Fitzgerald and Cather: The Great Gatsby

Author(s): Tom Quirk

Source: American Literature, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Dec., 1982), pp. 576-591
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2926007
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 Fitzgeraldand Cather:The GreatGatsby
TOM QUIRK

Universityof Missouri-Columbia

SHORTLY afterThe GreatGatsbywas published in 1925, F. Scott

Fitzgerald a letterfromWilla Cathercomplimenting
received
him on his achievement.' Fitzgeraldwas understandably excited
abouttheletter, so muchso thathe wokeup Christian Gausseand
hiswifeatoneo'clockin themorning tocelebrate.2His behavior was
extravagant, forGaussewas a Dean at Princeton and muchFitz-
gerald'ssenior,but extravagant behaviorwas not unusualfor
Fitzgerald. Nevertheless,
thereis reasonto supposethattheexcite-
mentCather'sletter generatedin theyoungauthorwas authentic
and thatit somehow verifiedhisownambitions forhisnewnovel.
Forhehadconsciously striventoemulate literary
Cather's technique;
but,moreimportantly, shehadexerted a greater
influence uponhim
thanevenhe seemstohaverealized, in mattersofincident andstory
as wellas style
andtechnique.
MaxwellGeismar, inhisbookTheLastoftheProvincials, wasthe
firstto suggesttheinfluenceofCatheruponThe GreatGatsby. He
perceived ofthemeandtonein theconcluding
a similarity passages
1 This letteris in "ScrapbookIV (The GreatGatsby),"p. 2I, in the Firestone Library,
PrincetonUniversity, and is dated 28 April I925. Cather'sletterwas actuallywrittenin
responseto a letterfromFitzgeraldin which he confessedto writinga passage in Gatsby
thathe thoughtreminiscent of a passagefromA Lost Lady. Fitzgerald'sletteris reprinted
in MatthewBruccoli's"'An Instanceof ApparentPlagiarism':F. Scott Fitzgerald,Willa
Cather,and theFirstGatsbyManuscript," PrincetonUniversity
LibraryChronicle39 (1978),
I7I-78; stipulations in Cather'swillprohibitquotationfromherletter.
2 Reportedin ArthurMizener'sThe Far Side of Paradise: A Biographyof F. Scott

Fitzgerald(Boston:HoughtonMifflin Co., i965), p. 202.

American Literature, Volume 54, Number4, Decemberi982. ? I982 by Duke

Copyright
University
Press.
 The GreatGatsby 577
of My Antoniaand Gatsby.The novelsbear a specialsimilarity as
well,he argued,in theirfirstpersonnarrators, JimBurdenand Nick
Carraway,both of whom possessa rememberedassociationwith
someoneunique and unexampledyet who embodiedsomething
precious,iflost,"like thefoundersof theearlyraces,"as Catherhad
phrasedit.3
JamesE. Miller augmentedand fortified the Cather/Fitzgerald
connectionconsiderably in his The FictionalTechniqueof F. Scott
Fitzgerald.He suggestedthepossibility thatFitzgeraldmighthave
been acquaintedwith Cather'sessay "The Novel Demeuble," in
whichCatherurgednoveliststo throwall of thefurniture of fiction
out thewindow;and,in contrastto Geismar,Millerspeculatedthat
Fitzgeraldmighthave learnedmoreaboutliterary formfromread-
ing A Lost Lady (anotherfirstpersonnarrative)than fromMy
Antoniabecausethefirstis morecompact,less"furnished." At any
rate, Miller is surely correct in arguing that Gatsby represents
Fitzgerald'smovementaway fromthe heavilyfurnishednovel of
"saturation,"whichswarmswithdetail,and towardtheunfurnished,
refinednovelof "selection."And A Lost Lady does displaygreater
artisticrestraintthanMy Antonia.Millerfurther identifiedthe na-
tureof Cather'sinfluenceon Fitzgerald as one
essentially of tech-
nique,and especiallythatFitzgeraldlearnedfromher a greatdeal
about"pointof viewand aboutformand unity."4
HenryDan Piperwentevenfurther in arguingCather'sinfluence
on Fitzgeraldwhenhe contendedthatshewas "almostas important
as" Conrad in contributing inspirationto Fitzgerald'sdeveloping
literarycraftsmanship. And he additionally speculatedthattheyoung
authormayhave respondedto EdmundWilson'sreviewof A Lost
Lady in January, I924, in theDial. There,Wilson had arguedthat
thatnovelachievedits dramaticintensity throughtheskillfulman-
agementof its first-person point of view. This review,Piper sug-
gested,"mayeven have had somethingto do withFitzgerald'sde-
cisionthreemonthslaterto abandon the third-person approachto

3 The Last of the Provincials:The AmericanNovel, I9I5-1925 (Boston: Houghton

MifflinCo., I943), p. i66.
4 JamesE. MillerJr.,The FictionalTechniqueof ScottFitzgerald(The Hague: Martinus
Nijhoff,I957), p. 78; rev. ed. as F. ScottFitzgerald:His Art and His Technique (New
York: New York Univ. Press, I964).
578 AmericanLiterature
his story."5But I would argue that Cather'sinfluenceupon Fitz-
geraldwas not restricted to mattersof techniquealone and thathis
affinitywithherwas evenmoreextensive thanGeismar,Miller,and
Piperhavesuggested.
There is no doubt that Fitzgeraldthoughthighlyof Cather's
achievements (he identifiedhimselfin a letterto her as one of her
"greatestadmirers"),and her work was in his mind duringand
afterthecomposition of The GreatGatsby.He was familiarenough
withA Lost Lady (thoughhe consistently misremembered thetitle
as "The Lost Lady") to recognizethathe had writtena paragraph
in Gatsbythat"strangely paralleled"a paragraphin thatbook and
conscientious enoughto writeCatherdirectly beforethepublication
of his novel and informher of this accidentalplagiarism.6 Addi-
tionally,in a letterto CharlesC. Baldwin,again beforethecomple-
tionof Gatsby,he proudlyannouncedthathis book would be an
"attemptat form,"an attempt"to conveythe feelof scenes,places
and people directly-asConrad does, as few Americans(notably
Willa Cather)arealreadytrying to do."7Afterthepublicationofhis
novel,however,despitehis consciousambitionsto writea novel of
formratherthan a ramblingchronicleof the jazz age, Fitzgerald
confessedto H. L. Menckenthathis book was a "failure"compared
to My Antoniaand a Lost Lady.8This mayor maynot have been
falsemodestyon Fitzgerald'spart; he had oftenbraggedabouthis
accomplishment in Gatsbyand feltthisbook made hima novelistto
be reckonedwith.In fact,simplyin termsofwhathe had attempted,
a novelof form,he was probablycorrectin the comparison.Artis-
tically,A LostLady is no doubtthebetterbook-it is quietand sure;
itstoneis steadier;itsnarrativepersonamoreconsistently drawn;it
seldomyieldsto excitablevariations ofmoodand tempo.
But,be thatas it may,we know as well thatFitzgerald,whilehe
recognizedCatheras a fellowartist,equally recognizedher as a
fellowmid-Westerner. Somewhatmistakenly, however,he thought
of her as a mid-Western novelistwhose pioneerswere exclusively
5HenryDan Piper,F. ScottFitzgerald:A CriticalPortrait(New York: Holt, Rinehart,
and Winston,I965), pp. I33-34.
6 The Letters of F. ScottFitzgerald,AndrewTurnbull,ed. (New York: CharlesScribner's
Sons,I963), p. 507. Hereafter citedas Letters.
7 Quotedin Miller,pp. 73-74.
8 Letterto H. L. Mencken, pp. 480-8I.
4 May I925. Letters,
 The GreatGatsby 579
"Swedes."9He mayhavehad Catherin mind,in fact,and was dis-
tinguishing his experiencefromhers,when he had Nick recallhis
returntripswithfellowstudents fromEasternschoolsat Christmas-
time.When theysaw and breathedonce again the snow in theair,
Nick recalls,we became"unutterably awareofouridentity withthis
country forone strangehour,beforewe meltedindistinguishably into
it again.""That's myMiddleWest-," saysNick,"notthewheator
theprairiesor thelostSwedetowns,butthethrilling returningtrains
of myyouth,and thestreetlampsand sleighbellsin thefrosty dark
and theshadowsofhollywreathsthrownbylightedwindowson the
snow.I am partof that."It is thisreveriein thefinalchapterwhich
triggers therecognition thathis storyhas been a mid-Western one:
"I seenow thatthishas beena storyof theWest,afterall-Tom and
Gatsby,Daisy, Jordanand I were all Westerners, and perhapswe
possessedsome deficiency in commonwhich made us subtlyun-
adaptableto Easternlife."'0And it is the "El Greco-like""distor-
tions"(pp. I77-78) he perceivesin Easternlife which justifyhis
returnhome afterGatsby'sdeath.
AlthoughMy 14ntonia and A LostLady aretheonlyCathernovels
Fitzgeraldmentions he showeda specialrespectforone
in hisletters,
ofhershortstories, "Paul's Case,"whenhe wrotethatthatstoryalone
was worthmorethananythingDorothyCanfieldhad to say in her
fictionand had claimedin hisletterto Catherherselfthatit was one
of his favorites."His mentionof thisstoryis suggestive becauseof
certainsimilarities it has to Gatsbyand itsthematicsimilarity to one
of Fitzgerald'sown stories, "Absolution,"whichhad beenoriginally
intendedas a prologueto The GreatGatsbyand whichwould fillin
detailsabout Gatsby'searlylife.Cather'sstory,as its subtitle,"A
Studyin Temperament," is clearlya case study.
suggests,
It is thestoryof a youngman livingin Pittsburgh who leads two
lives-a cramped,conventionalone symbolizedby the picturesof
9 Letterto Perkins,c. I JuneI925. Letters,pp. I83-88. FitzgeraldprovidedPerkinswith
a "Historyof the SimpleInarticulate Farmerand His Hired Man Christy"in thisletter.In
his entryfor i9I8, he wrote:"Willa Catherturnshim [the simplefarmer]Swede." I9I8
is the yearof publicationof My Antonia,whichdoes not deal withSwedes butBohemians.
Fitzgeraldwas probablythinkingof 0 Pioneers! (19I3), which does deal with Swedish
farmers.
10 The Great Gatsby (New York: Scribner's Sons, I925), p. I77. Hereaftercitedparen-
theticallyin thetext.
1: Letterto DaytonKohler,4 March1938.Letters, pp. 571-72.
580 AmericanLiterature

GeorgeWashington and JohnCalvinand the motto"Feed the

Lambs"whichhangabovehis bed,and thelifeof his romantic
imagination whichthrives whenhe is at workas an usherat Car-
negieHall. Paul takeshis courageto deal withthefirstfromhis
romantic convictionsaboutthesecond.He dresses flamboyantly and
of theconventional
is disdainful expectations placeduponhimby
hisfather and hisschool.In one episode,Paul followsthetheater
performers totheirhotelafter theperformance andallowshisimagi-
nationto playupontheexoticpossibilities thatlay within.As he
stoodin thegraveldrivein therain,he lookedup at "theorange
glowof thewindowsabovehim.Thereit was,whathe wanted-
tangiblybefore him,likea fairy worldofa Christmas pantomime";
butmocking stoodguardat thedoors,and,as therainbeatin
spirits
hisface,"Paulwondered whether he weredestined alwaystoshiver
in theblacknightoutside, lookingup atit."12
In a boldgesture, he stealsthreethousand to
dollarsand travel-s
New Yorkand livesin romantic splendor fora fortnight. His re-
sourcesdepleted andawarethathisfather is in New Yorklooking
forhim,he optsto endhisliferatherthanreturn to hishomeon
CordeliaStreet. Paul commits suicidebythrowing himselfin front
ofan onrushing train,andhedropsbackintothe"immensedesign
of things."Reminiscent as "Paul'sCase" is of certainelements in
Gatsby-Gatsby's flamboyant dress,his romantic imagination, and
hissacred,latenightvigilin Chapter VII standing in a graveldrive
in a pinkragof a suit,lookingup at lightedwindows-theemo-
tionalcomplex ofboyhood, theimagined lifewhichgivesPaulcour-
age,isclosertoFitzgerald's storyofRudolphMiller,whichhecalled
"Absolution."13
too,dealswitha youngmancaughtbetweenthe
"Absolution,"
ofhimandhisownromantic
expectations
conventional imagination,
byhisundaunted
represented double,whoneither conven-
observes
12 "Paul's Case," in Youthand the BrightMedusa (New York: RandomHouse, I975),

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

tionnoris fearfuloftheconsequences of his disregard.For Rudolph

Miller,theimagineddoublehas a name,Blatchford Sarnemington.
Blatchfordlives in "great,sweepingtriumphs,"but Rudolph is
gnawedbyconscience.And whenhe goesto his priestto admitthat
he had lied in confession, he is takenaback by FatherSchwartz's
rhapsodicspeechabouttheseductiveattractions of a gayworld.The
priestadvisesRudolphto go to an amusementpark,where"every-
thingwill twinkle."For FatherSchwartz,likeRudolph,is attracted
to theromanticworldwhere"thingsgo glimmering."
He eventuallyremovedthisepisodefromhis novel and sold it
separately as a shortstory,and in the novelhe changedRudolph's
nameto Jimmie Gatz and hisalterego'stoJayGatsby,butthedouble
lifeofhisnewlynamedcharacter persisted. Morethan"Paul's Case,"
however,Cather'sfirstnovel,Alexander'sBridge,seemsto have ex-
ertedthemostsuggestive influence upon Fitzgerald.The novelwas
serializedin McClure'sunderthe titleAlexander'sMasqueradein
I9I2 and publishedas a book by HoughtonMifflinlaterthe same
year.It was well receivedand was reissuedwithan author'spreface
in I922, at a timewhen Fitzgeraldwas contemplating the novel
whichwould becomeThe Great Gaisby.
As a firstnovel,Alexander'sBridgeis understandably an appren-
ticepiece in manyways-Cather herselfwas to claim her second
novel,0 Pioneers!(19I3), herfirstspiritually and to confessthatat
thetimeofwritingAlexander's Bridge shewas toofascinated bythe
unfamiliarand unmindfulof the richnessof the subjectmatter
closestto her-her nativeNebraska.14
In any event,Alexander's Bridgeis the storyof a middle-aged
engineernamedBartleyAlexanderwhoseworldlysuccessand mari-
tal happinessare vaguelyinsufficient forhim. Livingin Boston,his
supervisionof the construction of a cantileverbridgein Canada
requireshim to travelto London periodically to reacquainthimself
withBritishbuildingcodes.It is in London thathe attendsa play
in whichHilda Burgoyne, his firstlove of severalyearsbefore,stars.
He re-kindles the flameagainsthis betterjudgment,all the while
recognizingthathis marriageis themorevaluableand durablerela-
14 "My FirstNovels: There Were Two," Part 6 of The Colophon,
I93I; rpt.in Willa
Catheron Writing:CriticalStudieson Writingas an Art (New York: AlfredA. Knopf,
I949), pp. 89-97.
582 American Literature

tionship.ButBartleyis notactuallyin lovewithHilda so muchas he

is in lovewitha moreyouthful and vitalimageof himselfwhichhe
perceivesto be slippingaway fromhim and whichhe seeksto re-
capturethroughher.Repeatedlyhe resolvesto put an end to the
affair, buthe is so obsessedwiththisidea of himselfthathis resolu-
tionweakensand he travelsto London to be withher.
Toward theend of thenovel,Hilda's troupetravelsto New York
and theymeetin an apartment whichhe keepsforbusinesspurposes.
It is thedistraction of Hilda whichprevents Alexanderfromattend-
ing to a telegram fromCanada concerning a structural problemwith
thebridge.A secondtelegramreacheshimand he rushesto thecon-
struction site.The lowerbeamsare showingstrain,and Bartleyim-
mediately orderstheworkersoffthebridge.Buthiscommandscome
too late; the bridgecollapsesand Alexanderdrownsalong with
dozensof workers.
The novelis principally interestingin thatit revealsCather'sper-
sistentconcernwiththe doublenessof personality, thoughwiththe
Catherian technique as yet unrefined. In particular, her symbolism
is too obviousand heavy-handed. The cantilever bridge is a con-
spicuousanalogueforBartley'smentalstate-just as Bartley'sper-
sonalityis describedas possessinga "weak spot" wheresome day
strainwould tell,"15 so is therea structuraldefectin thebridgehe is
building.The strainis tested,of course,in his maintenanceof two
lives,thesecuredomesticone withhiswifeand theyouthful, roman-
ticone with Hilda. Bartley longs forthe days when he had a "single
purposeand a singleheart"(p. ioi), butin pursuingthatdreamin
middleage he developsa "anothernature,"as if "a secondman has
been graftedintome,"and "he is fighting forhis lifeat thecostof
mine" (p. I02). The cantilever bridge,stretchedhalf-wayacrossthe
river,is explicitlyidentified as symbolicof Alexander'spassion,and
theriverbeneathas "death,the onlyotherthingas strongas love.
Underthemoon,underthecold,splendidstars,therewereonlythose
twothingsawakeand sleepless;deathand love,therushingriverand
hisburningheart"(p. II8).
The anglesof thislove triangleare roughlycongruent withthose
in Gatsby, butthemostsuggestive existin a singlepassage
similarities
15 Alexander'sBridge (Lincoln: Univ. of NebraskaPress,i982), p. I2. Hereaftercited
in thetext.
parenthetically
 The GreatGatsby 583
whichidentifiesAlexander'sbackgroundand his developingdesire
himselffromthepastthroughhis passionforHilda. He
to retrieve
recognizesthathe is afraidof the"dead calm of middlelifewhich
confrontedhim" (p. 38) and longsforthedayswhenhe felthisown
"wildlight-heartedness":
Suchhoursweretheonlyonesin whichhe couldfeelhisowncontinuous
identity-feeltheboyhe hadbeenin theroughdaysoftheoldWest,feel
theyouthwhohad workedhiswayacrosstheoceanon a cattle-ship and
gonetostudyin Pariswithout a dollarin hispocket. The manwhosatin
in Bostonwasonlya powerful
hisoffices machine. Undertheactivities of
thatmachinethepersonwho,in suchmoments as this,he felttobe him-
self,wasfadinganddying. He remembered how,whenhe wasa littleboy
and hisfather calledhimin themorning, he usedto leap fromhis bed
intothefullconsciousnessofhimself.Thatconsciousness was Lifeitself.
Whatevertookits place,action,reflection, the powerof concentrated
thought,wereonlyfunctions ofa mechanism usefultosociety;thingsthat
couldbe boughtin themarket. Therewas onlyone thingthathad an
absolutevalueforeachindividual,and it was justthatoriginalimpulse,
thatinternal ofone'sselfin one'sownbreast.
heat,thatfeeling
WhenAlexander walkedbacktohishotel, theredandgreenlightswere
blinkingalong thedockson thefarthershore, andthesoftwhitestarswere
shiningin thewide skyabovetheriver. (pp. 39-40)

The parallelsbetweenthe livesof Gatsbyand Alexanderas they

are revealedin thispassageare ratherobvious.Bothcharacters come
fromprovincialWesternor mid-Western homes and had worked
aboardships.Both studiedabroad-Alexanderin Paris,Gatsbyfor
a few monthsat Oxford.And bothobservegreenlightsacrossthe
water,whichserveas emblemsof thatimage of themselves which
theyattempt toretrieve throughrevivinga lostlove.This lastparallel
is the mostsignificant becauseit is the greenlight at the end of
Daisy's dock in East Egg whichbecomesthe dominantsymbolof
Gatsby'semotionalcomplex.At the conclusionof ChapterI, Nick
returnshome in the eveningand observeshis mysterious neighbor
"regardingthesilverpepperof the stars."He decidesto call to him,
butcheckshimselfwhenhe realizesGatsbyis contentto be alone-
"he stretched out his armstowardthedarkwaterin a curiousway,
and, far as I was fromhim,I could have swornhe was trembling.
Involuntarily I glancedseaward-and distinguished nothingexcept
 584 AmericanLiterature

a singlegreenlight" (pp. 2I-22). And Fitzgeraldreturnsto this

imagein thelyricalconclusion ofthebookwhenhe hasNicksum
up Gatsby'smotivation: "Gatsbybelievedin thegreenlight,the
orgiastic
futurethatyearbyyearrecedes before us" (p. I82).
The greenlightdidnotalwaysoccupyso central a position in the
novel.Originally
there weretwolightsattheendofDaisy'sdockand
weremeantsimply a certain
to convey romantic intimacy, forthey
wereintroduced in ChapterV whenDaisyand Gatsbywerere-
united.16
Through revision,
Fitzgeraldmadetheimagecentral tohis
novel.He madeitthedominant imageoftheconcluding paragraphs
and introducedit intothefinalparagraph of ChapterI. It became
a symbol to whichGatsbydevotedthelastounceof his"romantic
readiness,"
"hisextraordinarygiftforhope."Fitzgerald's appropria-
tionofthisimageandhistransformation ofit intoa forceful sym-
bolinvitesfurther speculation
abouthowextensive theinfluence of
Alexander'sBridgewasupontheauthor.
Gatsbyenactshis own masquerade and,likeAlexander, at odd
moments thestrain tells.Despitehis"resourcefulness
ofhisdual-life
Nick noticesthatGatsbywas "neverquitestill;there
of movement,"
wasalwaysa tapping footsomewhere ortheimpatient openingand
divisionbe-
closingof a hand"(p. 64). Thereis alsoa fascinating
tweenGatsby'spublicpersonalityand his private,sinisterbusiness
dealingswhich Fitzgeraldwiselydecidedto keep mysterious. Jay
Gatz,is an invention
as opposedtoJimmie
Gatsby, whichNicksays,
"sprangfromhisPlatonicconception ofhimself"(p. 99), and to this
immutableconception, we are told,Gatsbywas faithfulto theend.
His extravagant and obsessivedesignsto recaptureDaisy's love are
vain attemptsto "repeatthe past,"an ambitionto which Gatsby
devotesall his energies.
Like BartleyAlexander,Gatsbypursueshis own lostvitalityand
but Gatsbyis muchyounger.
youth;Alexanderis in his mid-forties,
He is, accordingto Nick, an "elegantyoungroughneck,a yearor
two over thirty"(p. 48). Yet when Maxwell Perkins,Fitzgerald's
editor,wrotethe authorafterreadingthe manuscript, thatGatsby

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

Willa Catherhad writtenFitzgeraldof heradmirationof Gatsby

in thespringof I925; thenextfallshewouldbegintowritewhatshe
ultimately consideredher finestnovel,Death Comes forthe Arch-
bishop(I927). It wouldbe written, shewouldrecalla fewyearslater,
in "thestyleoflegend,"theessenceofwhichis to lightly"touchand
passon." Such a creativemethodwouldbe a "kindofdiscipline," she
wrote,"in thesedays when the 'situation'is made to countfor so
much in writing."20 It was this sortof artisticdetachmentwhich
Catherhad cultivatedsincethe beginningof her careerand which
gave riseto someof her finestwork.In part,her disparagement of
Alexander'sBridgein theprefaceto theI922 editionofthenovelpro-
18 Letterto Fitzgerald,20 Nov. I924, Editor to Author: The Lettersof Maxwell E.
Perkins,JohnHall Wheelock,ed. (New York: CharlesScribner'sSons, I950), pp. 38-4I.
to Perkins,c. 20 Dec. I924. Letters,pp. I7I-75.
19 Letter
20 "On Death Comesforthe Archbishop," an open letterto the editorof The Common-
weal, 23 Nov. I927; rpt. in Willa Cather on Writing,pp. 3-I3.
588 American Literature

ceededfromherbelatedrecognition thatshehad reliedtoo much

upon"interesting" material and had triedto capitalizeupona sit-
uation.But,unlikeCather,the imaginative coherence Fitzgerald
achieved in The GreatGatsby appearstohavederived notfromhis
detachment frombuthisinvolvement withhis material. However
muchFitzgerald mayhavelearnedfromCatheraboutthewriter's
craft,however muchAlexander's Bridgemayor maynothavecon-
tributedtohisplot,onesuspects thattherealachievement ofGatsby
haditssources in an intense emotional identificationwith bothhis
maincharacter andhisnarrator in a waythatwasbuthalf-conscious.
IfFitzgerald responded toMyAntoniaandA LostLadyprofession-
ally,he probably responded to Alexander'sBridgepersonally, forit
identifiedan emotional complex he found sympathetic, one indeed
thatmayhavetalliedwithhisown.
In theopening chapter ofThe GreatGatsby, NickCarraway con-
fessestohisburgeoning expectations forhisnewcareerin theEast:
I wasgoingto"becomeagainthatmostlimited ofall specialists,the
'well-rounded man.'Thisisn'tjustan epigram-life is muchmore
successfullylookedat froma singlewindow,afterall" (p. 4). His
singlewindowambitions proveuntenable, however;soonafterhis
arrivalin New Yorkhislifebecomesentangled withthecareless,
careening livesofothers. Draggedtoa NewYorkCityapartment by
Tom Buchanan, Nick, Tom, Myrtle Wilson, and the restdrink,
argue,andlament through theafternoon andintotwilight, andNick
uponhisunwilling
reflects associationwiththiscrowd:"Yet high
overthecityourlineofyellowwindows musthavecontributed their
shareofhumansecrecy tothecasualwatcher inthedarkening streets,
and I was himtoo,lookingup and wondering. I was withinand
without, simultaneously enchanted andrepelledbytheinexhaustible
varietyoflife"(p. 36).
Casualobserver and reluctant Nick bringsa double
participant,
visionto thestory he tells,at oncediffuse and exact.It is a simul-
taneous a
visionwhich,muchlike stereopticon, liftsitsfigures from
thepageprecisely becausetheimagesdon'tquitejibe,butare,instead,
flatand without
lifeless thisdiscrepancy. How closethissortof
doubleconsciousness is to Fitzgerald'sverysaneassessment of his
own"crackup"inanessaybythesamename."Thetestofa first-rate
he wrotea decadeafterthepublication
intelligence," of Gatsby, "is
 The Great Gatsby 589

theabilityto hold two opposedideas in themindat thesame time,

and stillretaintheabilityto function."21 Fitzgerald'squietand lucid
self-diagnosisis a complaintnotof thelossof his intelligence butof
hisabilitytofunction, hisartistic
edge.
While he was writingThe GreatGatsby,however,he retainedthe
abilityto functionthoughhe dividedhimselfby identifying with
both the jaded and obsessiveGatsbyand the dazzled Nick, full
of "interior rules"yetawestruck bythevarietyof life.Thus divided,
he would dividehis sympathies. Fitzgeraldhad of courseidentified
withGatsby;he wroteJohnPeale Bishopthatthatcharacter "started
outas one man I knewand thenchangedintomyself-theamalgam
was nevercompletein mymind."22 Buthe was Nick Carraway,too.
For he could well remember his own firstreactionsto New York as
beingone "up fromthe countrygapingat the trainedbears . . . I
had come onlyto stareat theshow . . . I tookthestyleand glitter
of New York evenaboveitsown valuation."23
In nearlyeveryline of thebook thereis a certaindividedquality,
notyeta "crackup" buta slightfissurethatyieldsa pervasiveemo-
tionaltension,a tensionwheresomedaystrainwould tell."I had no
girl whose disembodiedface floatedalong the dark cornicesand
blindingsigns"(p. 8i), saysNick; and lackingGatsby'sobsession,
he is leftsimplywithdarkcornicesand blindingsignsforwhichhis
"interior rules"are sorryequipment.The worldgoes "glimmering"
forNick,butit lacksfocus.This paragraphis representative of such
a tension,I think:"Again at eighto'clock,when the dark lanes of
the Fortieswere fivedeep with throbbingtaxicabsbound for the
theaterdistrict, I felta sinkingin myheart.Formsleaned together
in thetaxisas theywaited,and voicessang,and therewas laughter
fromunheardjokes, and lightedcigarettesoutlinedunintelligible
gesturesinside.ImaginingthatI, too,was hurrying towardgayety
and sharingtheirintimateexcitement, I wishedthemwell" (p. 57-
58). Nick's despairand provincialmagnanimity punctuatehis de-
scription of thishauntedsceneof facelessforms-irregularly lighted
21 "The Crack-Up,"in The Crack-Up,Edmund Wilson,ed. (New York: New Direc-
tionsPublishingCorp., I945), p. 69; thisarticleoriginallyappearedin Esquire Feb., I936.
Peale Bishop,9 Aug. I925. Letters,
22 Letterto John p. 358.
23 "MyLost City,"in The Crack-Up, p. 24.
590 American Literature

andhalfheard-throbbing withexcitement butstalledin traffic.

Thisis typical of theEl Greco-like distortion thatpermeates the
novel,"atonceconventional and grotesque" (p. I78). Andwe find
it everywhere in thebook.In thephotograph of MyrtleWilson's
mother that"hovered likean ectoplasm on thewall"(p. 30); in the
invisible objectJordan Bakerbalancesuponherchin;in Nick'ssi-
multaneous fascination andrepulsion bytheideathatonemancould
fixtheWorldSeries;in thetrampwhosellsdogson thestreet and
yetlooksall theworldlikeJohnD. Rockefeller; in thetragiceyes
andshortupperlipsofeastern Europeanfacesin a funeral train;in
thecityitself, "risingup acrosstheriverin whiteheapsand sugar
lumpsall builtwitha wish"(p. 69). And we findit in Nick's
reaction toGatsby himself, at once"gorgeous" andrepresentative of
"everything forwhichI havean unaffected scorn"(p. 2).
How muchofthiswastheresult ofsheer"craftsmanship" andhow
muchrepresented a heavyinvestment of theauthorhimself in his
material is unknown. Butwe do knowthatFitzgerald continued his
inventory oflossesin a sequelto"The Crack-Up" whichlooksback
tothattime:"Fora check-up ofmyspiritual liabilitiesindicatedthat
I hadno particular headtobe bowedorunbowed. OnceI hadhad
a heartbutthatwasall I was sureof."24 His perception of thegro-
tesqueries oflifehadoncebeentempered bysympathy andsustained
byan enormous vitality.Butthesequalities hadplayedout;he had
developed a "sadattitude towardsadness, a melancholy attitudeto-
wardmelancholy and a tragicattitude towardtragedy."25 He had
becomeidentified withtheobjectsofhis"horror and compassion,"
andhe wasparalyzed byhisownperceptions. "Life,tenyearsago,"
hewrote, "waslargely a personal matter.I mustholdin balancethe
senseofthefutility ofeffort andthesenseofthenecessity tostruggle.
. . . If I coulddo thisthrough thecommonills-domestic, profes-
sionalandpersonal-then theegowouldcontinue as an arrowshot
fromnothingness to nothingness withsuchforcethatonlygravity
wouldbringittoearthat last."26 Thispassagehastheringoftruth,
butit standsas a statement ofphilosophical conviction ratherthan
a feltreaction tolife.Butthereseemstohavebeena timewhenlife,
24 "PastingIt Together,"in The Crack-Up,p. 8o; this article
originallyappeared in
EsquireApril,I936.
25 Ibid, p. 8o-8I.
26 "The Crack-Up,"P. 70.
 The GreatGatsby 591

indeed,wasa "personal matter" forFitzgerald,

whenGatsby, when
allvainhumanstriving, "stuckinhisheart."
The search anda lostselfwhichcharacterized
fora lostvitality the
of Bartley
strivings Alexander and JayGatsbywas toofamiliar to
Fitzgeraldbythetimehe cameto write"The Crack-Up." If at one
timehe had sympathized withtheirmiddle-aged dreamof youth,
nowhesharedit.In theend,Fitzgerald suffered
fromthatverycon-
ditionhe hadhimself onceso compassionatelydramatized:
It wasbackintothemindoftheyoungmanwithcardboard soleswhohad
walkedthestreetsof New York.I was himagain-foran instant I had
thegoodfortune to sharehisdreams, I whohad no moredreamsofmy
own.And thereare stilltimesI creepup on him,surprise himon an
autumnmorning in New Yorkor a springnightin Carolinawhenit is
so quietthatyoucan heara dog barkingin thenextcounty. But never
againas duringthatall tooshortperiodwhenhe and I wereoneperson,
whenthefulfilledfuture and thewistful pastweremingledin a single
gorgeousmoment-when lifewasliterally
a dream.27
27 "EarlySuccess,"in The Crack-Up,
p. go; thisarticleoriginally
appearedin American
CavalcadeOct.,I937.