The Great Gatsby shows characters who are struggling to maintain their social status. It is important for them to keep up appearances but it can be painful internally when they compromise the tension of their hidden canvas and painted image. Gatsby and Nick Carraway are both battling with their pasts and possessing enigmatic relationships.
Daisy Buchanan reconditions her self to fit the demands of the wealthy women of the 1920s. The woman who used to gaze at her husband with “unfathomable pleasure” is now unable to leave the relationship because of her financial greed for Tom Buchanan’s extravagant “pomps and circumstances”. She also shows little emotion towards her spouse. Tom and Daisy are portrayed as having a strong marriage in public, but the book also suggests that they may be suffering from neglect and desperation. Caraway, in his narration, first glorifies the “young rich and wild” lives Tom and Daisy lead together. This is a romantic vision of youth during the 20s. Fitzgerald’s illustrations of Tom and Myrtle’s affair in marriage make this fairy-tale fable a reality. Daisy acknowledges Tom and Myrtle’s relationship, but is blinded by the intemperance she has for her husband’s wealth. Daisy also feeds Tom’s egotistical superiority and power. Gatsby embezzles his wife after Tom’s marriage becomes challenged. This may be a sign that the surface appearance of a relationship does not reflect the inner tensions of each character. A good example is the contrast between the “fashionable East Egg”, where white palatials “glitter on the water”, and the “desolate Valley of Ashes”. Jay Gatsby’s “overwhelming sense of self” drives him to desire a fantasy life. He changes his image to become the “son” of “rich people from the Middle West”. Maybe significant childhood events were the reason for this. They created a hollow in his heart towards his family, leading to a “Platonic vision” of him to bury the memories of poverty. The idea of Gatsby becoming a wealthy man with “beautiful clothes” that are endless is contrary to his real past. His roots, which he hides from the public, have a negative impact on this external concept. The same differences between Gatsby and Daisy’s lives can be seen in the contrast of his internal and external lives.
Nick Carraway is a character who makes “inclined” judgements, but his actual observations are based on Fitzgerald’s illustrations. Carraway’s blatant narration of the crumbling social order is evident in instances like labeling Tom and Daisy “careless people”, and Jordan “incurably dishonest”. The collective effect of these examples is to create a negative image of Nick, which contradicts his portrayal in the novel as a narrator who is innocent and compared him metaphorically to “an absolute Rose”. This is similar to the “lavish”, opulent lifestyles of East Egg characters, which mask the struggles and desperation of their lives. Jordan also questions Nick’s authenticity: “I though you were a straightforward, honest person”. Nick’s conflicting values are further exemplified by Jordan’s statement, “I was an honest straight forward person”.
The Valley of Ashes or East Egg is a great place to compare the internal life of characters to their external lives. In the novel, Gatsby and Nick both challenge the validity of their judgements. Comparing the two, we can conclude that the characters’ external lives are not as perfect as they appear to those outside.