THE FALL OF THE “AMERICAN ADAM” IN THE NOVEL THE GREAT GATSBY
THE FALL OF THE “AMERICAN ADAM” IN THE NOVEL THE GREAT GATSBY

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the concept of the American Adam in the novel “Great Gatsby” by applying R.W.B. Lewis’ interpretation of this concept from his book with the same title (1955), and Mircea Eliade’s understanding of civilization’s religious desire to return to a sacred time in the past from his book “The Quest” (1969). It focuses primarily on the ways in which the character of Great Gatsby is constructed so that it represents symbolically the fallen modern American Adam, especially by taking a look at how the setting is described. From this point of view, New York can be seen as a modern “Earthly Paradise” which becomes corrupted by a secularized version of the American Dream: the obsession with becoming a self-made entrepreneur, even if this implies cutting corners in life. Ultimately, the novel shines light on the social turmoil that the American society went through during the Jazz Age (the 1920’s), a period whose hedonistic and materialistic excess chipped away at the very essence of the original American Dream.

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