A COMPARATIVE STUDY: FITZGERALD’S THE GREAT GATSBY AND WINTER DREAMS THROUGH MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM

  • Dewi Christa Kobis STMIK Multicom Bolaang Mongondow
    (ID)

Abstract

This study discusses about both Fitzgerald’s works entitled The Great Gatsby as a novel (1926) and Winter Dreams (1922) as a short story. These works talk about a man who is originally from low social status but try to pursue his dream to be rich in purpose to get the women that he loves. The purposes of this study are to know the reason of why Gatsby and Dexter eager to be rich and being successful financially, and whether their reasons to be rich relate to economic power and class struggle in the context of Marxist criticism that had been proposed by Karl Marx or not. This also aims to know whether or not American society at that time gave contributions regarding Gatsby’s and Dexter’s action in pursuing their dreams for being rich as what had been depicted by Fitzgerald. This study is a descriptive qualitative study and uses library research and document study. At the end, this study found that both of The Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams that Fitzgerald wrote had the same theme regarding the social status and economic power. Although these two literary works had a difference where Gatsby believed that he would be able to get Daisy when he became rich and Dexter knew that he might not be able to be with Judy because of his low social status, but after all, these works of Fitzgerald both carried a lot of social status and economic power issues which had been highly talked in 1920s.

Keywords: The Great Gatsby, Winter Dream, Marxism, American Dream.

 

ABSTRAK

 Penelitian ini membahas dua karya sastra karya Fitzgerald yang berjudul The Great Gatsby yang merupakan sebuah novel (1926) dan Winter Dreams (1922) yang merupakan cerita pendek. Kedua karya ini menceritakan tentang seorang pria yang sebelumnya berasal dari kalangan kelas ekonomi rendah tapi mencoba untuk menggapai mimpinya untuk menjadi kaya dengan tujuan untuk mendapatkan wanita yang dicintainya. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui alasan mengapa Gatsby dan Dexter ingin sekali untuk menjadi kaya dan mapan secara ekonomi, dan apakah alasan mereka untuk menjadi kaya berhubungan dengan kekuasaan ekonomi dan perjuangan kasta dalam konteks kritik Marxist dari Karl Marx atau tidak. Penelitian ini juga bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah masyarakat Amerika pada periode tersebut memberikan konstribusi terhadap perlakuan dari Gatsby dan Dexter dalam menggapai mimpi mereka untuk menjadi kaya seperti apa yang digambarkan oleh Fitzgerald. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif deskriptif dan menggunakan penelitian pustaka dan analisis dokumen. Akhirnya, penelitian ini mendapati bahwa The Great Gatsby dan Winter Dreams yang ditulis oleh Fitzgerald mempunyai tema yang sama terkait status sosial dan kuasa ekonomi. Dua karya ini punya sebuah perbedaan dimana Gatsby percaya bahwa dia akan mendapatkan Daisy jika dia menjadi kaya dan Dexter mengethaui bahwa dia tidak akan pernah mampu untuk bersama Judy dikarenakan status sosialnya. Secara spesifik, kedua karya dari Fitzgerald ini sama-sama membawa banyak permasalahan dan isu sosial terkait pengaruh kuasa ekonomi yang banyak diperbincangkan pada tahun 1920an.

 

Kata Kunci: The Great Gatsby, Winter Dream, Marxism, Impian masyarakat Amerika


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Author Biography

Dewi Christa Kobis, STMIK Multicom Bolaang Mongondow

Teach General English in STMIK Multicom Bolaang Mongondow.

Graduated from Universitas Sanata Dharma and obtained Master of Humanities and passed with distinction.

Graduated from Universitas Klabat and obtained Bachelor of Education and gained cumlaude.

References

Primary Resources

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. 2004. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner.

F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Matthew J. “Winter Dreams.” The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Bruccoli. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1989. 217-236.

Secondary Resources

Bunce, Selvi. 2015. Love and Money: An Analysis of the Great Gatsby. Language in India. 15 (6). 164-168.

Heilbroner, Robert L. 1980. Marxism: For and Against. New York: W. W. Norton & Company

Kennstar, J. 2014. Similarities and Differences in the Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams. Retrieved from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Similarities-And-Differences-In-The-Great-56933.html. Accessed on May 9, 2017 at 08.05 pm IST (Indonesia Standard Time)

Marx, K. And Friedrich Engels. 1888. The Communist Manifesto. Great Britain: C. Nicholls & Company Ltd

Mbengo, F. 1978. Marxist Theory of Class and Class Strugle. UTAFITI – Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Dar Es Salaam. 2:7-12.

Theron, C. B. 2013. Disenchanting the American Dream: The Interplay of Spatial and Social Mobility through Narrative Dynamic in Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Wolfe. [A Published MA Thesis]. Stellenbosch University. Retrieved from http://scholar.sun.ac.za

Tyson, Lois. 2006. Critical Theory Today 2nd ed, New York: Routledge.

Walsh, Anthony. 2012. Criminology: The Essentials. New York: Sage Publication.

Published
2019-06-19
How to Cite
Kobis, D. C. (2019). A COMPARATIVE STUDY: FITZGERALD’S THE GREAT GATSBY AND WINTER DREAMS THROUGH MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM. Elite : English and Literature Journal, 6(1), 51-59. https://doi.org/10.24252/elite.v6i1a4
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