she is, “I’m very innocent and girlish. I never smoke, or drink, or read anything except poetry. I know scarcely any mathematics or chemistry. I think sophisticated is the last thing you can say about me”(Fitzgerald 11.) I personally was very shocked to read this because I would be thrilled if someone ever called me sophisticated- not take it as an insult. Kismine lists all of the things she can’t do to “dumb herself down” to John, as if being intelligent is something to be ashamed of.

In Winter Dreams, the only thing Fitzgerald describes about Judy Jones is her “merely beautiful” appearance. Fitzgerald purposely puts emphasis on the grip Judy Jones has over many men saying, “under the magic of her physical splendor the strong as well as the brilliant played her game and not their own.”

Fitzgerald also touches on young girl’s expectations in society in The Great Gatsby, through Daisy’s evident disappointment when she found out her child was a girl, “She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." Yet again, Fitzgerald conveys the sad standards of the 1920’s- girls are only necessary to become wifes. The only thing that is appreciated in woman is there external appearance.There are two ways a reader could interpret Fitzgerald’s intentions; he is either extremely degrading towards women, or he is trying to reveal the universal truth that women are expected to be nothing more than objects.

Favorite Passage from The Great Gatsby

“I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was with him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (Fitzgerald, 40.)

I love this passage from The Great Gatsby because it literally takes Nick and puts him into another perspective, allowing the reader to connect with the story. Fitzgerald even uses the pronoun “our” taking the reader back in time, to join the life of New York City. At the same time Nick is roaming around the city, he is also confined by the chaos in his life but mesmerized by the lights and amount of people he is surrounded by. Therefore, he takes himself out of the present to investigate the “human secrecy” of New York.  Many times, I find myself doing this as well. I notice that I have been just observing people, not to judge them, but to observe the “variety of life.” I agree with Fitzgerald, it is sometimes repelling to see so much difference, because it's a rude awakening that the world just doesn’t revolve around your small problems that you perceive to be such a big deal. But I think Nick, in this case,  is repelled because he is in a room with the richest of New York and they are just blowing money, and he’s watching the other social classes cope with their situations. What is enchanting about it though, is that there is so much more life to discover. Especially in this time period, there are different ethnicities, music, social classes, sexualities, and so much more Nick just hasn’t been introduced to. I personally think it's comforting to see a family or somebody through a window because it gives you as strange sense of community in a way, even though you may have never met that person. I love the fact that Fitzgerald chose to make Nick look up and wonder at his own life. It conveys the sense that things can be so much more different than what they seem like on the outside. “Stranger” Nick, may have envied the rich people at this wild party. On the other hand Nick is looking down on the city wishing he could be the guy roaming the streets. But, instead he is confined by the chaos of Tom and Myrtle. Fitzgerald ultimately reveals the natural human tendency to envy strangers through irony and creating a different persona for Nick.