A Carnivalistic Perspective Of The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald is known as the spokesman and laureate of the"Jazz Age". The Great Gatsby, his masterpiece, is considered an American classic. T. S. Eliot gives it the warmest praise by claiming that The Great Gatsby is the"first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James"1. Ever since its publication in 1925 it has always been the hot subject of the critics. People have done intensive researches on its theme, way of narration, techniques and so on. In recent years, we can find further research on this novel in feminist and cultural aspects. This thesis attempts to interpret the novel in light of Bakhtin's poetics of carnivalization in order to enrich the understanding of the novel.The first part of the thesis is a brief introduction to the author and his contribution to American literature. It also gives a summary of the previous critical reviews on The Great Gatsby in the hope that it can equip our present carnivalistic interpretation of the novel with a rich and broad critical background. Then it goes on to briefly explain Bakhtin's theory on carnival, probing the feasibility of applying the carnival theory to the study of The Great Gatsby.Chapter I begins by pointing out the connection between carnivalesque and Fitzgerald's fiction creating. Then it goes on to discuss the carnival atmosphere overwhelming the novel and the carnivalesque spirit filled in the novel. The carnival sense of Menippea works well in the novel.Chapter II is a special study on carnivalistic rituals practiced in the novel, the crowning and decrowning of Gatsby and Mrs. Wilson as carnival king and queen.Chapter III elucidates the members of carnival collective alive in the novel, including the rogues, the carnival clowns and the carnival fools or madmen.Through the comprehensive analysis the thesis comes to its conclusion affirming that The Great Gatsby is a carnivalized novel. The parties and gatherings are very similar to the carnival square in ancient times. With the help of dialogue, of laughter and roaring echoing on the square, a vivid picture of the 20th America is unfolded before us.