NAME OF SCHOOL:

LAKSHMI GIRLS HINDU COLLEGE

SCHOOLS CENTRE NUMBER:

160032

NAME OF CANDIDATE:

NADIRA RAMPERSAD

CANDIDATES NUMBER:

1600321264

SUBJECT:

LITERATURES IN ENGLISH

LEVEL:

ADVANCED

NAME OF TOPIC:

A critical response to Roger Lewis

Money, Love and Aspiration in The Great Gatsby based on F. Scott

Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby
NAME OF TEACHER:

MS. SATTEE GOPAUL

DATE:

TITLE PAGE

A critical response to Roger Lewis Money, Love and Aspiration in The Great
Gatsby based on F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby by Nadira Rampersad.
The essay includes:
1. A summary of Roger Lewis argument and
2. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the argument.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE

CRITICAL REVIEW.
APPENDICES....
BIBLIOGRAPHY..

CRITICAL REVIEW

Before the critical revolution, many American novels had come to be taken for granted and
was seen to have an established set of recognised interpretations. Money, Love, and
Aspiration in The Great Gatsby is an article written by Roger Lewis which was presented in
the book New Essays on The Great Gatsby edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli and was
published by the Cambridge University Press in 1985. This literary criticism is for the classic
American novel entitled The Great Gatsby by novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald which was
published in 1925 by Scribners. In this article writer, Roger Lewis presents The Great
Gatsby as a transitional work caught between World War I where individual effort counted
and post World War I where individual effort is eroded due to the advent of industrialisation.

He states that there is an idea of a Double vision of america: the old america and the new
america.
According to Roger Lewis,The Great Gatsby is about love and money, but its greater subject
is the tragic nature of aspiration that links these two in ways that deepen the broadest,
profoundest sense of who we are. The themes of Love, Money and Aspiration is seen that
American fiction is the separation of love and money which also characterizes serious
American fiction. Lewis says that this holds true for American fiction before World War I. He
goes on to say that the Great War shattered the belief that man could rise by his own efforts.
In the opening of the novel, Lewis highlights Nick Carraway, the narrator, and his
double vision where he is in both past and present connecting the war to a cynical guilty
disapproval of New York making an exception for Jay Gatsby who was later seen as a
bootlegger however he is abstemious and careful. Gatsby was also described as a money
maker with a romantic quest of obtaining Daisy Buchanan who is presented by Nick
Carraway who glamorizes and undercuts her.
The themes of money and love were mentioned but not enlarged as it will be later on in
the novel. Money may have been seen as a code for expressing emotions and identity. For
Gatsby money was a substitute for love. Lewis says that Gatsbys love is tied to his money
and that they are both self made, he acquired new money and this gives some vitality and
purpose to the money. He argues that Gatsbys love for Daisy is unique to that of other
American fictional characters at that time since he tried to marry for love into a higher class
rather than
Love in which Gatsby feels for Daisy would have been one of those with a hidden sexual
component, inviolate to the past. The love Gattsby has for his beloved Daisy, according to
Lewis, is similar to that of Fitzgeralds love for America since both are unconsummated. In

the critical article , the acquisition of both money and love are part of the same dream and the
will to return to the quintessential unity exists only at birth and death.
The effectiveness of Roger Lewiss argument would now be evaluated. Roger Lewiss
proposition is that the period between pre World War 1 belief where individual effort counted
and post world war 1 belief where individual effort is eroded due to the advent of
industrialisation highlights a double vision. In Roger Lewis case, he contends his argument
with the points that there are certain key intangible attributes of person that are vital in
evoking love for another such as common sense and moral determination. He also draws
reference to novelists such as Haratio Alger and Theodore Dreiser. In novels written by the
American writers that money and love are treated differently. The Pre-World War 1 belief
was that popular American fiction separates love and money for their characters. Roger Lewis
argues that it is the time frame and setting which influences the separation of love and moral
ideals from possessions and tangibility. I propose that this statement can be agreed upon since
he validates his point by saying it still holds true for American fiction before World War I.
The setting at that time gives reasoning for the moral decay and degradation caused by need
for material wealth. Prior to World War 1, Americans believed that individual effort counted.
A man could achieve status rank by his own efforts and if that man was not successful, he
could escape by voyaging to another territory. And if this did not work out it was clearly the
fault of criminal elements. This was the vision of the American society pre-world war 1.
Roger Lewis proposes Nicks double vision, Nicks father was more balanced as he was born
in the time of individual effort; Nick is able to be careful in his humane appraisal and
balanced judgement. Also that Nick judges people by their effort not what people say about
him and Nick is characterized by his double vision. Critic Roger Lewis also sees that nick
connects the war with cynical New York and American society at large, but accepts Gatsby as
a representation of an older more humane America. Which is superlatively ironic because

Gatsby himself represented everything that Nick scorned. Therefore Gatsby is also double
(old and new America). In his article, lewis also examines the doubleness of daisy presented
by nick carraways contrasting views on her The instant her voice broke off, ceasing to
compel my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said. It made me
uneasy; as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to exact a contributory
emotion from me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her
membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.
Through Daisys doubleness Lewis highlights that connection fitzgerald was able to make
between love and money: I think he revalued everything in his house according to the
measure of response it drew from her well loved eyes(p.111) The heavy emphasis placed on
wealth is also drawn from Fitzgerald deliberate move to exclude Gatsbys past in order to
effectively present the post war society.
Additionally, Lewis involves in his criticism another argument put forward on the
uniqueness Gatsbys character to that of other American fiction characters since he tries to
marry for love into a higher class.Roger Lewis then compares Gatsby to another American
fictional character from another novel, Clyde, published in 1925 the same year The Great
Gatsby was published, Stating that they both rose from humble beginnings to a more
glamorous life. They both were fond of women of higher class and believed that with money
they can achieve their dreams. However, Clyde is not in love with Shonda, the woman of a
higher class he is fond of but Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy. Clyde uses Shonda to
better himself but Gatsby tries to better himself for Daisy.
Roger Lewis makes a reference to another American fiction novel written in the year 1925,
the same year The Great Gatsby was published, Theodore Dreisers, An American Tragedy,
by comparing the heroes of the two novels Gatsby and Clyde. I think that Roger Lewis makes
a strong claim when he implies that Gatsbys character is unique to that of other American

fictional characters because in can be seen in the novel that Gatsby is truly in love with Daisy,
she was his American dream which can be seen through the major symbol of the Green Light
situated at the end of Daisys East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsbys West Egg lawn
represents Gatsbys hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in
Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. This
shows, in my opinion, how he reaches towards daisy, the love of his life. I agree with Roger
Lewiss statement because it is seen as mentioned above that Gatsby is truly in love with
daisy and tries to better himself so that he can win her over. In comparing Gatsby to another
hero in an American fictional novel, Clyde, it is seen that he only uses Shonda so better
himself in society and raise to a higher class.With reference to the text she only married you
because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. Roger Lewiss claim that Gatsby is
a unique character since he tries to marry for love into a higher class. From the quote above it
is seen that Gatsby and Daisy could not have been together due to the fact that he was of a
lower class than her, he was poor and it was not seen fit to form relationships with someone
outside of your social class. Gatsby aware of the fact that he could not win Daisy over
because of his financial state and low class he acquired wealth and was labeled as new
money all so that Daisy would accept him.
Essentially, Roger Lewiss views are valid and credible to an extent since his claims are
supported with references to other american novelists and are seen throughout the piece.
When using true criticism in analysing a piece one must look at it from different angles and
take into consideration all valid points. In conclusion, the transitional work by F. Scott
Fitzgerald presents the double vision of america and it is seen that unlike in his previous
works Fitzgerald is able to make a connection between love and money through the aspiration
of Gatsby in his so called american dream, Daisy.

APPENDIX 1
Roger Lewis
Roger Lewis (born 26 February 1960) is a Welsh academic, biographer and journalist. He
has written a biography of Anthony Burgess.
Lewis was raised in Bedwas, Monmouthshire, where he was educated at Bassaleg School. He
then attended the University of St Andrews (MA) before studying further at Magdalen
College, Oxford (MLitt). He became a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, in 1984
Lewis has also published books on Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers and the Carry On actor
Charles Hawtrey (Charles Hawtrey: the man who was Private Widdle, 2001)

APPENDIX 2
Map of Long Island, New York

APPENDIX 3
Haratio Alger
Horatio Alger Jr. (1832-1899) was a prolific American author of boys adventure stories
whose heroes lead exemplary lives to Strive and Succeed in the face of adversity and poverty,
good and evil.
Horatio Alger Jr. was born on Friday the 13th of January, 1832 in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the
oldest of five children. He developed near-sightedness and asthma as a youngster, and wasnt
to excel academically till many years later.
His mother, Olive (ne Fenno) Alger, was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. His father,
Horatio Alger Sr. earned his living as a Unitarian Minister, but supplemented his meagre
ministerial income by becoming the first postmaster in town, tending a small farm and
occasionally teaching grammar school. But the family never really got out of economic
straits, whereupon they left the town in 1844 to go to Marlborough. It was here that Horatio
entered prep school and started to excel with his studies.
In 1848, sixteen year-old Horatio was accepted to Harvard University with financial
assistance from his fathers cousin Cyrus Alger, and embarked on the happiest four years of
his life. Studying under such illustrious teachers as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Horatio
started to hone his writing skills with poetry, short sketches and academic essays on topics
from chivalry to Miguel de Cervantes, earning the title Class Poet and winning many awards
and prizes.
Alger was initially not as successful when, upon graduating, he submitted stories to various
magazines and newspapers only to have them rejected. Carl Cantab and Charles F.
Preston were two of the pseudonyms he used to publish the works that he felt were secondrate. Not earning enough to support himself by writing, Alger took on temporary teaching
positions, which allowed him the time to continue writing, mostly comedic adult stories for

monthly publications. Subterfuge, sexual innuendo and bachelors being tricked into marriage
were prophetic themes.
In 1854 Alger left Cambridge to take a teaching position in Rhode Island, only to return three
years later to attend Theological School for three years. He then went on a tour of Europe
which he enjoyed immensely, sending letters back home to be published in the monthlies to
defray his travel costs. Upon return ten months later he found himself docking in Boston at
the start of the Civil War. Drafted and with his slight stature (he was five feet-two inches tall)
and poor health he was assigned to the home front, during which he and a sixteen year-old
soldier named Joseph Dean maintained an intimate correspondence. Following the War, Alger
wrote the well received Franks Campaign (1864), the story about a young boy who
organizes a junior army while his father is fighting in the Civil War.
Horatio Alger died on 18 July, 1899, at his sister's home, of heart disease. He had left
instructions to Augusta that his funeral was to be as private as possible, with as little personal
detail as necessary released to the public. His true age was not reported at the time of his
death and his remains were promptly cremated before burial. According to his wishes,
Augusta destroyed all of his personal writings and correspondence, making it difficult for
historians to document his life with such a dearth of primary sources. His will left almost
everything to family and friends.

APPENDIX 4
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser, (born Aug. 27, 1871, Terre Haute, Ind., U.S.died Dec. 28, 1945,
Hollywood, Calif.), novelist who was the outstanding American practitioner of naturalism.
He was the leading figure in a national literary movement that replaced the observance of
Victorian notions of propriety with the unflinching presentation of real-life subject matter.
Among other themes, his novels explore the new social problems that had arisen in a rapidly
industrializing America.Dreisers spotty education in parochial and public schools was
capped by a year (188990) at Indiana University. He began a career as a newspaper reporter
in Chicago in 1892 and worked his way to the East Coast. While writing for a Pittsburgh
newspaper in 1894, he read works by the scientists T.H. Huxley and John Tyndall and
adopted the speculations of the philosopher Herbert Spencer. Through these readings and his
own experience, Dreiser came to believe that human beings are helpless in the grip of
instincts and social forces beyond their control, and he judged human society as an unequal
contest between the strong and the weak. In 1894 Dreiser arrived in New York City, where he
worked for several newspapers and contributed to magazines. He married Sara White in
1898, but his roving affections (and resulting infidelities) doomed their relationship. The
couple separated permanently in 1912.Dreisers longest novel, An American Tragedy (1925),
is a complex and compassionate account of the life and death of a young antihero named
Clyde Griffiths. The novel begins with Clydes blighted background, recounts his path to
success, and culminates in his apprehension, trial, and execution for murder. The book was
called by one influential critic the worst-written great novel in the world, but its
questionable grammar and style are transcended by its narrative power. Dreisers labyrinthine

speculations on the extent of Clydes guilt do not blunt his searing indictment of materialism
and the American dream of success.

REFERENCES
(BOOKS/ ARTICLES)

Fitzgerald,F.S (1925), The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner International

Lewis, R.(1985) Money,Love, and Aspiration in The Great Gatsby. New Essays on The Great
Gatsby. P 41-57.

(ONLINE SOURCES)

Haratio Alger.Retrieved April 3,2016 from http://www.online-literature.com/horatio-alger/

Lawrence, E, Hussman. Theodore Dreiser: American Author. Retrieved April 3,2016 from
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodore-Dreiser