Work Text:
History Hates Lovers:
A Queer Interpretation of One of America’s Greatest Novels
Contents
Abstract ………………………….………………………………………………………………...2
Fitzgerald’s Context/ Queer Culture in The 1920s …………………………………………………3
The Great Gatsby: Queer Interpretation ……………………………………………………………5
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………..21
Works Cited ………………………………………………………………………………………23
Abstract
Over the course of the last century The Great Gatsby (1925) has been both publicly criticized and widely loved for the story surrounding Jay Gatsby as told by the narrator Nick Carraway. A theory that will be discussed here is the queer subtext that Fitzgerald has depicted in his work. Recently critics have picked apart this idea – even more so after the novel entered the public domain in January of 2021 – though there is still debate of whether or not Fitzgerald has written any of the character’s of his book as queer ( in this context queer will be used as an umbrella term for the LGBTQ+ community). Queer characters in classic literature are largely not blatantly stated to be such but rather subtext, queer themes, and certain characterization/stereotypes are used in order to get the message across that a character may not be heterosexual. It is my idea that both Nick and Gatsby fall into this category – the themes surrounding the two characters, mainly the idea of hiding one’s true self and creating a new identity, as well as certain character traits lend themselves to these two men as being queer in some way. In working through this theory the history of queer culture, especially as it pertains to the 1920s, will prove useful. I will also follow the chronological events of the novel and work through the queer subtext as it is shown. In writing this I hope to have audiences of The Great Gatsby see the novel in a new light and also see how queer issues and ideas have been involved in English literature for far longer then what may be expected.
Fitzgerald’s Context/ Queer Culture in The 1920s
Understanding the culture surrounding queer individuals and Fitzgerald’s view of these subcultures is imperative to reaching a further analysis on Nick Carraway and his relationship with Gatsby. Queer culture in the 1920s was flourishing, there were many clubs and bars not only in the United States but across the world that were a safe haven for LGBTQ groups. The hidden away from the rest of the world they were able to be themselves in secret, though as the rest of the world realized what was happening in these shady spots they began to have a fascination with the way the groups would interact with each other, how drag kings and queens were able to perform in front of laughing crowds, the way that they could be so vastly different from the cisgender-heterosexual norm.
This queer culture prospered in New York City, the same city where The Great Gatsby takes place: Harlem was home to gay and lesbian hotspots and stages in the city became perfect placements where transgender and queer performers shined. These balls and performances were firstly created so that gay men would be able to meet one another but as they continued to grow they became vastly important for the growing queer culture.
Newspapers and magazines dubbed this the “Pansy Craze” (it should be noted that “pansy” has always had negative connotations with respect to the LGBTQ community). Even straight couples would go to these shows because they were so intrigued with the people that they deemed as different or other – though much of society still disproved of queer people as a whole. In order to appeal to the greater American society, many queer men and women lived double lives and participated in “lavender marriages” where both parties sought protection in the marriage for legal reasons as gay marriage was still illegal and highly frowned upon – sodomy laws were updated in 1923 and heavily enforced.
A central part of history that applies heavily to The Great Gatsby is the hatred of queer individuals in the middle and upper class. They too would attend these parties and balls, but among straight couples, they needed this cover or else their class would be threatened.
Now, Fitzgerald lived through this himself – even after running to Paris he was unable to escape due to the queer balls and gatherings also happening in the city of love – and frowned upon it much like his colleagues. In Angus P. Collins’s F. Scott Fitzgerald: Homosexuality and the Genesis of Tender Is the Night he emphasizes the point that Fitzgerald used homosexuality as a symbol – not just a character trait. Within his analysis Collins finds that gay characters were shown as being morally unjust, saying that Fitzgerald used queerness as a device to show that a character was not reliable and that they did not have morals. Collins describes that to Fitzgerald, “Homosexuality is unequivocally synonymous with moral irresponsibility because it is Fitzgerald’s private emblem of the moral carelessness he was then trying to repudiate in himself.” Applying this thought, no matter how wrong, is critical to further understanding The Great Gatsby, this will be expanded upon in the analysis that follows.
The Great Gatsby: Queer Interpretation
There are multiple tropes that come in when analyzing a character that can possibly be queercoded, queercoded meaning that a character has many subtextual elements that would point to them being queer but the author never states whether this is true or not, it is intentionally kept vague.
Tropes include:
A strong bond between two characters of the same gender
A character possessing traits of the opposite gender (a man being described as feminine or a woman described as masculine)
References to Greek mythology and culture
Being described as an outsider
Putting up a front or the hiding of one’s true self
Both Nick and Gatsby display multiple of these traits throughout the book – all of this leads to the question if they could possibly be queer coded.
Starting at the beginning of the novel the reader is introduced to Nick Carraway, the narrator of this novel. He depicts himself as a trustworthy man, someone that he is “inclined to reserve all judgments”; overall, Nick depicts himself as a reliable man. The reader quickly learns that this is not true, that Nick is a very judgemental character and voices his opinion of the characters around him through his writing. As found in the background on Fitzgerald’s beliefs of queerness Nick would be a candidate for utilizing queerness as a device to show that he is not actually as reliable as he would like the reader to believe. It is very apparent throughout the novel that Fitzgerald did not intend for Nick to be a reliable narrator; he leaves out details about certain events, he seems to forget specifics about times and places, and he is a major hypocrite as he portrays himself as nonjudgemental but is quick to go against that.
In the first chapter Nick also goes into some detail about himself and his past; he was from the midwest and had moved east. The settings, and direction of the settings, are all very important in this novel, the archetypal meaning of these settings is also very important. Moving east has the symbolism of having a new beginning, a kind of awakening. Now in regards to the roaring twenties queer history, this can mean that Nick is moving towards a new beginning where he can explore himself in New York City – as it was one of the leading cities for queer culture.
Nick also explains that he lived in West Egg when he moved to New York. The west, especially in American history, is a symbol of freedom and expansion. West Egg is where both Gatsby and Nick live, now when looking at these two characters with a queer lense it can be thought that the reason these two characters live in West Egg while Daisy and Tom both live in the East is that they are looking for freedom to live as they want, to be open about their queerness. In tandem with New York City being a hub for queer culture, both Gatsby and Nick can be seen as two men running from their homes in the west, also a symbol of oddness, to the east, a place where they can live in freedom.
Furthermore, Nick goes into great detail about Gatsby in the first chapter, he is quick to explain that the book will be about this man and says “there was something gorgeous about him” and that he had a “romantic readiness” that Nick admires. This is not the last time that Nick will go into heavy detail about a man, further along in the chapter he has an intricate depiction of Tom Buchanan writing that Tom had “a cruel body”. The word “cruel” is interesting here, “cruel” can be written in order to mean that Tom is not a good person as he is cheating on his wife and is cruel towards her, but Nick did not know this fact at this time. He had not been around Daisy in a long time and knew close to nothing about what was going on in her life. Instead, this may be Nick calling Tom’s body cruel because he knows it is something that he cannot have as before he described Tom’s body in a way that someone who is pining over Tom would, observing that Tom was trying to hide “the enormous power of that body” and that he had “a great pack of muscle”. The paragraphs that Nick attributes to depictions of men all have this wanting tone, the zealous diction such as “strained”, “glistening”, and “enormous” all point to Nick having an infatuation with men.
Equally important is Nick’s portrayal of Jordan, the character set out to be his love interest, and how she is nearly always described as being masculine. Nick is quick to point out anything masculine about her and fixates on those things such as calling her “a young cadet”. It is important to note that within Fitzgerald’s context young cadet would be seen as a derogatory term towards women as it masculinizes them, something that most if not all women did not want. Nick does not dwell on feminine things about people but instead hyper fixates on masculine attributes.
Moreover in the same chapter Nick confesses that he was once thought to be engaged to a girl in the west, though he emphasizes that the two of them were not engaged at all. Nick expresses disdain about marrying a woman or having a relationship with one farther along in the book that will be touched on later.
The second chapter of The Great Gatsby has one of the stronger pieces of evidence that Nick is queer. In this chapter the reader is introduced to the McKees, focusing on Mr. Mckee for this essay. When Mr. McKee is introduced, he is depicted as “a pale feminine man”. Fitzgerald purposefully used the word “feminine” in a time when femininity in men and queerness were very interlocked. Nick attempts to get closer to the man, even going as far as getting physically close with him, and then follows him out of the apartment without Mrs. McKee – which already points to a situation that seems much like Tom and Daisy, where a spouse is cheating on the other. Nick and Mr. McKee both walk into an elevator and there is sensual imagery throughout the encounter between the two men – a lever easily being a sexual symbol.
There is then one of the first gaps in Nick’s narration, an ellipsis is used to show not only the passage of time but also a piece of Nick’s life that he does not want to share. Since he is writing this book and it will be shared with at least one other person it is not hard to imagine that he would wish to keep some moments private – especially in the 1920s as telling this encounter could be damaging to him and his social standing. Nick is standing next to Mr. McKee’s bed while the other man is in his underwear. This piece may be one of the strongest to point to Nick being queer, along with his relationship with Gatsby, as it alludes to a sexual encounter between Nick and another man.
What’s more, is Nick’s interactions with Gatsby within the third chapter. Nick is invited, one of the few people to get an invitation as he explains, “people were not invited – they went there”. It is essential to understand that Gatsby wants Nick to come to his part, he did not throw invitations out to just anyone – only those that he desired to come; Nick is one of the people that he wants to come, everyone else has simply shown up due to the gossip about Gatsby but Nick is invited by Gatsby himself. This invitation is out of character for Gatsby and shows what will be a series of times that he breaks his facade around the other man. Nick also goes as far as to call Gatsby’s handwriting “majestic”, further demonstrating his devotion and idealization of the man.
Another important symbol in the novel is Gatsby’s garden, something that is constantly described as being blue – color of sadness – and missing something. While Gatsby’s parties are going on though, the garden can be seen as an allusion to the Garden of Eden, where sin manifests and grows. When Nick first enters the garden he descends into it with Jordan, a literary signal that he is descending into something tempting and sinful. There are also three men in the garden, a numerical reference to the holy trinity, also interesting to note is that there are seven people present in the garden: two women dressed in yellow, the three men, Jordan, and Nick. This number is also a symbol of the seven deadly sins, implying that Gatsby’s parties are full of sin and because they are in the garden itself may be a manifestation of this sin.
In the story of the Garden of Eden there are four main characters/objects: Adam, Eve, the snake (the devil), and the apple. Jordan is leading Nick into the garden just as the snake led even into the garden in search of the apple. Jordan ends up leading Nick to Gatsby in the garden meaning that Gatsby would be the representation of the apple. When looking at this through Fitzgerald’s lense of queerness these scene makes a lot of sense; Gatsby is something forbidden that Nick cannot have because it is morally wrong to be with another man, but he still goes along and falls into the temptation that Jordan has laid out for him and finds Gatsby. In the bible, this is when Eve is cursed with original sin and in the novel this would be Nick sinning once more, falling for a man.
While they are in the garden there is a lot of dancing and women dancing with men though Nick describes that “no one swooned back onto Gatsby”. With all the single women around it would make sense that Gatsby would find one to be with for the night, but he doesn’t. He never dances with a woman all night, instead, he stays sober – unlike much of the party – and watches from afar. Utilizing queer subtext this piece is highly important because it shows that Gatsby did not care for any of the women which can imply that he may possibly be queer in some way.
Nick also takes the chance to dive deeply into Gatsby’s appearance, dedicating a vast paragraph to the man’s smile. He utilizes admiring diction such as “understandably”, “irresistible”, “assured”, and “elegant”. Authors pick their words precisely – much like when Fitzgerald described Mr. McKee as “feminine” – and in this instance, the tone of Nick’s writing seems to be enamored. He is putting Gatsby on a pedestal, a man that he has just met, and completely in shock with the man’s appearance. Nick never writes something as in-depth as this paragraph for any women in the book, nor does he use such infatuated descriptions as he does when depicting Gatsby. All of these pieces of evidence would point to Nick fawning over Gatsby, not for Jordan or any women in the book, but instead for the person that he has been tempted to see, something that he cannot have because it is sinful.
Within the same chapter, Nick tells the reader more about himself, possibly trying to prove that he is reliable by forming trust between reader and writer. He says that he had an affair with a girl back in the midwest but says that her brother had started to suspect something and that they needed to break it off. In the original manuscript, Nick explains “but her brother began favoring me with…”. It is never explained further with what Nick meant by this as this piece is all that survives, but it can be read that the girl’s brother possibly began to suspect that Nick was not straight or in love with her as in the final novel it reads “he began throwing mean looks in my direction”. With the context of the time, it would not be a stretch to assume that the brother wouldn’t want his sister to be around or with a man that he thought to be queer as much of the public still did not accept LGBTQ+ individuals.
Nick also elucidates that he hides his desires and attempts to fit in with the rest of society as he vocalizes that “I, too, was hurrying towards gayety and sharing their intimate excitement…”. Nick demonstrates his want to fall in love like everyone else, like Tom and Gatsby but is unable to. He knows that he has Jordan, but concludes that he “wasn’t actually in love” with her. He further illustrates that he has “interior rules that act as brakes on my desires”. What Nick seems to be described at the end of chapter three is comphet or compulsive heterosexuality. Comphet is the assumption of heterosexuality by a queer person in order to further fit in with the society around them, typically in order to be accepted.
Nick plainly states that he has no real attraction to the women in the novel but continues to go after them because he has desires that he pushes down. This experience is mirrored by many queer individuals; they pretend as though they are straight because it is what society assumes of them and is much more widely accepted than any queer identity. When taking into account the time period and the history of lavender marriages to conceal the identity of queer individuals, it is not a far jump to say that Nick does experience attraction to men but pushes it down and assumes the role of a straight man because that is what society expects of him.
Following this, in chapter four Gatsby takes Nick around New York City, in scenes that closely resemble that of a date – further expanding upon one of the tropes of queer subtext which is a very close relationship between two same-gender individuals. Gatsby lets himself slip around Nick, stuttering a bit more than normal and fidgeting in his seat. Also expressed that as Gatsby and Nick returned to the city Gatsby’s “correctness grew” which, once again, falls into one of the tropes of queer subtext which is when a character puts up a front. Interestingly this is the first time that Gatsby is described as letting this facade slip and it is around Nick of all people, a man that he just met the night before. Why would Gatsby meet someone that he barely knows anything about? This could signal that Gatsby is away that Nick may also be queer and therefore trusts him more than the other people that he met the night before.
Nick also adds at the end of their drive, in response to them crossing over a bridge back to the main city, that “even Gatsby could happen…” The crossing of a bridge symbolizes both a union of two things or people, as well as the change in someone's life. Taking these two meanings into account, Nick and Gatsby would both be experiencing a change in their life when they form a union with the other. This drive is the start of a friendship, and possibly more, between the two men – where Nick trusts Gatsby now and Gatsby begins to see Nick as someone that he can trust and rely on as well.
Gatsby takes Nick to a speakeasy and there Nick describes Gatsby’s smile again, writing, “There was that smile again, but this time I held out against it.” Nick wants to give in to everything that Gatsby wants, Gatsby has become his temptress leading him down a path of sin and to a place and time where he can no longer push down his desires and will forgo the “interior rules'' that he has created in order to fit in with the rest of society. Gatsby is an embodiment of sin – hosting parties where people drink illegal alcohol and engage in other illicit activities – and he is the one thing that Nick is folding to, what he is giving into. Taking into account Fitzgerald's use of queerness to show how a character lacks morality, this scene depicts Nick trying to keep the high moral standard he has for himself as he sees himself as an honest and just person, but Gatsby is ruining that and tempting Nick to divulge into sin with him.
On the following page Wolfshiem tells Nick that Gatsby “would never so dare as much as look at a friend’s wife”, this piece of dialogue is another example of subtly queercoding; Gatsby is described time and time again as not looking towards women, the obvious interpretation being that he’s waiting for Daisy, but even then he never pines for any other women, never gives them a thought – but then there’s Nick. He is a man that Gatsby has let himself slip around, before once more putting up his front, he trusts Nick more than any other character in the book despite them not knowing each other for longer than a night. Gatsby looks towards Nick, not a woman, which is Fitzgerald implying that Gatsby could possibly hold feelings for the other man.
Returning to Nick, he ends the chapter once more describing his relationship with Jordan. He explains that Gatsby and Tom both have a girl to love but he does not, so he pretends that Jordan is the one for him. This passage is another example of Nick not understanding the love around him, because he’s queer, and him forcing himself to pine after a woman because that’s what’s expected of him. He wants to fit in with Tom, Gatsby, and all the men in the world so he pretends that Jordan is a woman that could satisfy him. Nick even goes as far as to describe Jordan’s mouth as “scornful” which, for someone, he is so supposedly in love with, is an odd choice in words. Should he not be saying that her smile is beautiful? Nick’s description once more illustrates a picture of him that is trying very hard to fit into the norm but he simply cannot; he’s not straight but he tries to be because that is how he thinks he has to be.
Following this rendezvous Gatsby asks Nick if he could arrange a meeting with Daisy so that Gatsby can see her again, Nick complies and the next day the event occurs. When Gatsby arrives at Nick’s home it is pouring rain, later this turns into a mist all before Daisy shows. Rain has been used consistently in literature and film to display a romantic scene, drawing intense emotions from the characters in the scene. Now typically readers would assume that this would show the blossoming romance between Daisy and Gatsby, Daisy is still not showing herself; there is only one other character present – Nick. The transformation from rain to mist is also significant as mist symbolizes mystery and uneasiness; why may the two characters in this scene, Nick and Gatsby, feel uneasy? Both men know that the feelings they possibly have for the other doom them to a life of horrid treatment – queerness in general in the 1920s was shocking and everything about the community was shrouded in mystery and disdain – neither would want to give up the life that they have in the upper-class and if their feelings are uncovered then that is what would happen; Nick and Gatsby would lose everything.
Daisy does end up showing up, easing the worry of Gatsby. Gatsby – because of his anxiousness – ends up almost breaking a clock, as Nick describes the scene in front of him, “I think we all believed for a moment that it had smashed in pieces on the floor.” The clock, and time as a whole, is a very important symbol throughout the novel signifying Gatsby’s wish to repeat the past that he had with Daisy when they were together and there was no Tom. The clock nearly breaking demonstrates that this past is not going to repeat; Gatsby cannot achieve his dream of getting back with Daisy. Furthermore, the clock belongs to Nick. Nick owning the clock can mean that he is the reason that the past will not be repeated; he has broken the ideal life that Gatsby had created in his mind – the one that American society told him was correct. Gatsby met Nick and it is then that he begins to let his facade slip; it is then that Gatsby begins to realize that he and Daisy will not work out.
Strangely enough in this scene, Nick leaves the room in order to give Gatsby and Daisy space but Gatsby seeks him out again. Nick has to tell Gatsby, “Daisy’s sitting in there all alone.” Nick becomes aware that Gatsby is running after him, but he also knows that they cannot be, he has to put a brake on his desires, so he tells Gatsby to leave. Gatsby continues to pursue Nick despite the fact the woman he is infatuated with is sitting in the room over – not something typically done in a situation such as this one.
A short amount of time later, Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick to his home, while Daisy is getting reader Gatsby opens up to Nick about his past. He does not go into deep detail but he explains that “It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it.” This quote is in reference to Gatsby’s mansion, he is quick to fix this slip by saying that he had in fact inherited his money but had lost it, returning to the persona that he has created in order to seem so great. Nick is once again the character that Gatsby lets himself falter near – the one that he tells his past to – nobody else has gotten this privilege; Nick is the exception.
In Gatsby’s home the man has the realization that he and Daisy will never truly be together again dawns on him. While walking through the halls, Nick following them, Nick listens to the couple speak about the green light on Daisy’s dock, a light that Gatsby has been looking towards for years because he knows that Daisy is on the other side; the light for Gatsby is the life he desires with Daisy, but as Nick realizes when the two are conversing is “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” Gatsby has realized that because he is new money and Daisy is old money that they are never going to work out. Daisy knows this as well as when Gatsby shows her all the grand things that he is now able to purchase she breaks down. Both parties know that they will not work out because of the difference in their pasts.
Moreover, Nick’s comphet has been discussed multiple times but Gatsby also suffers from the same experience. Nick is the one to point out to the reader that Gatsby’s illusion had grown past just Daisy, that he isn’t just keeping the mask up for her anymore – Gatsby is concealing his real self for everyone. Nick describes Gatsby’s predicament as “...the colossal vitality of his own illusion.” Gatsby keeps running after Daisy because that is what America expects of him, he is a rich man of high standing, like Tom, he should have a wife by his side: Gatsby doesn’t have a woman though, he has no one. Even as he sees that mask he has worked so long for is crumbling he still tries to keep the illusion, Gatsby pushes himself to become someone that he is not, someone that the rest of American society wants to be.
The American dream of the 1920s is very apparent, to achieve great success regardless of class, to have immense wealth, and have a family that the rest of society deemed as acceptable. Tom and Daisy are a perfect example of this, they are rich and they seem like the perfect family, despite the fact that Tom is cheating on his wife. Gatsby wants this and he wants Daisy to be by his side, or at least he thought he did. Gatsby’s feelings become increasingly apparent that he doesn't love Daisy anymore, he has fallen in love with the idea of her, and now there is someone coming into his life to challenge his ideas; Nick has come into his life. He has turned Gatsby’s life upside down, so much in fact that Gatsby will leave Daisy in order to be around the other man. Gatsby forces himself to fall in line with the standard though, to pursue Daisy when he knows that he no longer loves her in the way he once did.
The succeeding chapter begins with Nick explaining to the reader the somewhat true past of Jay Gatsby, how he lived near Lake Superior and had not been the child of wealthy business figures but instead raised in a poor farm family. The boy who would become Gatsby is revealed to have been Jay Gatz, a young man who went along with a man named Don Cody in hopes to obtain the life that he had dreamed of since he was young – to rise out of poverty and succeed. Nick observes that Gatsby’s truth “...sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.” Once more this piece falls under a trope of queer subtext, referencing Greek culture as Plato was a Greek philosopher, but Nick’s description also shows that Gatsby wanted to be perfect. In this context, Gatsby’s Platonic conception would be the absolute perfect version of himself.
Gatsby is trying to become the idealized version of the American man and in doing that he is putting up a front – a strong trope of queer subtext.
The ending paragraph of chapter six reads closely like a near love confession. Both Nick and Gatsby have left one of Gatsby’s parties; the two of them are standing out in the moonlight, the astrological meaning of the moon being a reflection. Within the paragraph, Nick illustrates that he has something that he wants to say, words that he wants to tell Gatsby, but he’s unable to do so and they are left unsaid. With the usage of wistful diction “elusive”, “struggling”, and “uncommunicable” the scene exudes a sense of yearning. Combined with the romantic undertones of a moonlit scene, Nick truly seems as though he desires to tell Gatsby his feelings for the man but is stopped by the front that he has created in order to fit in with the rest of American society.
The last few chapters of the novel are filled with tragedy. During the scene in chapter seven where Nick, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan are in the hotel, Tom is trying to catch Gatsby in his lies and out him as the fake that Tom believes he is. Gatsby comes close to snapping completely and everyone is shocked. Gatsby stumbles over himself to correct Tom and to build back up his facade. After this Nick tells the reader, “I had one of those renewals of complete faith in him…” Nick doesn't trust Gatsby completely, he knows that there is something that the man is hiding but he still sticks with him, still believes the words coming out of his mouth. Nick has a devotion to Gatsby, whether that be interpreted as love is up to the reader, but there is such fondness and commitment between both Nick and Gatsby that it is hard to believe that Nick does not hold any feelings towards the other man. Nick learns to completely trust in Gatsby, even when he knows that that is the wrong thing to do – once more Fitzgerald demonstrates that Nick has little moral and the connection between morality and queerness has been described previously.
Further in the chapter, Nick comes to the realization that it is his birthday and that he is turning thirty. He makes the observation that there is “... a thinning list of single men to know…” This is a peculiar way to phrase this sentence if Fitzgerald intended for Nick to be upset that he is losing male friends because they are getting married, but the reader knows that Nick is lonely, he doesn’t have friends besides Gatsby and Jordan. Moreover, if Nick was upset about not having anyone to marry for himself then he should say that there is a thinning list of single women to know, yet he doesn’t. This passage demonstrates that Nick is looking for love but he isn’t finding it in Jordan or any of the other women that he comes across, instead, he’s looking for a man. The man that he pursues throughout the novel has now gotten back together with Daisy; Nick is left alone once more.
Much like the end of chapter six, the beginning of chapter eight reads like another near confession. There has been a tragedy in which Myrtle was killed by Daisy, everyone suspects the killer to be Gatsby, and the man is hiding away from everyone in order to save himself. In the late hours of the night, Nick has the urge to go to Gatsby’s mansion and to tell him something. He wants to tell Gatsby something urgent and the tone is once more wistful, as Nick says that “morning would be too late”. Nick has the feeling that something bad will happen to Gatsby now that Myrtle is dead, he is correct to assume that, but the urgency that Nick has to be with and to speak with Gatsby comes off as much more romantic.
Nick does end up going to Gatsby’s mansion and even as the hours pass and he knows he must go to work he stays. Nick explains, “...I didn’t want to leave Gatsby. I missed that train, and then another…” Nick has an overwhelming feeling of dread and cannot bear to leave Gatsby, in the other man’s time of need no one else is there but Nick. Nick is there despite it all – he is the only person to check to make sure that he is okay. This passage deeply plays into the queer subtext trope of a strong bond between two same-gender individuals. Daisy is not there – Gatsby’s love interest did not come to comfort him – but Nick did. Nick was by his side and felt the need to stay there in order to know that the man was okay.
Catastrophe still hits though, after Nick reluctantly leaves and Gatsby is left alone. Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, enacts revenge on the person he believed killed his wife; Gatsby is shot and is left to bleed out in his swimming pool. Once more Nick is the one there, he rushes from work to check on Gatsby and finds his body. He is the one to put together a funeral; he is the one to contact Gatsby’s family; he is the one that is left to give Gatsby a proper goodbye. Daisy does not attend the funeral, neither does Jordan; Nick is the only friend to show his face. Nick’s actions and reactions in chapter nine read as though he is a widower, mourning the loss of a loved one alone. Nick writes, “... it grew on me that I was responsible because no one else was interested – I mean with that intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end. ” Despite Gatsby’s extravagant parties, the dozens of people that he knew, the woman that he pursued until the end, no one is there for him when it mattered, only Nick. Nick also says that there is a “personal interest” involved. Now this piece makes the most sense when read through the lens of Nick mourning his lover as typically widows/widowers have the true right to mourn someone with “intense personal interest”.
Nick then says what may be one of the greatest romance tropes in history, “...scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all.” Nick sees the situation as him and Gatsby against the world; this trope has been replicated many times and is a symbol of the devotion an individual has for the other. The piece illustrates the profound bond that Nick and Gatsby had; when everything else around them seemed to fall apart they still had each other.
Further along, Nick speaks with Jordan one last time and explains that he’s too old to lie to himself and say it is honorable. This piece is integral to Nick’s character. For the entirety of the book, Nick has been lying to himself and the reader, pretending to be a reliable narrator and leaving out sections that seem to tell more about himself than he wishes to share, but now Nick is realizing that he can no longer do that. This passage mirrors that of many queer individuals when they realize that they cannot bear to be trapped in their own facade anymore and want to be truthful to themselves; Nick is letting himself be who is truly is and letting the mask fall, just like how Gatsby’s mask fell around him.
One last important conversation happens between Nick and Tom where Tom compares Nick and Daisy to one another, “He threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s…”. Tom is comparing Daisy, a woman that everyone knows was in love with Gatsby at some point, to Nick, a man. Even Tom – despite his flaws – can see the connection that the two men have. Gatsby was able to charm Daisy and make her fall for him, just like he was able to do with Nick. Both fell victim to the dust that was Gatsby’s affections but only one was there at the end; Nick was there.
Conclusion
The Great Gatsby is one of America’s greatest novels, a classic that has roamed in the hearts of many people for nearly a hundred years. What has been ignored for a long time is the apparent queer coding of the characters and the queer metaphors that shine through Fitzgerald’s work. For too long the idea that Nick and/or Gatsby could possibly be a part of the LGBTQ+ has been brushed aside as it did not seem important; the idea didn’t seem possible. The purpose of this paper was to compile the evidence that the novel has to offer and to look at the work through a lens that is ridiculed and forgotten: queer characters have always been in literature they are simply ignored because they do not fit the “American ideal” nor do they fit in with the idea that society has built for them, instead readers believe that characters like Nick and Gatsby are simply straight because that is what the worldly society has taught them to believe. It is also important to note that the queer subtext and metaphors that seep from this novel are purposely placed there, when returning to Fitzgerald’s skewed idea of homosexuality and queerness the idea that Nick and Gatsby were written to not be entirely straight becomes more possible and purposeful. Fitzgerald’s understanding of the queer community, and his beliefs, were flawed, but it is our responsibility to honor these characters and not brush off the queer identities and feelings that they represent. Queer literature and analysis are wiped away when readers are forced into a narrative that every character must be straight, that there is no other way the novel can be read or interpreted; queer people have been laughed out of a narrative that they were never welcome in, to begin with. I hope that this essay opens readers' eyes to a different kind of interpretation, one that is just as valid as Gatsby and Daisy’s love and Nick and Jordan’s relationship, one that is not listened to as often. The Great Gatsby is a work of art; a piece of literature that queer people have felt seen in for decades, and now I hope to have individuals not part of the queer community understand the deep meaning and symbolism of this classic novel.
Works Cited
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