Gatsby, Modernism, Existentialism, and YOU
We have had occasion, more often in American Literature than in AP Literature, to speak of the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche. As you recall, American Literature students, we spoke and wrote at some length of his ideas of the Uber-munch and the morality of power. We could see that working in the famous and oft-discussed Sherburn-Boggs incident in Huckleberry Finn, in which the richest man in town gunned down one of the poorest, drunkest, and least harmful men simply because he needed to maintain what some students called "face." He had power and he couldn't endure what Twain called "blackguarding."
Nietzsche is more famous for another statement, though. He coined the phrase, "God is dead." (It sounds better in German, "Gott ist tot.") The implications of this phrase brought us the literature we have today--and the confusion, for better or for worse.
Please bear in mind, students, I, Mr. Waterhouse, am not telling you that God is dead. I am telling you that Nietzsche said that and that his statement has profound implications which, if we understand them, will lead to a deeper and better understanding both of the literature we read and the world around us.
But it is necessary that we have a little perspective on things before we move forward.
American Literature students remember the Puritans quite well, and that catechism they all studied. The FIRST and most important question in this book of q&a about their faith was this.
It's all there, right? It's the key to it all. There is no need to hunt for meaning and purpose because it's all right there: glorify God.
Now you can begin to see the profundity of Nietzsche's statement. If you remove God, the answer for our "ends" (purpose in life/ meaning of life) gets muddy to say the least.
Soon on the heels of Nietzsche, another Teutonic Titan, Sigmund Freud, posited that human motivation and animal motivation are the same: basically, eat and breed. He posited also, and this is a gross simplification, that the complexity of our rules surrounding breeding are the result of the complexity and duration of child rearing. But this may be a slight digression.
The main thing to remember is that the purpose is gone. Two paths appear.
1. There is no meaning nor is there possibility of meaning. All is nothing. This is called nihilism.
2. While there is no abstract meaning in the traditional/ Christian sense, human beings are (my phrase) "meaning seeking missiles." Our existence is about creating meaning for ourselves. This is best expressed in French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's essay, "Existentialism is a Humanism." I have linked HERE to a pdf with some well-chosen excerpts.
Sartre called himself an Atheistic Existentialist, but it is important to note that there are some who followed a path of existential inquiry to a place where they called themselves Christian Existentialist. But I digress.
For our purposes as literary scholars it is important to note the effect this had on LITERATURE. For that, we need a little MORE perspective.
American Literature just read Huckleberry Finn. This is a book with a traditional structure and traditional plot. It is of the REALIST school, in that it treats a problem. It holds up a mirror (to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare) to society in the hope that society sees the flaw and takes steps to correct it. In this case, the flaw is institutionalized racism (among other flaws). Though not a Realist, Walt Whitman expressed the philosophy behind it quite well as he thought that his collection of poems would prevent a civil war and make for a better society.
The Civil War did happen. Nietzsche and Freud said what they said. World War One happened, with unspeakable carnage, and the ideas of Realism, of a society which could be healed, were sorely challenged.
Modernism emerged, and The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous and most accessible expressions of the school.
Modernism can be summed up in one word: Meaninglessness. This sense that life lacks meaning and that the old ways of expression and belief were bankrupt. It is characterized by several things.
1. Unreliable narrators--who have a limited knowledge both of the story and themselves.
2. A sense of isolation.
3. Experimental techniques. Gatsby is a fairly "conservative" novel in this respect, but other novels had multiple and shifting perspectives or follow a stream of consciousness.
4. A sense that truth is entirely subjective.
5. A sense that human activity is futile.
6. An emphasis on symbolism---this is a reaction to the ideas of Freud and Jung about the mind.
There are many other characteristics, some which contradict each other, but this is a good start to an understanding. Later, you'll have a chance to see these ideas come to life in our novel, particularly in the symbols introduced in chapter two.
Nietzsche is more famous for another statement, though. He coined the phrase, "God is dead." (It sounds better in German, "Gott ist tot.") The implications of this phrase brought us the literature we have today--and the confusion, for better or for worse.
Please bear in mind, students, I, Mr. Waterhouse, am not telling you that God is dead. I am telling you that Nietzsche said that and that his statement has profound implications which, if we understand them, will lead to a deeper and better understanding both of the literature we read and the world around us.
But it is necessary that we have a little perspective on things before we move forward.
American Literature students remember the Puritans quite well, and that catechism they all studied. The FIRST and most important question in this book of q&a about their faith was this.
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.
It's all there, right? It's the key to it all. There is no need to hunt for meaning and purpose because it's all right there: glorify God.
Now you can begin to see the profundity of Nietzsche's statement. If you remove God, the answer for our "ends" (purpose in life/ meaning of life) gets muddy to say the least.
Soon on the heels of Nietzsche, another Teutonic Titan, Sigmund Freud, posited that human motivation and animal motivation are the same: basically, eat and breed. He posited also, and this is a gross simplification, that the complexity of our rules surrounding breeding are the result of the complexity and duration of child rearing. But this may be a slight digression.
The main thing to remember is that the purpose is gone. Two paths appear.
1. There is no meaning nor is there possibility of meaning. All is nothing. This is called nihilism.
2. While there is no abstract meaning in the traditional/ Christian sense, human beings are (my phrase) "meaning seeking missiles." Our existence is about creating meaning for ourselves. This is best expressed in French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's essay, "Existentialism is a Humanism." I have linked HERE to a pdf with some well-chosen excerpts.
Sartre called himself an Atheistic Existentialist, but it is important to note that there are some who followed a path of existential inquiry to a place where they called themselves Christian Existentialist. But I digress.
For our purposes as literary scholars it is important to note the effect this had on LITERATURE. For that, we need a little MORE perspective.
American Literature just read Huckleberry Finn. This is a book with a traditional structure and traditional plot. It is of the REALIST school, in that it treats a problem. It holds up a mirror (to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare) to society in the hope that society sees the flaw and takes steps to correct it. In this case, the flaw is institutionalized racism (among other flaws). Though not a Realist, Walt Whitman expressed the philosophy behind it quite well as he thought that his collection of poems would prevent a civil war and make for a better society.
The Civil War did happen. Nietzsche and Freud said what they said. World War One happened, with unspeakable carnage, and the ideas of Realism, of a society which could be healed, were sorely challenged.
Modernism emerged, and The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous and most accessible expressions of the school.
Modernism can be summed up in one word: Meaninglessness. This sense that life lacks meaning and that the old ways of expression and belief were bankrupt. It is characterized by several things.
1. Unreliable narrators--who have a limited knowledge both of the story and themselves.
2. A sense of isolation.
3. Experimental techniques. Gatsby is a fairly "conservative" novel in this respect, but other novels had multiple and shifting perspectives or follow a stream of consciousness.
4. A sense that truth is entirely subjective.
5. A sense that human activity is futile.
6. An emphasis on symbolism---this is a reaction to the ideas of Freud and Jung about the mind.
There are many other characteristics, some which contradict each other, but this is a good start to an understanding. Later, you'll have a chance to see these ideas come to life in our novel, particularly in the symbols introduced in chapter two.
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