Gatsby Poem
Matthew Reeler
let us leave this ailing night
you and i
for the only lights that i can see
are the sweaty bulbs
and the cynical smiles
of the malodorous bourgeoisie
they cannot see
their godless eyes are dulled
their suits are vulgar
no they cannot see
their swaggering in their well-heeled shoes.
let us flee this godforsaken night
let us escape
with our precious dreams
for the world is no longer what it seems
NOT the Great Gatsby – Presentation on the Alternative Titles for Fitzgerald’s novel
CA Mostert
Fitzgerald was irresolute when he was trying to choose a title for his novel. He dithered and debated, while his wife and editor censored his varied taste.
At first he switched between Trimalchio in West Egg and Trimalchio, but Fitzgerald definitely knew that he wanted the name Trimalchio as part of the book’s title. Trimalchio is a character in Satyricon, a Latin narrative by Petronius, inclined towards giving extravagant orgies and weird dinner parties – serving dishes like live birds sewn up inside a pig, and a series of Zodiac-dishes. He has a prostitute for a wife; however, that cannot really be connected to Gatsby. But Gatsby, like Trimalchio, has a reputation for throwing parties with every kind of excess and also, like Trimalchio, worked up his wealth from poverty. This correlation ties into the theme in Gatsby of shallow hedonism. Pleasure for pleasure’s sake; and extravagance for the sake of showing off. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald was persuaded to drop this title – even though he was rather attached to it – because ordinary plebeians like us could not be expected to get the reference.
The next couple he went through without forming very high opinions of them. On the Road to West Egg and Gold-Hatted Gatsby and The High-Bouncing Lover, all struck him as being rather superficial – not really getting to the crux of the book. The first one, One the Road to West Egg, seemed as though the events narrated in book were just in passing, not at all important – and although they only take place over one summer of Nick’s life, they are incredibly significant to him. Gold-Hatted Gatsby is purely frivolous, as is The High-Bouncing Lover. Fitzgerald insisted that if the title was to have anything to do with Gatsby and Daisy’s affair, it was to have a gravitas and a tension that befitted the rather miserable reality of the lovers.
Gatsby is a bit too lonely, all by itself, giving nothing away about what the book is about. Yes, the story is about Gatsby, but it’s not all about him – even though he is quite selfish.
Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires was discarded, because Fitzgerald thought it placed too much emphasis on the valley of ashes. He does not seem to have considered the figurative meaning this title could have had – about the isolation, hopelessness and pessimism of these glittering, wealthy lives.
Fitzgerald fell in love with his final title – Under the Red, White, and Blue, but when he sent a frantic cable to his editor explaining as much, he was informed that he was too late, and The Great Gatsby was there to stay as the book was already at the publishers’. The author, indecisive from the start, was unhappy and said of the title that it was “only fair, rather bad than good”.
It’s quite difficult to come up with a new title for a classic, because the name it has is already so entrenched in people’s minds that you’d be shouted down whatever you said. But since I have to, the title I should choose is Death in the Charleston. The Buchanans and Gatsby are so exquisitely rich, but at the same time, they are so exquisitely poor. In post-war America, with the rich striving for the American Dream, with a white-picket fence and everything money can buy, people have been disillusioned and are living in dissolution – wanting to be happy, but not knowing how. In The Great Gatsby, dancing links hands paradoxically with death – joy is only a façade to a rotten state underneath.
GREAT GATSBY PRESENTION:
Gangsters, Gamblers and Gold Diggers: The Scandal of 1920s
Debbie Orolowitz and Sarah
DEBBIE: (in New York accent) Flappers and Fellas, I’m Flossie and this is Molly and we’re gonna tell ya bout the gangsters, gamblers and gold diggers of the 1920s. We’re glad to see ya all dolled up. This joint sure is swell tonight. So get a move on , grab ya moonshine and make ya’selves comfortable. Hope ya not too blotto-ed. Enjoy!
(SARAH looks at DEBBIE funny)
SARAH: The 1920s was a time of lawlessness in America. Morale was at an all time high and the economy was through the roof. People partied and drank often, despite the Prohibition Act, which forbade alcohol. Subsequently, crime flourished, as gangsters’ bootlegged alcohol. The focus on G-d and the ‘American Dream’ soon turned to materialism and greed.
DEBBIE Women’s images changed dramatically between World War 1 and the Roaring Twenties: Women were had more rights and became less conservative. Their hair was shortened…
SARAH (Gasp) Shocking!
DEBBIE AND… they wore more makeup as well as short dresses. Flappers were generally accepted, as was the illegal bootlegging.
SARAH: Gangsters did not only control liquor distribution. They also had power over gambling, prostitution and racketeering. It was the gangsters of the 1920s who turned jumbled misconduct into an organised crime corporation.
DEBBIE: There are many mobster references in the Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald hinted at Gatsby’s illegal activities: he receives many private phone calls, Tom accuses him of being a bootlegger and there were all those rumours…
SARAH Meyer Wolfsheim (who is Gatby’s mentor) is also involved corruption. He fixed the World Series of 1919. He is Gatsby’s connection to the world of crime. Fitzgerald based Wolfsheim on Arnold Rothstein, the real-life gangster who was involved in the Black Sox Fix. Rosy Rosenthal, who was mentioned in the book, was a gangster who exposed police corruption in New York. He was killed by a policeman. Hence Wolfsheim’s reference to “the night they shot Rosy Rosenthal”.
DEBBIE: In fact, the 1920s was famous for its gangsters. Al ‘Scarface’ Capone is probably one is the best known mobsters of the 20th century. He was most famous for his smuggling and bootlegging. He was also wanted for murder, gun running and tax evasion, by the FBI. He did time at Alcatraz. He died at the age of 48 after a cardiac arrest, thought to be related to third stage neurosyphillus.