Boats Against the Current

I'll admit that literature's never really been my thing, but this entire article seems premised on a bizarre misreading of The Great Gatsby:

She is inspired by the green light at the end of the dock, which for Jay Gatsby, the self-made millionaire from North Dakota, symbolizes the upper-class woman he longs for. “Green color always represents hope,” Jinzhao said.

“My green light?” said Jinzhao, who has been studying “Gatsby” in her sophomore English class at the Boston Latin School. “My green light is Harvard.”

Insofar as Harvard is, as I can attest, actually not that great I suppose there's a sort of ironic aptness here. At any rate, others have gotten at the main issue here, but the part where it gets really weird is as some kids get that the book is a critique of the American dream but then don't evince any understanding of what the critique is:

One of Will’s classmates, Ashley Waters, 16, who helps her father with his antique consignment business, agreed. “The American dream is possible, but it’s just really hard,” she said. “Everything is so expensive — the price of college, housing. Look at the price of gas. The economy is going down.”

As if Fitzgerald were writing a DCCC press release or Hillary Clinton's stump speech. Oy.

Comments

Speaking as one who grew up in the Valley of Ashes, I think it's fair to say that Fitzgerald's ironies are complicated enough to look different to different people. Literature is like that.

Posted by MattF | February 18, 2008 1:32 PM

I read that NY Times article, too, and I couldn't help thinking that the author seemed to miss the whole point. Gatsby was not meant to be an admirable character who remade himself. The whole point was that he was a sham and that his success was hollow.

Posted by A P | February 18, 2008 1:33 PM

"What realism! Knew when to stop, too — didn’t cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?"

Posted by southpaw | February 18, 2008 1:41 PM

It's got to be really tough to teach high school lit classes these days.

Posted by Angry Sam | February 18, 2008 1:50 PM

That is exactly the reaction I had upon reading the article. There's this weird sentiment out there that if literature is "good," it must be inspirational.

I knew a woman who named her daughter after Jordan Baker because she thought a character meant as a figure of shallow self-centeredness was a glamorous model for a young girl.

Posted by Marshall | February 18, 2008 1:51 PM

If you have to ask...

Posted by Lucy | February 18, 2008 1:51 PM

So, the title is, like... ironic?

Posted by TooManyDans | February 18, 2008 1:52 PM

Lmao, I think this is just another case of conservatives refusing to see any message that conflicts with their worldview. They don't get Kipling, because they don't see how anyone could possibly say anything bad about colonialism.

Hell, look how long it took half of them to understand what the hell was going on with Stephen Colbert.

I think something similar about Clinton's speeches and commercials. They seem to say 'Yeah, I get that things are hard out there for most of you. I don't really plan on doing anything about it, but I hear you.'. People say she hasn't run a Clintonian campaign, but that's pretty much the definition of Clintonism, at least insofar as it diverges from standard DLCism.

Posted by Soullite | February 18, 2008 1:53 PM

I'm with MattF. It's not a "bizarre misreading" -- it's a more positive interpretation that I think the text supports.

Posted by right | February 18, 2008 1:54 PM

Personally, I was more impressed with D'Angelo Barksdale's analysis of the novel.

Posted by Ricky B | February 18, 2008 1:55 PM

I too was bewildered Sunday by the cluelessness of the article. I just assumed that the writer, Sara Rimer, didn't 'get the joke.' Still, there was a day when journalists (and editors) were typically well-versed in literature, let alone elite institutions like the Times.

'“My green light is Harvard.”'? Thank goodness the SAT measures reading comprehension so Harvard will be spared from the consequences of what they don't teach in high school these days.

Posted by Jamesaust | February 18, 2008 2:01 PM

No, I think the text is clear. It's a fundamental misreading. Gatsby is murdered in the end. The narrator calls the Buchanans "careless people." He moves back to Minnesota. There's a sweetness to Gatsby's idealism and a fondness for the character himself, but the book's attitude toward the reality of his expectations and the culture that created them is cold.

Since you already mentioned Harvard today, do you remember some final club having a Gatsby party? I was gobsmacked. It's like evangelicals having an Elmer Gantry party.

Posted by Ryno | February 18, 2008 2:04 PM

Gatsby is not just a critique of the American dream, but of all extravagant, adolescent romanticisms; at the same time, it's also a celebration of the same.

As someone upstream noted, a supple understanding of literature is not highly valued in the world of corporate journalism.

Next up -- Jamie Kirchik on how Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN points to the necessity of bombing Iran....

Posted by Ben Cronin | February 18, 2008 2:06 PM

Gatsby is not just a critique of the American dream, but of all extravagant, adolescent romanticisms; at the same time, it's also a celebration of the same.

As someone upstream noted, a supple understanding of literature is not highly valued in the world of corporate journalism.

Next up -- Jamie Kirchik on how Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN points to the necessity of bombing Iran....

Posted by Ben Cronin | February 18, 2008 2:06 PM

Bill Gates, former Harvard attendee and software titan, has much the same impression of Fitzgerald's classic as the fourteen year-old Jinzhao Wang in the NYT article. According to news reports he reads the novel as a celebration of Gatsby's striving to achieve the American Dream.

In fact, Gates is said to identify personally with the character Jay Gatsby, seeing in fiction someone who shares his own ambition. Bill and Melinda Gates once appeared at a costume party dressed as Gatsby and Daisy. And the library in Gate's own mansion boasts rare copies of _The Great Gatsby_ and has one of the novel's most memorable (and ironic) lines carved into the ceiling.

I guess it just goes to show you. Literature often acts like a mirror, reflecting the reader's psyche as much as it reveals the author's.

Posted by Rob_in_Hawaii | February 18, 2008 2:10 PM

Next up - Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" inspires a new generation to reconnect with their deep religious faith.

Posted by blah | February 18, 2008 2:11 PM

It should also be mentioned that Jay Gatsby obtained his wealth through criminal activity. That seems like a significant aspect of the novel.

Posted by blah | February 18, 2008 2:15 PM

True, but it's through what was regarded then (and still is, largely) as a victimless crime of bootlegging.

In fiction it gives us Gatsby, in reality it gave us the Kennedys.

Posted by James | February 18, 2008 2:18 PM

"It should also be mentioned that Jay Gatsby obtained his wealth through criminal activity. That seems like a significant aspect of the novel."

Heh. Reminds me of all those kids that revere Tony Montana from "Scarface" as some sort of inspirational figure of the "American Dream".

Posted by Jayhawk Max | February 18, 2008 2:19 PM

The Great Gatsby doesn't make much sense if Gatsby isn't an admirable figure. Words like "foolish" or "shallow" don't help much since they imply that there are some other kind of people out there.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | February 18, 2008 2:20 PM

OK, its been a few years but wasn't the "dream" supposed to be Daisy? And all of Gatsby's efforts to improve himself, become rich (through criminal activity) to acquire Daisy?

Posted by MOTC | February 18, 2008 2:20 PM

OK, its been a few years but wasn't the "dream" supposed to be Daisy? And all of Gatsby's efforts to improve himself, become rich (through criminal activity) to acquire Daisy?

Posted by MOTC | February 18, 2008 2:20 PM

Stuff white people like:

#378: Getting into great schools and then saying "eh, not that great" in the same breath as "I went to Harvard"

#379: Making fun of very young non-white strivers who aren't old enough or smart enough to cloak their ambition in hipster irony.

#380: Flaunting their knowledge of literature.

Posted by AnonCoward | February 18, 2008 2:21 PM

“The American dream has a lot to do with money,” said Harkeem Steed, 17, who compared Gatsby to his hero, Jay-Z.

Yo.

Posted by James Gary | February 18, 2008 2:22 PM

Next up - how "The Great Santini" is all about the joys of fatherhood.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | February 18, 2008 2:22 PM

Some of the comments in the article do seem a bit strange. One would never guess from the article that the novel, with its "themes of possibility and aspiration", is also a tragedy, and a social analysis and critique.

But I don't think it is entirely wrong to see the green light as associated with Gatsby's hope, among other things. It's clearly also connected with other objects and forms of desire: envy, money, greed.

There is more than one legitimate way for a reader to respond to Gatsby's character, but Fitzgerald through his narrator Nick seems to express enormous empathy his protagonist, and while seeing him as tragic, self-deceived and manipulative also shows him as not wholly lacking in a number of admirable qualities. Nick retains this impression of Gatsby despite the fact that Gatsby has evidently used Nick to get to Daisy. Gatsby's focus and single-minded drive, his industry, and his belief that his ardor can overcome established social divisions, seem to impress Nick very favorably in contrast with the jaded, cynical and idle set that surrounds him. And Gatsby's deep loneliness and mysterious loss of his past are very sympathetically portrayed.

Of course it is hard to say what Fitzgerald himself thought, as opposed to what he has Nick think.

Here's an interesting bit of understatement:

“Here’s Gatsby out of nowhere in this mansion, having these lavish parties and really and truly fulfilling the American dream, and that’s very compelling for them,” Ms. Moran said. “But it’s a cautionary tale, too.

Ya think?

The reporter makes the teacher and students in the story come of as cluelessly beguiled by the Great Gatsby as an optimistic image of the "American Dream." But I'm guessing that they were all a bit more self-aware and self-critical than the reporter gives them credit for. One student is reported as saying:

“My green light?” said Jinzhao, who has been studying “Gatsby” in her sophomore English class at the Boston Latin School. “My green light is Harvard.”

But one can imagine that statement being made in a variety of contexts, and with different levels of self-awareness.

Posted by Dan Kervick | February 18, 2008 2:23 PM

But one can imagine that statement (“My green light is Harvard.”) being made in a variety of contexts, and with different levels of self-awareness.

It's entirely possible the young Ms. Jinzhao sees Harvard as the "green light" in Gatsby, that is, a symbol of the irresponsible and careless lifestyle of the very rich. But I doubt it.

To read The Great Gatsby as anything other than a tragedy (e.g., a inspirational Horatio-Alger type tale) is to really (ahem) miss the boat--throughout the story. Gatsby is shown as miserably insecure, unhappy and deluded . A reader would have to be to be pretty clueless to admire the guy for his money.

Posted by James Gary | February 18, 2008 2:36 PM

This article made me think about Anthony Swofford comment early in Jarhead that you can't make "anti"-war movies, because people will still watch them to revel in the violence.

Apparently you can't make a real critique of the American Dream without similar reactions.

Posted by Christopher Colaninno | February 18, 2008 2:37 PM

Also coming soon - "West Point cadets reading Catch-22 - Milo Minderbinder an inspiration for young officers looking to get ahead."

Posted by vanya | February 18, 2008 2:38 PM

But one can imagine that statement being made in a variety of contexts, and with different levels of self-awareness.

I was thinking along the same lines myself-- especially if the reporter came along with a pre-planned narrative in mind. As many people read what they want to read, reporters can hear what they want to hear.

Posted by Persia | February 18, 2008 2:41 PM

" #378: Getting into great schools and then saying "eh, not that great" in the same breath as "I went to Harvard"
#379: Making fun of very young non-white strivers who aren't old enough or smart enough to cloak their ambition in hipster irony.
#380: Flaunting their knowledge of literature "

This sneer almost cowed me into not saying anything. But I don't think it's unfair to criticize the school you went to, just because nobody else will do it. (Go Ross and Matt!) Not that Harvard's mediocrity is any secret. The Boston Globe particularly revels in pointing out the school's flaws. And re: 379, I laugh knowingly at strivers who clearly would sell their souls for admission to Harvard, but not because Harvard isn't so great (it isn't, sue me, I'm a freshman). I laugh because their lives will never be given meaning by superficial BS like money and college bragging rights. Seems to me that the ultimate irony of this article is that THAT is plausibly, under a common interpretation, what Fitzgerald meant for us to take from his book. Whoever said people read into literature what they want to be told about themselves had it exactly right. These kids want status-seeking to be legitimized by a "great" author. And so they read it that way. Oh well. If they had half-decent teachers who weren't themselves beholden to the status-seeking and the college admissions game, maybe such inane interpretations wouldn't get past the classroom bell, let alone past the editors at the NY Times.

Posted by Ironic Hipster | February 18, 2008 2:48 PM

" #378: Getting into great schools and then saying "eh, not that great" in the same breath as "I went to Harvard"
#379: Making fun of very young non-white strivers who aren't old enough or smart enough to cloak their ambition in hipster irony.
#380: Flaunting their knowledge of literature "

This sneer almost cowed me into not saying anything. But I don't think it's unfair to criticize the school you went to, just because nobody else will do it. (Go Ross and Matt!) Not that Harvard's mediocrity is any secret. The Boston Globe particularly revels in pointing out the school's flaws. And re: 379, I laugh knowingly at strivers who clearly would sell their souls for admission to Harvard, but not because Harvard isn't so great (it isn't, sue me, I'm a freshman). I laugh because their lives will never be given meaning by superficial BS like money and college bragging rights. Seems to me that the ultimate irony of this article is that THAT is plausibly, under a common interpretation, what Fitzgerald meant for us to take from his book. Whoever said people read into literature what they want to be told about themselves had it exactly right. These kids want status-seeking to be legitimized by a "great" author. And so they read it that way. Oh well. If they had half-decent teachers who weren't themselves beholden to the status-seeking and the college admissions game, maybe such inane interpretations wouldn't get past the classroom bell, let alone past the editors at the NY Times.

Posted by Ironic Hipster | February 18, 2008 2:48 PM

I am reminded of a commentary on students pressured into taking college courses while still in high school (paraphrased, of course):

"Hell, Shakespeare is wasted on college students."

When will we remember that The Great Gatsby was not written as part of some high school Honors Curriculum but rather as adult literature. No wonder some 16 year old doesn't get it.

Posted by Scott Ferguson | February 18, 2008 2:53 PM

This article made me think about Anthony Swofford comment early in Jarhead that you can't make "anti"-war movies, because people will still watch them to revel in the violence.

Like violence, wealth and glamour are apparently too viscerally seductive. Be honest, even most people who read the book "correctly" find Daisy and her world superficially attractive and probably go to the book more for its evocation of that 1920s lifestyle than to meditate on the perils of material striving. I don't think the critique of the American Dream is what has made the book popular and remain on reading lists for 80 years, long after other, more critical, authors of that era, like Dreiser or Sinclair Lewis, have begun to fade.

Posted by vanya | February 18, 2008 2:54 PM

Hell, Shakespeare is wasted on college students

I suppose Sh're was also wasted on Elizabethans.

Posted by Anderson | February 18, 2008 2:59 PM

It's slightly odd that the reporter's interpretation seems more like that recalled from high-school memory and embellished by the movie than that of the actual high-schoolers. It's not a long book: you have to wonder if Ms Rimer bothered re-reading it before writing that piece.

The little scene at the end with Gatsby's father, and the journal that is reminiscent of Ben Franklin's planned-out day, ought to make teenage readers stop and think. It's a story about outsiders and insiders. You can be an outsider and bluff your way in, but at the cost of knowing you may be found out.

“Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that. He told me I et like a hog once, and I beat him for it.”

In that context, the NYT piece buries the lede: that's to say, these hard-working kids from immigrant families and poor backgrounds might get themselves to Hahvahd or Oggsford, but they'll still be outsiders. They'll find their own niches, but they'll likely be on the periphery of whatever party society exists.

Shauna Deleon, 16, whose family is from Jamaica, nodded. “The American dream is not open to everyone,” she said. “There are certain pathways, certain gateways.”

Perhaps they'll learn to bluff their way in, but they'll still be under probation, and spend their bluffing lives with the nagging fear of being found out.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | February 18, 2008 3:18 PM

Lewis and Dreiser (especially) wrote shit prose. The Great Gatsby is a work of lyrical beauty and is worth reading over and over.

Posted by blah | February 18, 2008 3:21 PM

What pseudonymous in nc said.

The Great Gatsby is about class in America. No matter how many beautiful shirts Gatsby had, no matter how rich and famous he became, no matter how much Daisy raised his hopes, Gatsby wasn't going to make it into the club. The club is ruthless, and it killed him.

Posted by Lucy | February 18, 2008 3:52 PM

I love the bit where Matt, the 20-something Harvard guy with a blog and forthcoming book, who regularly appears on TV, disses Harvard, as if his Harvard degree has nothing to do with his current success.

Matt, none of these folks is talking about Harvard as an amazing educational experience--although it's possible at Harvard, just as at Case Western, Evergreen, or U Va. Maybe a little perspective here, and a little humbleness, would be becoming.

Posted by vorkosigan1 | February 18, 2008 4:19 PM

Back in the 80s I seem to recall Reagan giving a speech in which he said something that suggested the same bizarre misreading of the novel. Anthony Lewis drew attention to this in a column, which elicited some hilarious defences of the Reagan interpretation in the letters column.

Posted by J | February 18, 2008 4:34 PM

Oops! Like many people who remember the 80s as though they were yesterday, I didn't think to google. It wasn't a speech by Reagan, but an op-ed piece in praise of Reagan by his speechwriter, who compares Reagan to Gatsby and means this as praise. All the same, still hilarious. See the Anthony Lewis column:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DD103EF935A3575BC0A961948260

Posted by J | February 18, 2008 4:39 PM

As several others have said, the Great Gatsby is largely about class in America. My favorite Fitzgerald novel is "Tender is the NIght". Also about class in America, but, for me, about much more.

I thought the movie version of "The Great Gatsby" was really terrible -- surpassed in awfulness only by the movie version of "The Last Tycoon".

These seem like challenging reads for high school kids, especially in a setting without good guidance. I read Gatsby on my own in high school and didn't have a clue.

Posted by jk | February 18, 2008 4:43 PM

It's not like we need to go as deep as _The Great Gatsby_ to see this sort of thing.
What about those nitwits that think Bruce Springsteen's _Born in the USA_ is some sort of "rah rah rah, America uber alles" anthem?

Posted by Maynard Handley | February 18, 2008 4:46 PM

I read Gatsby on my own in high school and didn't have a clue.

I think it's one of those false-friend high school books that's short enough and coherent enough to make it tempting to assign, but which is most rewarding if you come to it later.

Yeah, you can write high-school lit papers about the motivation of characters and the role of the narrator, but in your teens, you're not likely to do more than read-by-numbers. Assign a handful of his short stories instead.

(Heart of Darkness, of all things, is very similar in that regard.)

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | February 18, 2008 5:16 PM

I don't know, I'll have reread Gatsby, but my guess most people in 1925 knew what it took for a gangster to buy a house on the Gold Coast. Money was probably not enough

Just cause Nick Carraway admired Gatsby doesn't mean Gatsby was at all admirable. More Dutch Schultz than Joe Kennedy.

Posted by bob mcmanus | February 18, 2008 5:17 PM

The article said the book was popular among minority students and immigrant students, that something about gatsby and its narrator still was relevant with young readers. The know it alls here in this slipstream look down upon the young as shallow but they aren't shallow they are just young. There is depth and layers to that book and there presumably are depths and layers to these young people and I'd guess that reading gatsby helps get at these depths and layers of understanding and experience. His dad was an immigrant, yes? These readers' parents are immigrants, yes? The mixture of want and shame transformation and distance and intimacies and pretense in gatsby means something to these young people, particularly at a big insider's clubhouse like harvard? go figure! But it meant something to people studying on the gi bill after WWII, didn't it? It meant something to kids trying to figure themselves out in the 70's and 80's didn't it? Not eveyone wasted thier teenage years reading the ring trilogy did they?
What a bunch of snobs some of you pretend to be.

Posted by Michael C. | February 18, 2008 5:50 PM

"Nick Carraway"

I always wish Fitzgerald had given him a rye sense of humor . . .

Anyway, "Shakespeare in the Bush.

Posted by Dan S. | February 18, 2008 5:57 PM

"Nick Carraway"

I always wish Fitzgerald had given him a rye sense of humor . . .

Anyway, "Shakespeare in the Bush.

Posted by Dan S. | February 18, 2008 5:59 PM

Just cause Nick Carraway admired Gatsby doesn't mean Gatsby was at all admirable. More Dutch Schultz than Joe Kennedy.

The first sentence is undermined somewhat by the second. The only way Joe Kennedy could be called an admirable man is the same way Mark Anthony called Brutus an 'honourable man'.

Posted by James | February 18, 2008 7:00 PM

Sorry, should have been Mark Antony, and incorrect punctuation. Apologies in advance.

Posted by James | February 18, 2008 7:03 PM

Oh you silly literature lovers. Ms. Rimer knows that Gatsby is a cautionary tale. She does not deny this. Indeed, it is central to her point.

Posted by Dan L | February 18, 2008 8:46 PM

I don't think it's all that surprising that a fourteen-year-old immigrant from China would see it differently than you or I. The kind of wealth and freedom these characters had is unlike anything even in modern China. Immigrants often come here with the dream of reinventing themselves and getting rich. I wouldn't be surprised if immigrants back when it was written admired Gatsby to some degree even if this was clearly not the writers intention.

Now for middle-class people born here it's easy to see he's just dishonest and wrong. That he just pursued money without decency and lost any connection to anyone. However when you've lived really tough you might be more willing to sacrifice your principles to gain respect than you think. I think her view is of some value. In fact generally misinterpretation is of some value in what it says about the person or their society.

Posted by Thomas R | February 18, 2008 10:52 PM

Not eveyone wasted thier teenage years reading the ring trilogy did they?

Um, who's the snob?

But seriously, The LOTR, while certainly a much deeper and richer work than Gatsby, is not really comparable - comparing the two works is like comparing a Bruckner symphony to a Debussy string quartet.

Posted by vanya | February 18, 2008 11:38 PM

Oh, come on, Matt - it's not that hard.

The American dream is to do well enough to wind up dead floating in your OWN pool.

Posted by Dave L | February 19, 2008 12:00 AM

"I'll admit that literature's never really been my thing..." Now a statement like THAT must have led to some really interesting conversations around the Yglesias family dinner table.
Let's remember it's a WORK OF ART. The metaphor of the green light doesn't have to be stuffed into anyone's particular interpretation. It's not a direct correspondence (which your father wrote about quite eloquently, Matt (cf Hide Fox and the discussion about Moby Dick)).
What speaks to the power of the work is that even someone like Jinzhao can perceive it's numinousness, a power that will be transformed but not less compelling after she's gone to Harvard.

Posted by Rick Jones | February 19, 2008 12:03 AM

LOTR better than Gatsby?

I'm sorry, but that just doesn't fly: need we get into a pissing match about this, or are you just being provocative, Vanya?

Posted by Daniel Shays | February 19, 2008 1:57 AM

[No matter how many beautiful shirts Gatsby had, no matter how rich and famous he became, no matter how much Daisy raised his hopes, Gatsby wasn't going to make it into the club]

in fairness, if your main motivation for trying to join a club is a deep desire to fuck one of the existing members' wives, it's not just pure snobbery that means you're probably going to have a hard time with that club.

Posted by dsquared | February 19, 2008 4:54 AM

Just cause Nick Carraway admired Gatsby doesn't mean Gatsby was at all admirable. More Dutch Schultz than Joe Kennedy.

Fitzgerald gave us Gatsby through Nick, yes, which just means that Nick's perspective isn't privileged. It doesn't mean that Nick's perspective is wrong. And Gatsby might be "admirable" for reasons that escape Nick.

Literature, however, isn't about critiques. It's about pleasure. Just a little reminder.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | February 19, 2008 8:59 AM

I should remind people that Fitzgerald's working title for the Great Gatsby was Trimalchio in West Egg. If you recall from Petronius, Trimalchio was a freedman who flaunted his wealth with an absurd dinner party. Now let us dwell on ancient Rome a bit before we talk of inspirations of Gatsby.

Posted by freddiemac | February 19, 2008 11:38 PM

That Jamie Kirchick/Magic Mountain remark was pretty gratuitous. Coincidentally, though, the book is a favorite of Charles Hill, senior foreign policy adviser to Giuliani.

Posted by Maureen | February 22, 2008 9:47 AM