AN ARCHETYPAL APPROACH TOWARDS THE GREAT GATSBY: THE TRANSFORMATIONAL AMERICAN DREAM THROUGH META-MEME IN THE GREAT GATSBY

Abstract

The American dream is one of the most studied subjects, especially in modern American literature. Remarkably when it comes to modern American literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby cannot be omitted from these studies. It is true that there are many articles and debates on The Great Gatsby, and there will be more. Nevertheless, what makes this study somewhat diverse is that Gatsby’s American dream can be reckoned as a meta-meme inspired by the ancient Greek heroes in a post-postmodernist way. The article will particularly try to show that Gatsby is a timeless hero whose one foot in the past and the other in the future. Some may find Gatsby under the name of Hercules, some under the name Odysseus, and some under the name Bruce Wayne. Gatsby cannot be limited within a limited period since the connotations that his existence stand for create an everlasting effect on any human society. That is to say, the meta-meme, which Gatsby ‘radiates’ or reflects is the thing what humankind have craved for since they existed: Power. Some may call it the American dream or the multimillionaire’s dream; some may call it a solipsist’s dream. This dream, however, one way or another, is a dream that Morpheus, the Dream God, will continue to bring to us. Although it can sometimes be a nightmare, the silhouette of the dream will always remain the same. Therefore, through a comparative study of history, literary theory, mythology and literature, this article intends to show that the American Dream persists even stronger through meta-memes at the dawn of twenty-first century.