Storage of the Ghostly Heart: Happiness and Gatsby
Did Gatsby turn out all right in the end?
"No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart."
- Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby
What is happiness?
The greatest question that this topic brings us for the audience is “what is true happiness?” What is the definition of happiness? Many philosophers have debated this questions throughout time in order to solve another question: “how can one be happy?” To make a generalized statement for all philosophers, happiness is either a state of mind or a life lead well by a person. Happiness as a state of mind mainly looks at the psychology and the mental attitude of happiness. It is classified as an emotion of the mind. The second definition of happiness looks at the well-being of a person. It describes a life that beneficial, serves ones interests, or is desirable for oneself. This is a more broad definition, since it also covers the meaning of a good life that can be based on the person leading the life or others around that person.
Historically, happiness or well being has been classified into three categories: hedonism, desire theories, and objective list theories. Happiness in hedonism is experiences of enjoyment, which differs from desire theories. Desire theorists believe happiness and well being is about getting what you want, not just experiences. Objective theorists view happiness very differently. They believe happiness is in the things that are beneficial to us, independent of we feel or think
Was Gatsby happy?
Despite the circumstances of Gatsby’s death, Nick still says “Gatsby turned out all right in the end.” This contradicts many problems that surrounded Gatsby such as his unrealistic dreams, his illegal bootlegging, or his lack of any real friends. From the readers perspective, no one is envious of Gatsby. However, in the book, Gatsby was the man everyone wanted to be: rich, elusive, charming, and, seemingly, free from life’s problems. Not only that, but Gatsby was so blinded by his own dreams, that maybe for him, his life was good. It is difficult to say whether Gatsby was truly happy or not.
Aristotle classified happiness as the ultimate goal of all human beings, not pleasure or short experiences as hedonists believed. Under this classification, it would mean the Gatsby’s goal of winning Daisy would be him happiness. Aristotle further expands on this, though, in the Nicomachean Ethics which states that “[happiness] is the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.” In Aristotle’s definition, happiness is connected with having complete virtue (for Aristotle, virtue meant the golden mean of two opposing traits) which would result in the ability to form strong relationships, to be successful in one’s life, and to be happy. Other factors which are important to happiness include rational thinking, true friendships, and a golden mean.
To analyze Gatsby under these conditions, it would be reasonable to assume that Gatsby was not happy with his life. While Gatsby has wealth and education, Gatsby also lacks any true relationships of any form. He abandoned his family at a young age, the woman he loves cares little for him, and he hasn’t made any close friends within the past few years, if ever. Friendship is one of the greatest aspects of happiness that Aristotle emphasizes. The type of friendship that Aristotle believes is the strongest form is where the person wants the best for his friends, despite his own personal desires. Gatsby does not have any friends since he is so consumed with his desires and is unable to form a friendship because of this. While Nick considers himself a friend of Gatsby, Gatsby was only really interested in Nick for what Nick could do for him. Even towards the end of his life, Nick became his own personal psychologist; someone he could talk to and confide in but not someone he took any interest in. This also displayed a lack of virtue in Gatsby’s life. Aristotle described virtue as the golden mean between two extremes (ex: bravery is the golden mean of cowardice and impulsiveness), which differed person to person. Although Gatsby is not the narrator of the novel and the reader is not privy to his thoughts, the reader can understand Gatsby through what his actions. In spite Gatsby’s few strong admirable traits, he has many flaws in his character such as weak personal moral beliefs, hopeless hope, and a self-centered mindset. His entire world was founded on these flaws and built by superficial ideas that he didn’t even realize that he was alone. One could argue that because of this, he was just another happy, ignorant ‘beautiful fool’. The fault in that argument is that it’s impossible for anyone to live like this, even Gatsby, with his infinite hope, who is killed in the end. As Nick says, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” Gatsby fought admirably for his dream but he never achieved this dream, nor would it have brought him happiness.
Were any characters in the novel happy?
To extend this question to all the characters of the novel using Aristotelian philosophy, no character in the novel would be considered as being truly happy. A few of these characters did lead lives that benefited them in some way, as desire theorists or objective theorists may think, and many of them did have many moments they enjoyed, as hedonists believe. Lack of friendships and virtue, however, is evident. Jordan emphasizes this by saying, “I like large parties. They’re so intimate. As small parties there isn’t any privacy." People in the novel never knew each other because they would not or could not establish an emotion connection. They never had friends or relationships and they were never satisfied with who they were. Nick once stated that he feels a “haunting loneliness” and often times, feels it around him through others. This is what all the characters have dissolved into. No one in the novel had a “happy” ending, but rather, continued surviving, alone with no point.
- Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby
What is happiness?
The greatest question that this topic brings us for the audience is “what is true happiness?” What is the definition of happiness? Many philosophers have debated this questions throughout time in order to solve another question: “how can one be happy?” To make a generalized statement for all philosophers, happiness is either a state of mind or a life lead well by a person. Happiness as a state of mind mainly looks at the psychology and the mental attitude of happiness. It is classified as an emotion of the mind. The second definition of happiness looks at the well-being of a person. It describes a life that beneficial, serves ones interests, or is desirable for oneself. This is a more broad definition, since it also covers the meaning of a good life that can be based on the person leading the life or others around that person.
Historically, happiness or well being has been classified into three categories: hedonism, desire theories, and objective list theories. Happiness in hedonism is experiences of enjoyment, which differs from desire theories. Desire theorists believe happiness and well being is about getting what you want, not just experiences. Objective theorists view happiness very differently. They believe happiness is in the things that are beneficial to us, independent of we feel or think
Was Gatsby happy?
Despite the circumstances of Gatsby’s death, Nick still says “Gatsby turned out all right in the end.” This contradicts many problems that surrounded Gatsby such as his unrealistic dreams, his illegal bootlegging, or his lack of any real friends. From the readers perspective, no one is envious of Gatsby. However, in the book, Gatsby was the man everyone wanted to be: rich, elusive, charming, and, seemingly, free from life’s problems. Not only that, but Gatsby was so blinded by his own dreams, that maybe for him, his life was good. It is difficult to say whether Gatsby was truly happy or not.
Aristotle classified happiness as the ultimate goal of all human beings, not pleasure or short experiences as hedonists believed. Under this classification, it would mean the Gatsby’s goal of winning Daisy would be him happiness. Aristotle further expands on this, though, in the Nicomachean Ethics which states that “[happiness] is the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.” In Aristotle’s definition, happiness is connected with having complete virtue (for Aristotle, virtue meant the golden mean of two opposing traits) which would result in the ability to form strong relationships, to be successful in one’s life, and to be happy. Other factors which are important to happiness include rational thinking, true friendships, and a golden mean.
To analyze Gatsby under these conditions, it would be reasonable to assume that Gatsby was not happy with his life. While Gatsby has wealth and education, Gatsby also lacks any true relationships of any form. He abandoned his family at a young age, the woman he loves cares little for him, and he hasn’t made any close friends within the past few years, if ever. Friendship is one of the greatest aspects of happiness that Aristotle emphasizes. The type of friendship that Aristotle believes is the strongest form is where the person wants the best for his friends, despite his own personal desires. Gatsby does not have any friends since he is so consumed with his desires and is unable to form a friendship because of this. While Nick considers himself a friend of Gatsby, Gatsby was only really interested in Nick for what Nick could do for him. Even towards the end of his life, Nick became his own personal psychologist; someone he could talk to and confide in but not someone he took any interest in. This also displayed a lack of virtue in Gatsby’s life. Aristotle described virtue as the golden mean between two extremes (ex: bravery is the golden mean of cowardice and impulsiveness), which differed person to person. Although Gatsby is not the narrator of the novel and the reader is not privy to his thoughts, the reader can understand Gatsby through what his actions. In spite Gatsby’s few strong admirable traits, he has many flaws in his character such as weak personal moral beliefs, hopeless hope, and a self-centered mindset. His entire world was founded on these flaws and built by superficial ideas that he didn’t even realize that he was alone. One could argue that because of this, he was just another happy, ignorant ‘beautiful fool’. The fault in that argument is that it’s impossible for anyone to live like this, even Gatsby, with his infinite hope, who is killed in the end. As Nick says, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” Gatsby fought admirably for his dream but he never achieved this dream, nor would it have brought him happiness.
Were any characters in the novel happy?
To extend this question to all the characters of the novel using Aristotelian philosophy, no character in the novel would be considered as being truly happy. A few of these characters did lead lives that benefited them in some way, as desire theorists or objective theorists may think, and many of them did have many moments they enjoyed, as hedonists believe. Lack of friendships and virtue, however, is evident. Jordan emphasizes this by saying, “I like large parties. They’re so intimate. As small parties there isn’t any privacy." People in the novel never knew each other because they would not or could not establish an emotion connection. They never had friends or relationships and they were never satisfied with who they were. Nick once stated that he feels a “haunting loneliness” and often times, feels it around him through others. This is what all the characters have dissolved into. No one in the novel had a “happy” ending, but rather, continued surviving, alone with no point.