The Great Stories, American Dream, The Great Gatsby

Aside from the great story that can be likened to the popular “American Dream” of a struggle of rugs to riches, acquiring power and wealth through hard-work and perseverance, “The Great Gatsby” is also a story draws in the reader to look closer upon one’s personality through introspection. The story is masterfully written in order to bring out the human essence of emotion and relationships by manipulating the story through the presentation of the characters’ personality and background. One way we can have a greater comprehension of the story and the characters’ actions in the book is by applying psychoanalytical approach into analyzing their acts, behaviors, and decisions that ultimately bring us to the climax and finale of the story. By using the psychoanalytical approach, we are peering into the deeper essence of the choices, activities, and emotions that the characters have experienced within the story and by doing so, we are able to comprehend why they act as such and see the bigger picture of the roles that they are trying to enact in the ever-interesting flow of the life journey. In the story, one prominent will of the protagonist, Gatsby, was to acquire the one whom he thought was the love of his life and his ultimate goal, Daisy. However, this act might only be a product of Gatsby’s subconscious desires and a reflection of something deeper. One such element revealed in Gatsby’s personality is his inferiority complex, due to his background of being poor in the past. Subconsciously, Gatsby is trying to project his image as a powerful and influential man by hiding his inferiority complex behind the veil of his material wealth and hospitable trait. We can liken this situation to the defense mechanism of denial, as Gatsby is turning his consciousness to reveal only those that he deems pleasant, while in reality, he is running away from the truth. He is denying what is protuberant about the issues of his personal past and his dealings with the intimacy in his relationships. We can directly see the evidence of Gatsby being lost in his own obsession and illusion in this paragraph in Chapter 4.
“Almost five years! There must have been moments ev...