The Great Gatsby and Conflicting American Dreams

Library Exhibit at Smith Memorial Library at the Chautauqua Institution.

On Monday, April 27th, we collaborated with the Smith Memorial Library at the Chautauqua Institution to host “The Great Gatsby & Conflicting American Dreams.” In response to this year’s National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read selection, the event focused on discussing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby . Our event marked the conclusion of a series of sixteen Big Read events in which Senior English students at Fredonia worked together with libraries in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties throughout April to recontextualize this  beloved novel—and the 1920s era in general—in the realm of the 21st century.

Upon collaboration with the Library Director and our community partner, Scott Ekstrom, we decided to create a program based upon the conflicting American Dreams within The Great Gatsby, and to examine the implications that these conflicting Dreams may have had on race, class, and gender. We designed and displayed a poster that would introduce many of these topics to frame and direct the discussion in the weeks leading up to the event. Because the Chautauqua Institution spends so much of the year tirelessly preparing for the summer months when their programs are in session, we were dedicated to programming, planning, and executing this book discussion ourselves so that the staff and community could enjoy a gathering that was at once relaxing and intellectually stimulating. This was not difficult at all because the vibrant community was keen on literary and intellectual discussion that we had grown accustomed to in the classroom.

From 5–7pm, nearly sixty people, ranging from regular library patrons to visiting students, arrived eager to discuss The Great Gatsby. People were encouraged to mingle and enjoy the provided refreshments throughout the evening (including cookies, soda, sparkling grape juice, shortbread, and some savory snacks).

Our event began with a discussion about the American Dream as we asked patrons to define the Dream and explain what this idea meant to them. Because of the diversity of our audience, there was also great enthusiasm and reception when discussing the intersections of race, class, and gender in relation to these varying concepts of the Dream. People were constantly communicating with one another throughout the event, and many raised points that they had brought to the discussion after having read the book beforehand.

Then we delved into the novel to discuss the ways in which characters interacted with these various ideas of the American Dream, particularly Jay Gatsby’s climb to new wealth in relation to Tom Buchanan’s old moneyed privileges and power. We used these characters as the lens in which to further examine the reality of the American dream, to raise awareness on how the class mobility suggested by the Dream is more attainable for people with certain ethnic, gender, and class qualifications.

Community members engage in Big Read sponsored discussion of the American Dream.

While deconstructing many of the ideals and stereotypes surrounding the Dream, people offered ways in which the Dream might be dismantled, rebuilt, or renewed. Many of the comments reflected the various generations of people in attendance. Some suggested that the Dream evolved from middle-class comfort during the fifties to a growing focus on wealth as the determiner of success. Overall, these comments responded to peoples’ views on the state of the country, and debated whether or not certain generations were better off pursuing the Dream than others now are.

       

This discussion lasted for about an hour, upon which we offered further refreshments, graciously provided by Dr. Emily VanDette of Fredonia, the professor in charge of our Big Read project. At this time, we encouraged smaller group discussions among community members, and many stuck around to continue discussing Gatsby. As the larger group dispersed into smaller crowds, people were more enticed to share views that were separate from the direction of general discussion or to bring forth their more radical theories—for example, there was one fascinating argument that Gatsby was a sort of solipsistic creation by Nick. A few other examples included a debate on how Jordan and Daisy might have represented Fitzgerald’s view of women in the twenties, as well as discussions that moved past the Dream to focus on the novel’s sheer stylistic appeal.

This was an incredible experience to be a part of, and we are both thankful for the opportunity to discuss literature outside of an academic setting, especially with such an enthusiastic community. Even when comments that stemmed from Gatsby but took off in real world directions, the conversation always ended up combining the ideas the fictional world and the real one to evaluate our lives today and the future of communities around us. This conversation adequately accomplished one of the main goals set forth by the Big Read: “to restore reading to the center of American culture” by providing “citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities.”

The idea of integrating reading back into the hearts of Americans often crosses the minds of many English majors and students of literature. To see our research, planning, and knowledge put into action was an exciting way to conclude our undergraduate English education at Fredonia. We think we provided a great opportunity for discourse and intellectual thought within the library, and that we carried out the Big Read’s mission by inspiring  many audience members to contemplate the novel further on their own.

We want to thank the Chautauqua community and staff for being so warm, welcoming, and engaged in discussion. We also wanted to offer a special thanks to Scott Ekstrom and Deborah Reynolds for transforming our humble book talk into an evening extravaganza.

—Jack & Sarah