The Values Of Jealousy Found In F.Scott Fitzgerald Novel The Great Gatsby
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
History, mystery, and fact of the life are always interested to be discussed.
This is not only because everyone has his or her own life in various ways, but also
because life has its answer for each individual question. Therefore, life and
literature have a close connection.
Literature can be defined as the attempt to describe human experience by
means of written language. The authors can convey their expression of ideas or
mind and their imagination of life to the readers through literary works. Taylor
(1981: 1) says, “Literature like other arts is essentially an imagination act of the
writer’s imagination in selecting, ordering, and interpreting life experience.”
Thus, literary work is able to enlarge human knowledge about life, social
problems, and philosophy because there are some literary works describe certain
situation and illustrate something important for us, as Wellek and Warren
(1956:111) say that to be sure, literature can be treated as a document in the
history of ideas and philosophy, for literature parallels and intellectual history.
Frequently either explicit statements of allusion show the allegiance of a poet to a
specific philosophy once well known or at least that he is aware of their general
assumption.
Literature, as a discipline, has its own characters, which makes it different
from other disciplines. It has literary elements, which convey direct object of
sense and perception such as color, shape, and texture. Literature also has its
complex expression of actions, characters, setting, point of view, and style. These
elements arranged in such a way in order to make sense and have a direct relation
to actual life.
Taylor in Understanding the Elements of Literature (1981:2) says that
more than, any other arts, literature reflects or comments on actual experience;
social, philosophical, psychological, and more concern. By analyzing a literary
work, we also learn about moral lesson. It describes about human attitude more
than psychologist can do as what is written in Theory of Literature by Wellek:
The novelist can teach you more about human nature.
Literature is mainly divided into three genres classified in accordance with
certain characters and features. The common genetic divisions are prose, poetry,
and drama. And in Richard Taylor’s opinion, that narrative fiction including novel
is the only genre that is meant to be written down for private reading.
Jealousy plays a huge part in The Great Gatsby. Not only is it a theme, but
it is what the whole story is based upon. The definition of jealousy is a "jealous
resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, or against
another's success or advantage itself." It is wanting or desiring something that is
not yours or something that you cannot have. In The Great Gatsby, different types
of jealousy exist such as jealousy with money, jealousy with other people's
spouses, and jealousy of being wealthy.
In the story, jealousy is heated up in the affairs that the characters have. In
the beginning, Tom receives a call from his mistress, Myrtle and Daisy follows
right after him. She acts like nothing is happening when it is obvious that he is
having an affair. Daisy is oblivious even though she knows something fishy is
going on with her husband. Unaware of his wife's past relationship with Jay
Gatsby, Tom breaks off when he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby's affair as
well. In the end, jealousy is in each of the character's hearts and also regrets with
having an affair and cheating on their spouses.
Jealousy with money and wealth is also another big theme in The Great
Gatsby. Most of the people are not content with what they have even if it's already
a luxurious life because they just want more and more. For example, the West Egg
people are jealous of the inherited wealth of the East Egg because they didn't have
to work for it to earn it. While on the other hand, the West Egg people had to
obtain all their riches some way of working or illegal business. Nick is also
another good example for jealousy. At first, he meets Gatsby and envies Gatsby's
mansion and luxurious life. Then later on, he accepts it and becomes very close to
Gatsby. Although Nick has a very beautiful home, he wishes he had a little more
riches, though he is a content person and grateful for what he has.
Jealousy plays a big part on the Great Gatsby because it truly shows the
true colors of people. Whether it's jealousy of other people's wealth and riches, or
desiring some other else's spouse, we learn that we should be content with what
we were given and not envying others.
1.2 Problem of the Study
The problems of the study that the after discussed is that:
1) What are the values of jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel?
2) What the causes of jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel?
1.3 Purpose of The Study
The purpose of the study in this paper, as follows:
1) To describe the values of Gatsby jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel
2) To find out the causes of the jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel.
1.4 Scope of The Study
The focus of the study in this paper is to analyze the values of
jealousy of The Great Gatsby novel, and the writer limits the analysis just on this
problem that about causes of jealousy. The Great Gatsby is taken as the context
of this paper because of its jealousy. And the other topics which have no relation
to the context will not be included in this paper.
1.5 Reason for Choosing the Topic
The writer is interested to analyze this title because of several reasons.
First, the story in this novel is very interesting and easy to understand. Second, the
novel tells about the affair that happened in a marriage. Third, the writer is
amazed by a loyalty of a man, Gatsby, who keeps a long lasting love to the
woman, Daisy. As we know, it’s really rare that a man can be stuck in one
woman, nowadays.
1.6 Method of the Study
In writing this paper, the writer collected some research methods, such as
data collecting method and method of data analysis. In data collecting, the sources
of data were taken from books and other sources such as internet and literary
criticism. Since this research is focused on documented data, the research is better
known as library research. The method of analysis is descriptive in terms of
describing the intrinsic elements as portrayed in the novel The Great Gatsby.
The writer has two steps in writing this paper. First, the writer read the
novel The Great Gatsby several times to make her understand about the story.
Then, the writer selected to find out the strategies to fight against injustice in
Suzanne Collines Novel. The last, the writer browsed data from internet to look
for the compliment sources and also to know the biography of the writer, and then
the writer made interpretation and analysis before coming to the conclusions about
it.
1.1 Background of the Study
History, mystery, and fact of the life are always interested to be discussed.
This is not only because everyone has his or her own life in various ways, but also
because life has its answer for each individual question. Therefore, life and
literature have a close connection.
Literature can be defined as the attempt to describe human experience by
means of written language. The authors can convey their expression of ideas or
mind and their imagination of life to the readers through literary works. Taylor
(1981: 1) says, “Literature like other arts is essentially an imagination act of the
writer’s imagination in selecting, ordering, and interpreting life experience.”
Thus, literary work is able to enlarge human knowledge about life, social
problems, and philosophy because there are some literary works describe certain
situation and illustrate something important for us, as Wellek and Warren
(1956:111) say that to be sure, literature can be treated as a document in the
history of ideas and philosophy, for literature parallels and intellectual history.
Frequently either explicit statements of allusion show the allegiance of a poet to a
specific philosophy once well known or at least that he is aware of their general
assumption.
Literature, as a discipline, has its own characters, which makes it different
from other disciplines. It has literary elements, which convey direct object of
sense and perception such as color, shape, and texture. Literature also has its
complex expression of actions, characters, setting, point of view, and style. These
elements arranged in such a way in order to make sense and have a direct relation
to actual life.
Taylor in Understanding the Elements of Literature (1981:2) says that
more than, any other arts, literature reflects or comments on actual experience;
social, philosophical, psychological, and more concern. By analyzing a literary
work, we also learn about moral lesson. It describes about human attitude more
than psychologist can do as what is written in Theory of Literature by Wellek:
The novelist can teach you more about human nature.
Literature is mainly divided into three genres classified in accordance with
certain characters and features. The common genetic divisions are prose, poetry,
and drama. And in Richard Taylor’s opinion, that narrative fiction including novel
is the only genre that is meant to be written down for private reading.
Jealousy plays a huge part in The Great Gatsby. Not only is it a theme, but
it is what the whole story is based upon. The definition of jealousy is a "jealous
resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, or against
another's success or advantage itself." It is wanting or desiring something that is
not yours or something that you cannot have. In The Great Gatsby, different types
of jealousy exist such as jealousy with money, jealousy with other people's
spouses, and jealousy of being wealthy.
In the story, jealousy is heated up in the affairs that the characters have. In
the beginning, Tom receives a call from his mistress, Myrtle and Daisy follows
right after him. She acts like nothing is happening when it is obvious that he is
having an affair. Daisy is oblivious even though she knows something fishy is
going on with her husband. Unaware of his wife's past relationship with Jay
Gatsby, Tom breaks off when he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby's affair as
well. In the end, jealousy is in each of the character's hearts and also regrets with
having an affair and cheating on their spouses.
Jealousy with money and wealth is also another big theme in The Great
Gatsby. Most of the people are not content with what they have even if it's already
a luxurious life because they just want more and more. For example, the West Egg
people are jealous of the inherited wealth of the East Egg because they didn't have
to work for it to earn it. While on the other hand, the West Egg people had to
obtain all their riches some way of working or illegal business. Nick is also
another good example for jealousy. At first, he meets Gatsby and envies Gatsby's
mansion and luxurious life. Then later on, he accepts it and becomes very close to
Gatsby. Although Nick has a very beautiful home, he wishes he had a little more
riches, though he is a content person and grateful for what he has.
Jealousy plays a big part on the Great Gatsby because it truly shows the
true colors of people. Whether it's jealousy of other people's wealth and riches, or
desiring some other else's spouse, we learn that we should be content with what
we were given and not envying others.
1.2 Problem of the Study
The problems of the study that the after discussed is that:
1) What are the values of jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel?
2) What the causes of jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel?
1.3 Purpose of The Study
The purpose of the study in this paper, as follows:
1) To describe the values of Gatsby jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel
2) To find out the causes of the jealousy in The Great Gatsby novel.
1.4 Scope of The Study
The focus of the study in this paper is to analyze the values of
jealousy of The Great Gatsby novel, and the writer limits the analysis just on this
problem that about causes of jealousy. The Great Gatsby is taken as the context
of this paper because of its jealousy. And the other topics which have no relation
to the context will not be included in this paper.
1.5 Reason for Choosing the Topic
The writer is interested to analyze this title because of several reasons.
First, the story in this novel is very interesting and easy to understand. Second, the
novel tells about the affair that happened in a marriage. Third, the writer is
amazed by a loyalty of a man, Gatsby, who keeps a long lasting love to the
woman, Daisy. As we know, it’s really rare that a man can be stuck in one
woman, nowadays.
1.6 Method of the Study
In writing this paper, the writer collected some research methods, such as
data collecting method and method of data analysis. In data collecting, the sources
of data were taken from books and other sources such as internet and literary
criticism. Since this research is focused on documented data, the research is better
known as library research. The method of analysis is descriptive in terms of
describing the intrinsic elements as portrayed in the novel The Great Gatsby.
The writer has two steps in writing this paper. First, the writer read the
novel The Great Gatsby several times to make her understand about the story.
Then, the writer selected to find out the strategies to fight against injustice in
Suzanne Collines Novel. The last, the writer browsed data from internet to look
for the compliment sources and also to know the biography of the writer, and then
the writer made interpretation and analysis before coming to the conclusions about
it.