‘Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and institutions’ – How families are presented in The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel family relationships are presented as losing meaning, becoming superficial and something of the past in the new, tradition-breaking atmosphere of the Roaring 1920s.

While not the most obvious example of breakdown in families, one of the most interesting things to note is the presentation of children within the novel. This is mainly because children seem to be very absent from the novel, emphasising the very adult atmosphere of the 1920s, where luxury, adult parties and illegal alcohol were major parts of everyday life. The only child to be featured is Daisy’s female child, Pammy. I refer to her as such and not as a “girl” because of the way the characters and narrator speak about her, with Nick referring to the girl as “it”, demonstrating the way that family members are made to feel like possessions, which emphasises the theme of money and ownership in the novel. This is further shown when Pammy is shown of to Daisy’s guests like an act rather than a person, showing a need to be in possession of nice things in the 1920s, and not having a good, motherly relationship with her own daughter. The child is obviously neglected by mother and father, with Tom Buchannan not mentioning her once throughout the entire novel, even when she is present, instead he asks Nick about his job, showing how he is more concerned with his friend’s successes rather than his own child. Daisy does not have high hopes for her daughter, claiming ‘that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’, showing how she does not show any positivity towards the child’s ambitions, simply hoping that she will be ignorant to the world and get married in order to lead a normal, simple life. This can, however, be interpreted as Daisy wanting the child to be ignorant for protection and in order to fit into society, showing concern about the child’s future. Gatsby’s childhood relationship with his father is different, with his father claiming, “Jimmy was bound to get ahead”, showing a genuine pride for his own son and hopes for his future as opposed to Daisy’s simple wish for her daughter to live comfortably and not necessarily be successful at anything. Children are used as a device in the novel to show how family members in the 1920s could be treated as superficial possessions to show off, especially amongst the wealthy.

The idea of marriage losing it’s meaning is explored in the novel, demonstrating the extreme changes in ideas about relationships during the 1920s. First, affairs are common within the novel, with three different affairs involving a married person are featured. Myrtle Wilson appears to be involved with both Tom and Gatsby, showing how dissatisfied she is with her own husband. Tom’s affair with her portrays the problems of male-dominance and having a big ego, with Myrtle often being referred to as Tom’s “mistress”, suggesting that ideas about marriage had relaxed so much as to fall backwards into a polygamist system where it was acceptable or at least unchallenged for men to be with multiple partners. Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship suggests that not moving on from older relationships, or choosing the wrong person can lead to built-up feelings of frustration and infatuation. The three affairs show how when ideas about marriage are not taken seriously, people themselves do not take it seriously and begin exploring other options. A disregard for marriage is shown by Gatsby when he confronts Tom and claims that Daisy will leave him, as he expects that she should leave Tom despite their status as married couple with a child, showing complete ignorance to the obligations that come with being part of a family.While Tom is a hypocrite, he does make the point that ‘Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and institutions’, iterating how a libertarian atmosphere leads to a break down in institutions. He demonstrates the extremes to which marriage is being abused by claiming that, ‘next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white’, which while being a very racist comment, emphasises the extent to which the idea of marriage was being changed in at the time. Marriage is presented as breaking down within the novel and leading to bad relationships if not taken seriously.

In conclusion, family relationships are negatively presented by Fitzgerald as breaking down and becoming something to be measured by value along with everything in the 1920s. Children are treated as possessions and often neglected. Marriage is often abused and the characters form multiple relationships, many of which end badly demonstrating how the 1920s was a time of luxury and freedom, which often broke institution and the importance of families.

Tristan