Gatsby's Pristine Dream: The Diminishment of the Self-Made Man in the Tribal Twenties

Author(s): Jeffrey Louis Decker

Source: NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 52-71
Published by: Duke University Press
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 Gatsby'sPristineDream:
TheDiminishment Man
oftheSelf-Made
in theTribalTwenties
JEFFREYLOUIS DECKER

The GreatGatsby(1925) representsthe diminishingmoralauthorityof uplift

storiesin an age of decliningfaithin thenation'sabilityto assimilatenew im-
migrants.Throughthe eyes of Fitzgerald'snarrator, Nick Carraway,Gatsby
appearsin theguise of thearchetypal, ifsomewhatmisguided,self-mademan
in America.Gatsby'supward struggleis inspiredby traditional purveyorsof
middle-classsuccess,suchas Ben Franklinand HoratioAlgerJr..However,an-
otherless virtuousnarrativeof Gatsby'sself-making unfolds,whichconnects
ourhero'sbusinessschemesto thetaintedhandofimmigrant gangsters. A story
of entrepreneurial corruption,accentedby thelanguageofnativism,competes
withand ultimatelyfoilsthe traditionalnarrativeof virtuousAmericanup-
lift.In this way, Gatsby stages a nationalanxietyabout the loss of white
Anglo-Saxonsupremacy in theTwenties.
Nick informsthereaderin theopeningpages that,despitehis hero'scrimi-
nal connections, "Gatsbyturnedout all rightat theend" (6). In orderto fulfill
thisexpectation, thenovel'sfamousconclusionmustelide thenarrativestrug-
gle--perpetrated by Gatsby'snativistrival,Tom Buchanan--overtheethnicas
well as ethicalnatureofour hero'senterprise. On thebook's finalpage,Tom's
interrogation intoGatsby'sclouded past is displaced by Nick's inspirational
visionofGatsby'sinviolatedreamoftheNew World.The narrator conceivesa
mythof Americanoriginsby imaginingthe Dutch explorers'initialcontact
witha virgincontinent. Throughthisincarnation Gatsbybecomesgreat:a for-
ward-looking visionarywho notonlytranscends thecrisisofhis contemporary
momentbutwho is associatedwiththenation'slegendarypastoralpromise.
The frequently citedconclusionofTheGreatGatsbyillustrates nationalism in
its generalized formas well as in a manifestation peculiar to the 1920s.
Broadlyspeaking,Fitzgeraldrepresents theJanus-facedlogicofnationalism by
offering, on theone side,a promising futurein theprophesy"tomorrow we will
runfaster, stretch out ourarmsfarther....And one finemorning--"and,on the
other,an immemorial myth of American nationaloriginsenvisionedby "boats
... borneback ceaselesslyintothe past" (189).1 I offerthefinalpassage from
Freud'sInterpretation ofDreamsas a gloss on Gatsby'spristinedreamin thefa-
mous lastlinesofFitzgerald'snovel.

Nairn persuasively argues that nationalism, like the old Roman god Janus,watches over the passage to modernity."As
human kind is forcedthroughits straitdoorway, it must look desperatelyback into the past, to gatherstrengthwhereverit
can be found forthe ordeal of 'development'" (349).

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 LOUISDECKER I WHITEAMERICANDREAMING
JEFFREY 53

Bypicturing dreams
ourwishesas fulfilled, areafterall leadingus intothefu-
ture.But thisfuture,whichthedreamer picturesas thepresent,has been
mouldedby his wish
indestructible intoa likeness
perfect ofthepast.(660)

FollowingFreud,we mightsay thatNick'sbeliefin Gatsby'sgiftofhope fora

moreperfectfutureis invertedin theexpressionofhis hero'svisionofa invio-
late past. Gatsby'sJanus-facedwonderat "the orgiasticfuturethatyear by
year recedesbeforeus" is in theeyesofNick'ssixteenth-century
mirrored Dutch
explorers.
Whitenessin theAmericanGrain

In deathGatsbyis freedfromhis venal partnership withimmigrant gangsters

and rememberedwithina lineage of explorersof northernEuropean stock.
Fitzgeraldmighthave returnedhis readerto the "Columbusstory"(9) used
near the beginningof the novel to map the geographicalconfiguration of
Gatsby's "ancestral
home" (162).Instead,Nickresurrects his hero'sfallenrepu-
tationby transforming Gatsby'sglimpseat Daisy's greenlightintothedesirein
the "Dutch sailors'eyes" forthecontinentthat"flowered"beforethemas "a
fresh,greenbreastofthenew world."Againstthecurrent wave ofimmigration,
Gatsby is "borneback ceaselessly"intoa Nordic past as recollectedwithinthe
climateoftheTribalTwenties,whenconceptions of whitenessbothnarrowand
becomea signnotofskincolorbutofnationalidentity.
withthe grammarof nativismwas likelyinformed
Fitzgerald'sfamiliarity
by his affiliation
professional withTheSaturdayEveningPostin theTwenties.
Duringthisperiod Fitzgeraldplaced manyof his shortstorieswiththe Post
and, as such,it becamehis mostlucrativesourceof incomewhile composing
Gatsby.As thenation'smostpopularmagazine,thePostbegan publishingna-
tivistopinionsin itspages as earlyas thespringof 1920.At thistimePostedi-
torialsadvocated the racialistdoctrinesof Madison Grant.Duringthe same
yearthePost'seditor,GeorgeHoraceLorimer,sentKennethRobertsabroad to
reporton Europeanimmigration to theUnitedStates.Accordingto historian
JohnHigham,Lorimer'sarticles,whichappearedin thePostand whichwere
publishedin a 1922collectionunderthetitleWhyEuropeLeavesHome,became
themostwidelyread effusions on Nordictheoryof its day (265,273). Roberts
beganfromthetwinpremisesofNordicism:"TheAmericannationwas founded
and developedby theNordicrace" and "Races can notbe cross-bredwithout
mongrelization." Writingoverseas,Robertsspeculatedthat"ifa fewmoremil-
lionmembersoftheAlpine,Mediterranean and Semiticracesare pouredamong
us, theresultmustinevitably be a hybridraceofpeople as worthlessand futile
as the good-for-nothingmongrelsof CentralAmerica and SoutheasternEurope"
(22).
Nordicism, a formof racial nativism that became popular in America fol-
lowing World War I, provides a context for understanding the production of
classic American literature at mid-decade. For example, William Carlos
Williams's relocationof the discovery of America in the voyages of "Red Eric"
(fatherof Leif Ericson) in the opening pages of In the AmericanGrain (1925)

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54 NOVEL I FALL 1994

mightsignal somethingmore thanthe anti-Puritan impulsealso commonto

writersof thisera. Fitzgerald'sDutchmen,likeWilliams'sNorsemen,bear the
inadvertent markof nativismspecificto theTwenties.Nick's invocationof the
Dutch sailors' vision of the New World adheres to the nativistlogic of
PresidentCoolidge's April 1924 Message to Congresson the passage of the
Immigration Bill:"Americamustbe keptAmerican"(qtd.in Grant347).
The discourseofNordicismcirculatedin academicand popularforumsalike.
Forinstance,duringthesame monthand yearas thePresident'scongressional
address,an argumentforNordicsuperiority appearedin a letterto theeditorof
theNew YorkTimes,signedby HenryFairfieldOsborn.Its author,a prominent
biologistand presidentof boththeAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistoryand
theSecond(1921)International CongressofEugenics,proposedthat"theselec-
tion,preservation and multiplicationof thebestheredityis a patrioticdutyof
firstimportance." Attempting to makesenseof thecurrent"confusionbetween
nationalityand race,"Osbornpointsoutthat"Columbus,fromhis portraits and
fromhis busts,authenticor not,was clearlyof Nordicancestry."For Osborn,
tracingblood linesof racialdescentis thekeyto endingtheconfusionoverthe
identityof the"discoverer"ofNew WorldAmerica.
TheNordicdebateoverColumbus'splacein Americanhistory emergedin the
New YorkTimesas early as the summerof 1922, at about the same time
Fitzgeraldbegan composingshortstoriesthatwould lead to Gatsbyand at the
momentwhenFitzgeraldallowsNickto meetGatsbyat his Long Islandestate.
A dozen yearsearlier,at theheightof theProgressive Era,ColumbusDay was
introduced
officially as a holidayin New York.Now a backlashin publicopin-
ion raged on the editorialpages of the Times.A letterdated June23, 1922,
opened by congratulating theTimesforits "fineeditorials... againstperverted
historicalfactstendingto encourageAnglo-phobia." The authorproposed"the
elimination of theColumbuslegend"in lightof recentdiscoveriesthat"reveal
therealAmerica,discoveredby ... LeifErikson, fromwhosestrongNordicstock
our earlypioneersderivedtheirruggedvirtues"(Timpson).The nativistpro-
posal drewa responsein a Timesletter, datedJune30,fromtheeditorofa jour-
nal publishedby the Knightsof Columbus.While the authoracknowledged
"Ericson'sarrival"in theNew World,he complains:"Atpresentthereis a per-
sistentand extremely verbosepropagandaseekingto diminishtheachievement
ofColumbus"(Kennedy).Not surprisingly, counter-responses ensued,including
one dated July4 under the title "Leif Did Discover America!"and signed
"Nordic."The letterinsistedthat"Americansof Anglo-Saxonlineageare glad
to knowthat... one of theirown Nordicstrain,was thereal discovererof this
continent."ClintonStoddardBurrflatlysummedup the nativisttoneof the
Times with his 1922 proclamation:"Americanismis actually the racial
thoughtof the Nordic race" (208).

The Limits of American Dream Scholarship

Lionel Trilling's statementthat Gatsby "comes inevitablyto stand forAmerica

itself"(251) best exemplifiesthe consensus among Fitzgerald criticswho have

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 DECKER
JEFFREYLOUIS I WHITE DREAM[NG
AMERICAN 55

turnedTheGreatGatsby intothenoveloftheAmericandream.2Thissentiment, I
believe,carrieswithit residualtracesof 1920snativismthatare embeddedin
the book's ending. One of the earliestcriticsto identifythe themeof the
Americandreamin TheGreatGatsbywas EdwinFussell.In "Fitzgerald'sBrave
New World"(1952),he suggeststhatGatsbyis corrupted"by values and atti-
tudes thathe holds in commonwiththe societythatdestroyshim."Withina
"mechanized"world,Fussellpointsout,"a dreamlikeGatsby'scannotremain
pristine,giventhematerialsupon whichtheoriginalimpulsetowardwonder
mustexpenditself"(295).3
Nevertheless, we are leftwiththepersistentquestion.Despitemountingev-
idencesupportingTom's accusationsregardinghis rival'sentrepreneurial cor-
ruptionthroughshady with
associations immigrant gangsters,how does Gatsby
maintain"his incorruptible dream"(162) in theeyes of thenarratorand read-
ers alike?The standardprocedureamongcriticsis to interpret Gatsby'sdream
according to Nick'snarrative demands: likeNick, usuallyseparatemod-
critics
em corruption froma pristinedreamlocatedin thenation'sdistantpast.This
typeofcommentary readsGatsby accordingtoan oppositionbetweenpresentand
past, between Gatsby's unethicalbusinessconnections and thepastoralpromise
he inspires.4Marius Bewley,in his "ScottFitzgerald'sCriticismof America"
(1954),was one of thefirstcommentators to use thisnow widespreadformula-
tion. "The themeof Gatsby,"Bewley flatlystates,"is the witheringof the
Americandream" in industrialsociety(223).5"We recognizethatthe great
achievement of thisnovel,"he concludes,"is thatit manages,whilepoetically
evoking a sense ofthegoodnessofthatearlydream,toofferthemostdamaging
criticismof ... deficienciesinherentin contemporary manifestationsof the
Americanvisionitself"(245-46).Regardless,Fussell's and Bewley'sinterpre-
tivemodelssharetheassumptionthatGatsby'sdreamis principally a product
of thepast. Thesecriticsassumethattheemergenceof theAmericandreamis

2 Troy, in his 1945 essay "Scott Fitzgerald-the Authorityof Failure," was the firstcriticto use the term "American dream"
in an interpretationof TheGreatGatsby.

Kenner similarly places not only the American dream in the distant past but Gatsby's sensibility as well: "It has been
dreamed since the Renaissance, and Gatsby is the last Renaissance Man.... ([In 1925 it was still possible to recapture the
Dream, or at least how it had feltto be one of the Renaissance voyagers who had dreamed it" (27-28). More recently,
Steinbrinkhas suggested thatin Fitzgerald's novel "any attemptto realize the dream is destined not only to fail but to sully
the dream itself. The actual settlementof this country,by the Dutch and others, gave rise not to edenic bliss but to
mercantileavarice, divisiveness, and war" (167).

Nowhere, institutionallyor pedagogically speaking, is the use of these analyticalbinaries more evident than in the criticism
contained under the section headings "Crime and Corruption" and "The American Dream" in the well-worn Scribner's
Research AnthologyentitledFitzgerald'sThe Great Gatsby: The Novel,The Critics,The Background.

Bewley's model for interpretingThe Great Gatsby has found numerous restatements.In the early 1970s, for example,
Callahan stated: "In its totalityThe GreatGatsbysketches the evolution of America from ... continentwith a spirit ... to
place of nightmare,exhaustion, and death. Founded on the myth of a new Eden, the historyof the United States has
displaced that vision into an industrial,excrementalreality" (12). Callahan concludes that while the industrial nightmare
we call modern society is our ugly reality,the nation's spiritual dream is an idealized "aesthetic impulse ... in opposition
to the rest of life" (215). Likewise, Bicknell parallels Fitzgerald's world-view to TS. Eliot's by asserting that the author of
The GreatGatsbyperceives "modern corruptionin contrastto a lost ratherthan to an emergentideal" (72). More recently,
Rohrkemperargues thatthe power of The GreatGatsbyissues from"juxtaposing that corrupted present with the luminous
possibilities in a rapidly receding past" (153). He too concludes that "Fitzgerald seems to suggest that America has
indeed become Thomas Jefferson's DisgustingCity,and thatthe presidingspiritofJefferson, no less than Franklin,has been
corruptedin modern America" (160).

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56 NOVEL I FALL 1994

conterminous witheitherEuropeandiscoveriesof theNew Worldor thebirth

of theUnitedStatesas a nation.
I wantto arguetwopoints.First,the"Americandream"is not
Alternatively,
a trans-historical
conceptbut,as I discussat theend of thispaper,a termin-
vented afterthe Twentiesin an effortto address the crisis of the Great
Depression.Second,the social climateof theearly1920s,specifically as it is
in
expressed increasingly racializedformsof creates
nativism, the conditions
under whichFitzgerald'snarratorimaginesGatsbyas a figureforAmerica.
Gatsby'sdreamis a pureproductoftheTribalTwenties.Thislatterpointbuilds
upon theprovocativeworkof WalterBennMichaels,who situatesAmerican
nationalliteratureof the period,includingGatsby,withina discourseof na-
tivism.However,as I detailbelow,Michaels'ssingularfocuson nativismin the
workof Fitzgeraldand othercanonicalwriters--exemplified in thestatement,
"Whatis to be fearedmost[in classicfictionof theTwenties]is theforeigner's
desireto becomeAmerican"("Vanishing"224)--elidesthepersistence of racial
segregationin thisliterature.6

The Resilienceof theColorLine in theNativistTwenties

When the specterof black/whiteintegration emerges,at least in Gatsby,the

rising tide of hostilitytoward new immigrantsrecedes.Fitzgerald'snovel re-
veals thedegreeto which,even foran uncompromising nativistsuch as Tom
Buchanan,the transgression of black/whitedifferenceremainsthemostpro-
foundthreatto thepreservation of thecountry'swhiteAnglo-Saxonidentity.
This threatis embedded,forinstance,in thenativistmythof nationalorigins.
Nordicists,in assigning the role of New World discovererto northern
Europeans,systematically excludedtheintroduction ofblackslavesin theNew
World.The founding contributionsofAfricansinNorthAmericaarenotmissing
froma nativisthistorybecause of a mereoversight.Theirexclusionis symp-
tomaticofhow black/white differencewas enforcedthroughracialsegregation
during theTwenties.
At firstglance,nothingseemsmoreremotefromTheGreatGatsby thantheis-
sue ofracialsegregation or blackempowerment. Despite thenovel'sbeingsetin
metropolitan New York, African Americans almost never appear in Gatsby's
world.Yet,fromGarveyismto the fledglingHarlemRenaissance,New York
was becomingthemeccaofblackAmericanpoliticsand culture.The nearcom-
pleteabsenceofblacksfromthenovelcan be comprehended onlyifwe factorin
theubiquitouspowerof racialsegregation. The absenceof AfricanAmericans
alongsidethenovel'sconspicuousappropriation ofblackcultureis whatmakes
it a definitivetextof theso-calledJazzAge.
In Nick's eyes, Gatsby lives on the edge of two worlds, neitherof which is
black: the established white society of the Buchanans and the not-quite-white
immigrantunderworld of Meyer Wolfsheim.Yet Nick is at home in neitheren-
6 In the simplest terms,the principal task of Michaels's commentaryon classic American literatureof the Twenties is to
prove his hypothesis that the segregationist question "Are you white?" is "replaced" by the nativist query "Are you
American?" ("Anti-Imperialism"366; "Souls" 192; "Vanishing" 235). Armed with this presupposition, Michaels is unable
to account adequately forthe irrepressiblesignificanceof black/whitedifferencein Jazz Age fiction.

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 JEFFREYLOUIS I WHrTE
DECKER AMRCAN
DREAMING 57

vironment, a feelingreflected by his precarioussenseofmoralorderin society.

It is preciselythehomelessperspectivecoupled withtheambivalentnarrative
expressionof racialpoliticsthatplaces Gatsbysquarelywithinthehighmod-
ernistliterarytradition.Like the workof JosephConrad,to whichFitzgerald
acknowledgeda primary debt,Gatsby undermines contemporary formsofracism
only to the degree that it maintains them.7 While Nick consistently dismisses
Tom Buchanan'sracialnativismas "impassionedgibberish"(137),his own nar-
rationre-enforces both the stereotypical degeneracyof the new immigrant
(especially theSemite) and the minstrelsy theNegro.
of
Ifblacksare conspicuousin theirabsencefromFitzgerald'sJazzAge fiction,
thenthereare notableexceptionsthatprovideways of readingthe persistent
tensionbetweenblack and whitewithinthe contextof the Twenties.African
Americansappearat twocrucialmomentsin thenovel,bothinvolvingGatsby's
famedautomobile:duringNick'smemorablerideacrosstheQueensboroBridge
and at themomentof thehit-and-run killingof MyrtleWilson.Each scene,in
its own way,anticipatesNick's concludinginvocationof Gatsby'scapacityfor
"wonder"in theDutchsailors'eyes. In bothinstancesnew immigrants play a
prominent role. In the latter (and, for our purposes, less significant)scene,a
"pale, well dressed Negro" is described as theone person able to identifyaccu-
rately the "death car" as Gatsby's.Interestingly the
enough, only otherwitness
to thehit-and-run accidentis the"youngGreek,Michaelis"(143-47).
In theQueensboroBridgescene,immigrants and blacksare notpassivewit-
nessesto Gatsbyand his gildedmachine.InsteadtheysharetheAmericanroad
withhim.As Nick ridesbeside Gatsbyand experiencesthe "wonder"associ-
ated with "the cityseen forthe firsttime,in its firstwild promise"(73), an
immigrant funeralprocessionpasses.Our narrator observesthatthedeceased's
"friendslooked out at us withthe tragiceyes and shortupper lips of south-
easternEurope."Here,Nick implicitly and explicitlymarkstheseimmigrants
as emotionallyand physicallydistinctfromold stock Anglo Americans.
However,by cheerfully adding thathis hero's "splendidcar was includedin
theirsomberholiday" (73), Nick impliesthatthe distancebetweenGatsby's
world and thatof the immigrant is not so greatafterall. The Queensboro
Bridgeexertionimmediately precedesNick'sintroduction to Gatsby'sbusiness
associate,MeyerWolfsheim, theJewishgangstercharacterized by stereotypi-
cal Semiticfeatures.
BeforeNick and Gatsbyreachtheirnoon engagementwithWolfsheim, an-
othercarovertakesthemon theQueensboroBridge.It is a limousine,"drivenby
a whitechauffeur, in whichsat threemodishNegroes,twobucksand a girl."In
contrastto thefuneralprocession,thenarrator findsthissceneintenselyamus-
ing: "I laughedaloud as theyolksoftheireyeballsrolledtowardus in haughty
rivalry"(73). Beyondtheobviousracialstereotyping of thehappydarkiesap-
ing whiteways, note the pleasureNick takesin observingthe high-spirited

confessed
Fitzgerald theinfluence
ofJoseph Conradon hiscraftintheIntroduction to the1934ModernLibrary Editionof
The GreatGatsby.Note thatNick echoes no one so muchas Conrad's narrator Marlow,and, like HeartofDarkness,
novelneither
Fitzgerald's embraces
whitesupremacy norultimatelyrejects
imperialist
thought. As Terry Eagletondescribes
it,Conrad'sHeartof Darkness
conveysthe "'message'... thatWesterncivilisationis at base as barbarousas African
whichdisturbs
society-aviewpoint imperialist
assumptionsto theprecisedegreethatitreinforcesthem"(135).

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58 NOVEL I FALL 1994

Negroes,an amusementindebtedto thelegacyof blackfaceminstrelsy in the

UnitedStates.8The reflection of thesportiveNegroesin Gatsby's"mirrored"
(68) car-rather thantheirinclusionin his world-illustrateshow the color
line fixestheseparationbetweenblacksand whiteseven as it generatesan am-
bivalentidentity betweenthetwo.
Racial segregation,by excludingAfricanAmericansfromfullparticipation
in U.S. society,managedthechallengethatblacksposed to whitesupremacy.
When,duringthe Twenties,black empowerment threatenedwhiteprivilege,
nationalistsreadilyabandonedtheirnativistattackon non-NordicEuropeans
and reassertedtheneed forblack/white separationthroughappeals to (among
otherthings)intra-white brotherhood. A case in pointwas PresidentWarren
Harding's widely publicized speech beforea racially mixed audience in
Birmingham, Alabama duringNovemberof 1921.Hardingwas an influential
post-Progressive Era nativist.Upon entering office, he immediately overturned
former PresidentWoodrowWilson'svetoofan immigration bill.The
restriction
law
temporary "proved in the long run the most important turning-point in
Americanimmigration policy" (Higham 311). In his fall speech before the
southerncityof Birmingham, however,Hardingconveniently suppressedhis
nativistplatform. on of
Lecturing behalf "theselfrespectof thecoloredrace,"
thePresidentarguedformaintaining the"naturalsegregations" betweenblack
and white.Withouthesitation,he turnedto the whiteaudience and pleaded
fornationalunity:"Theone thingwe mustsedulouslyavoid is thedevelopment
ofgroupand class organizations in thiscountry"based on "thelaborvote,the
businessvote,the Irishvote,the Scandinavianvote,the Italianvote,and so
on" (qtd.in Du Bois,"President" 1194).Clearly,herewas a prominent American
who, while supportingnativistsdemands forrestricting immigration from
southeastern Europe,appealed to intra-white brotherhood whenthespecterof
desegregation was raised.
Black intellectual
W.E.B.Du Bois,who once described"theproblemof the
Twentiethcentury"as "the color-line"(Souls 359),was outragedby whathe
called "thelogicalcontradictions" of thePresident'saddress.In orderto illus-
tratehis point,Du Bois used his Decembereditorialin theN.A.A.C.P.'sCrisis
magazineto place thecontradictory statements side by side. Hardingpromoted
black/whitesegregationwhile,in thesame breath,criticizing "demagogues"
who pittedold stockwhiteAmericansagainstrecentEuropeanimmigrants. Du
Bois thusasked rhetorically: "Is the Presidentcallinghimselfa demagogue?"
He counteredthe President'sstatementsby offering a two-foldwarningto
"Hardingor anywhiteman"aboutteaching"Negroesprideofrace."First,"our
prideis our businessand nottheirs."Second,blackprideis something whites
"would betterfearratherthan evoke." Du Bois concluded apocalyptically:
"Fortheday thatBlackmenlove Blackmen simplybecause theyare Black,is
the day theywill hate Whitemen simplybecause theyare White.And then,
God helpus all!" ("President"1194).

8 Lottdemonstrates
howtheminstrel
showis structured
by "interracial no less thanthe
and identifications
recognitions
todisavowthem"(35).
imperative

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 LOUIS DECKER I WHITEAMERICANDREAMING
JEFFREY 59

Du Bois was makinga thinlyveiled reference to his politicalrival,Marcus

Garvey, the Jamaican-born nationalist leader who based his United Negro
Improvement Association headquarters in Harlem. In late 1921,Garveywas
his in
reaching peak popularityamong the black masses. A fewmonthsearlier
he had publiclychastised"theDr. Du Bois group"forfighting racialsegrega-
tion. In opposition, Garvey reiterated the U.N.I.A.'s belief that
"amalgamation... is a crimeagainstnature."Writing in a November1921issue
of theU.N.I.A. newspaperNegroWorld, Garveyheaped praiseupon President
Harding for the "Great Vision" conveyedin his Birmingham address,and he
urged blacks to stand together"against the idea of social equality"(qtd. in
Hill lxxxii).
Garveybuiltthefirstand largestmass movementeveramongblacksin the
UnitedStatesby,in part,concedingthat"America[is] a WhiteMan's Country"
and exploiting theracistassertionas a meansofpromoting his "Backto Africa"
campaign.' After 1922, a period historian Robert Hill refers to as Garvey's
"political retreat" (lxxxiii),the U.N.I.A. leader openly flirtedwith white
racistand nativistgroups,rangingfromtheKu Klux Klan to theAnglo-Saxon
Clubs ofAmerica.However,publicovertures to whitesupremacists did littleto
stop the federal government from arresting the U.N.I.A. leader on mail fraud
charges and jailing him in 1923 and between 1925 and 1927. Even the vague
threatposed by Garvey'sunprecedented ability to mobilize huge numbers of
blacksforcedtheU.S. government to deporthimimmediately upon his release
fromprison.Garveywas bothblackand an immigrant in an era ofintensehos-
tilitytowardeach group.However,Garvey'snationalist dreamofa distantbut
glorious African past was not farfrom being the black mirror imageofGatsby's
dreamof Nordicnationaloriginsseen throughDutchexplorers'eyes.In their
own way,bothwerepartialproductsof thepoliticsof immigration restriction
and racialsegregation in New YorkCityduringtheTwenties.

The RisingTide ofImmigrant

Enterprise

Highamreportsthataround1920Nordicistsbeganattacking new immigrants-

Catholics
particularly and but
Jews, Japanese on thePacific
Coast as well-un-
der a nativistbannerwhichnow tiedracialto moretraditionalreligiousxeno-
phobia (266).10Duringthelatterhalfof 1920,thegatheringtideof anti-immi-

WhileGarveyclaimedto forfeit controloftheUnitedStatesto menofEuropeandescent,he was adamantly opposedto

whiteworldsupremacy. Speakingbeforea U.N.I.A.meetingin Harlem'sLibertyHall in thesummerof 1920,Garvey
exclaimed:"Weare a newpeople,bornoutofa newday and a newcircumstance. We arebornoutofthebloodywa[r]of
1914-18"(411).Amidstcrowdsin Harlemand in segregated citiesacrossthecountry, theself-proclaimed
NegroMoses
couldbe heardpreaching: "thebloodiestwar is yetto come,whenEuropewill matchitsstrength againstAsia,and that
will be theNegroes'opportunity to drawtheswordforAfrica'sredemption" (qtd.in Moses 254).Garvey'sdisdainfor
Europeanimperialism in thepost-war era confirmed theworstnightmare ofLothropStoddardand his disciples.Despite
his disapprovalofEuropeancolonialism in theFar East,Stoddardwas no "anti-imperialist" (as Michaels'sinaccurately
suggests["Souls"194-95])whenit cameto imperialruleofAfrica.TheauthorofTheRisingTideofColorused a biological
explanationofracialinferiority
to makean argument forthelackofhistory and civilization
amongAfricans and,hence,the
necessityofpursuing colonialpolicieson theDarkContinent (90-92).
10 Thistrendwas bestexemplified in thechangingphilosophy, membership, and activitiesoftheKu KluxKlan.The first
official
post-warKlanappearance did notoccuruntil1920and,withthe"RedSummer" of1919behindit(whichwitnessed
numerous raceriotsand lynchings),theorganization beganfocusing itsattackson whiteforeigners.TheKlanwas notless
raceconsciousthanbeforebutitdid introduce a number ofchangesintoitsfold.TheKnights oftheInvisible
Empiremade

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60 I
NOVEL FALL1994

grationsentiment was fueledbybothan economicdownturn and a sharpincrease

in theimportation of cheap laborfromabroad.Thesetwinfactors, thestateof
theeconomyand thescale ofimmigration, regularlyplay a role in establishing
the level of nativismin the UnitedStates.However,Highamputs forwarda
thirddeterminant in nativistpoliticsthatexplodedon thescenein 1920and as-
sumedgreaterimportance thaneverbefore:namely,theconnection betweenfor-
and
eigners crime(267).
The conflationof new arrivalsand unethicalbusinesspracticesprovidesob-
vious motivation forreadingTheGreatGatsby accordingto theriseofnativism
and thefallof theself-mademan. Gatsby'sassociationwithimmigrant crime,
particularlyin the formof bootlegging,jeopardizesboth the purityof his
whiteidentityand theethicsof his entrepreneurial uplift.The associationof
immigrants withlawlessnesswas crystallizedduringProhibition, whichwas
no less thana moralcrusadeto preservetheAmericanWaythroughsocialcon-
troland conformity. The Eighteenth Amendment propelledorganizedgangster-
ism to new heightsand, in doingso, opened opportunities fornew arrivalsby
creatinga lucrativetradein illicitalcohol. It also activatedthe stereotypeof
thenon-Anglo-Saxon immigrant as gangster, realizedin sensationaltrialssuch
as thatof "BootlegKing" millionaireHarryBrolaskiwho, in his own words,
"alwaystooka gambling chance."In fourmonthsduring1920,JunetoSeptember,
Brolaskimade a fortune whichwas lostbeforetheend oftheyearwhenhe was
triedand convictedofmasterminding a PacificCoastbootlegging ring.-
Gatsby,althoughapparentlynot thechildof an immigrant, is a bootlegger
who associateswithunsavorynew arrivalsand vile membersof the under-
world.The associationforcesGatsbyto makeup improbablestoriesabout his
pastbecause,as he explainstoNick,"I didn'twantyou to thinkI was justsome
nobody"(71). WhileNick desperatelywantsto believein Gatsby'sgrandself-
descriptions,contemporary reviewerswerenotalwaysso sympathetic. One in-
sists thatthe "GreatGatsbywasn't greatat all--just a sordid,cheap, little
crook" (Kenny).Evidence marshaledby Tom Buchanan'sinvestigationinto
Gatsby'spastsupportssucha reading.
"Whoareyouanyhow?"brokeoutTom."You'reoneofthatbunchthathangs
aroundwithMeyerWolfsheim-that
muchI happento know.I've madea lit-
intoyouraffairs... I foundout whatyour 'drugstores'were."
tle investigation
He turnedto us andspokerapidly."He and thisWolfsheim
boughtup a lotof
side-street
drugstoreshereand in Chicagoand sold grainalcoholoverthe

extensive
use ofeugenicstojustify
itsnewinterest in nativism.
Klanactivity
shiftedfromexclusiveattackson Negroesto a
broad-basedhatredof foreignerswho seemedless-than-white, Italiansand Jews.For the firsttime,Klan
particularly
membershipwas extended onlytowhiteAmericans ofAnglo-Saxon Protestantdescent.As a result,
membership expanded
from
geographically theruralSouthtothesmallMidwestern townandtheurbanNorth.TheranksofKlansmen alsoswelled
tounprecedentedheights,estimated in
at 4.5 million 1924(Higham277,286ff).
GatsbytakesplacepreciselytwoyearsafterBrolaski
ranhisillicitalcoholtradefrom
California. thesame
On approximately
datethatFitzgeraldhas Nick meetGatsbyforthefirsttime(midto lateJune1922),theNew YorkTimespublishedan
expos6headlined"Brolaski,BootlegKing:Man Named by Carawayin SenateAttacka Real MillionaireBootlegger"
(Rogers).Perhapsthiswas additional
sourcematerialforFitzgerald'srepresentation and hisAmerican
ofbothhisnarrator
hero.of Althoughhe does notmention eitherBrolaskior SenatorCaraway,Corsouncoversotherpotentialsourcesfor
characters.
Fitzgerald's

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 LOUIS DECKER I WHITEAMERICANDREAMING
JEFFREY 61

counter.That'sone ofhis littlestunts.I pickedhimfora bootlegger

thefirst
timeI saw himandI wasn'tfarwrong."(141)

Gatsbybrazenlyrefusesto denyTom'saccusationofhis rival'sbootlegging ac-

tivities,respondingpolitely: "What about it? ... I guess your friend Walter
Chase wasn'ttoo proudto comein on it."Tom'sfindings notonlyimplicatehis
rivalin variousunnamedcriminalschemesby providingalmostirrefutable ev-
idenceof his involvement in theillegalsale of alcohol.Tom,hopingto play to
thenativistfearsof his audience,binds Gatsby'sidentityto theJewishgang-
sterWolfsheim.
Nick's stereotypical descriptionof Wolfsheimis coloredby racial nativism
to the extentthat it carries with it traces of degeneracyassociated with
Semites.Upon beingintroducedby Gatsbyto his friend,thenarratorprovides
the followingdescriptionof Wolfsheim:"A small flat-nosedJewraised his
largehead and regardedme withtwofinegrowthsofhairwhichluxuriatedin
eithernostril.Aftera momentI discoveredhis tinyeyes in thehalfdarkness"
(73-74).Nick repeatedlycharacterizes theman he finds"lookingfora business
gonnegtion"(75) accordingto his grossphysicalappearance,typified by refer-
ences to "his tragicnose" (77). The descriptionsimplicateNick in a formof
what Sander L. Gilman calls "pathologicalstereotyping"(18). Immutable
stereotyping of thissortlicensestheconstruction of a rigiddifference between
the vigorous Anglo-Saxon,Tom Buchanan, and degenerate Jew, Meyer
Wolfsheim.Gatsby,whose originalsurname("Gatz") carriesa Jewishinflec-
tion,is caughtin a no-man's-land betweenthetwoethnicextremes.
Wolfsheim'sbusiness activitiesare not merelyillegal. They threatenthe
integrity of thenationalsportingevent,baseball's World'sSeries.Eventually
we learnthatWolfsheim runshis illicitbusinessout of "TheSwastikaHolding
Company,"a name that continuesto befuddlereaders.It is unlikelythat
Fitzgeraldwould have knownthatHitlerwas usingtheswastikaas the sym-
bol of his fledglingNazi party.Insteadtheswastikawas widelyrecognizedat
thetimeas an ancientAryansymbolofgood luck.Wolfsheim's possessionofthe
swastikaas thenameof his holdingcompanymanifests the widelyperceived
threatto an Aryan nation posed by enterprisingimmigrants, particularly
Jews.12 Burr,in his book America'sRace Heritage(1922),insiststhatthe "most
objectionableclasses of the 'new' immigrationare rapidlybreakingdown
Americaninstitutions and honorablebusinessmethods."In thecontextof dis-
cussing recentJewish arrivals,he describes"businesstrickery" as a "trait... so
ingrained thatone may doubt whether it could be eradicated for generations"
(195).13

12 In theearly1920s,Nordicphilosophers used thediscoveryofIndo-European

indirectly languagesas evidenceto support
theirownclaims.Bytracing America'snorthwesternEuropeanoriginsto a remoteAryanpast,nativist
writers
oftheearly
Twentiesdistancedthenation'sraceheritagefromwhat,priorto thisdiscovery, wouldhave beenits previouspointof
departure:Semiticcivilization.
Forinstance,BurropensAmerica's RaceHeritage
witha reference
to "theracemigrations
in
Eurasiaas a preludetotheracialhistoryofAmerica"(19).In thecourseofhisstudy,Burrdrawsthedistinction
betweena
superiorAryanEuropefamily ofmanandan inferiorHebrewrace.
13 It is important
to remember
that,witha loss offaithin Progressive
Era efforts
to assimilateimmigrants,
Jews(as muchif
notmorethananyothernewimmigrant group)becamea nationalmenaceintheeyesofpost-War nativists.
Forexample,in
theearlymonthsof1920,HenryFord--the country's folk-hero
leadingindustrialist, to millions,
and one-timemelting-pot

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62 NOVEL I FALL 1994

Gatsby'sillicitbusinessassociation(indeed,his friendship) withimmigrant

gangsterMeyer Wolfsheim compromises the ethicsof our hero'sself-made suc-
cess whileundermining the stabilityof whiteethnicdifference. His enterpris-
ingefforts amongshadyforeigners stagesthenation'sgrowingsuspicionofim-
migrants after
World War I. This sentiment is confirmed, forinstance,in a con-
temporary commentator's use of an anti-Catholic slur to describe Gatsbyupon
his firstencounterwith Daisy. Stated Thomas Chubb,in his reviewof the
novel in the August 1925 issue of Forummagazine: "he is still poor as an
Irishmanon Sundaymorning"(311). Even Nick,aftermeetingthemysterious
Gatsbyforthe firsttimeat one of his gala parties,immediately thinksof his
hostas a strangerin his own home:"I would have acceptedwithoutquestion
theinformation thatGatsbysprangfromtheswampsof Louisianaor fromthe
lowerEast Side ofNew York"(54).
Nick's suspicionsaboutthesourceofGatsby'swealthare heightened justaf-
terhe is introducedto Wolfsheim. is off
Gatsby caught guard and becomes no-
ticeablyupset when,having boasted that it took him only three years to earn
his fortune,Nick pointsout thathe was under the impressionthatGatsby
"inherited"his moneythrougha legacyof familywealth(95). In thechapter
whichfollowsthisuneasyexchange,NickcastsyoungJimmy Gatzin theroleof
Algerboy-hero who has a fortunate encounter with wealthyyachtsmanDan
Cody.'4 Nick's of
telling Gatsby's "luck and pluck" tale suggeststhe loss of
faithin storiesof theself-mademan at thistime.For example,Gatsby'sbene-
factor,Cody,is notthegenteelaristocrat ofAlger'sstoriesbut "thepioneerde-
bauchee."He is a productof "thesavageviolenceofthefrontier brotheland sa-
loon," and thus a considerable cry from even thecelebrated frontierindividual-
ist imaginedby ProgressiveEra historianFrederickJacksonTurner.Whenhe
sets sail fortheWestIndiesand theBarbaryCoast (places associatedwithpi-
rating,the Africanslave trade,and colonialism),Cody employsthe impres-
sionable teenager in some "vague personal capacity" and gives him a
"singularly appropriate education" before he dies suddenly (106-07).
Fitzgerald'sappropriationof the Algerformulareflectsthe factthatthe tra-
ditional ideal of virtuousuplift,recentlyassociated with the melting-pot
modelofimmigrant success,was undercut bya growinginterest inget-rich-quick
schemesand a decliningcommitment to assimilatingnew arrivalsduringthe
Roaring Twenties.'sIn this social climate,the moralefficacyof Alger's re-
spectable"ragsto riches"storiesbeganto loose theirappeal in America.
AfterGatsby'sown sudden death,Nick approachesWolfsheim-thede-
ceased's "closest friend"-for an account of Gatsby's source of wealth.
Wolfsheim'srecollectionfunctionsto reconfirm the new threatposed by the

to wage an anti-Semiticpropaganda campaign

model advocate--began using his company organ, the DearbornIndependent,
against what he called "internationalFinanciers"operatingin America.
14
Gatsby's struggle upward is structured,according to Nick's narrative,along the lines of Alger's popular formula.For a
discussion of the relationshipbetween TheGreatGatsbyand Algers stories,see Scharnhorst's"ScribblingUpward."

Algers juvenile fictionreached its heightin popular readershiparound 1910, at the heightof the Progressivemovementand
at the momentwhen Gatsby and Nick would have been in theiryouth. At this time,Progressive reformersadvocated self-
help and upliftas, in part, a way of managing the greatestwave of immigrationin the nation's history.For an account of
Algers readership,see Scharnhorstand Bales (149-56).

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 LOUIS
JEFFREY I WHITE
DECKER AMERICAN
DREAMING 63

To Nick's inquiry,
immigrantto moral upliftand ethicalentrepreneurship.
"Did you starthimin business?"Wolfsheim "Start
replies, him!I made him,"
and continues:

"I raisedhimup outofnothing, rightoutofthegutter. I sawrightawayhewas

a fineappearinggentlemanly young man and when he toldme he was an
Oggsford I knew I coulduse him good.... We wereso thicklikethatin every-
thing -" He held up twobulbousfingers "--alwaystogether."(179)

Wolfsheim's depictionofGatsby'ssuccesshelpsconfirm thefindingsofTom's

Not is
investigation. only Gatsby "raised... up out ofnothing," he is "made"not
by the sweat of his honest brow but by the black hand of the immigrant gang-
ster.Wolfsheim'sgrotesque"bulbousfingers"offera degenerateimage of to-
getherness. If he and Gatsbyare as separateas fingers, theyare also as one as
the hand. Wolfsheim'sstoryof Gatsby'sinauspiciousbeginningsleaves Nick
wonderingwhethertheir"partnership" also includedtheWorld'sSeriesscan-
dal.
The encounterwithWolfsheimimmediately leads to anotherillustration of
Gatsby'soriginalambition, one apparently modeled on the prescriptionsof
middle-classmorality.This exampletakesa page out of BenjaminFranklin's
autobiography. However,because it mocksthe conventionsof the self-made
man, thisillustrationultimately functions to undermineevidenceforGatsby's
virtuousuplift.More specifically, the readeris presentedwithJimmy Gatz's
transcription, on the flyleafof a dime novel, of a Franklin-style timetableand
resolves.'6 Unlike young Ben Franklin, who builds the "perfect Character"by
ponderingquestionsofinnergoodnessbeforesetting out fora day ofhardwork
(72-73),sixteen-year-old Gatsby'smorningitinerary is conspicuouslydevoid of
moralquestions.Instead,Fitzgerald'sboy-herofocuseson theenhancement of
self-imagethrough "Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling"(181). Furthermore,
his generalresolvesfocusmore on externalpresentation of self ("No more
or
smokeing chewing") thanon Franklin's interest in cultivatingthevirtuous
innerpersonin the"Projectofarriving at moralPerfection" (66).
Fitzgerald'smock-representation ofyoungGatsby'sattemptat Franklinesque
upliftdemonstrates theextentto which,withtheconsolidation ofconsumerso-
cietyin thetwentieth century, thecultof "personality" (based on image-mak-
ing and competitiveness)eclipses an earlier producer-oriented notion of
"character" (foundedon an innersenseofdutyand piety)."Thedisplacement of
characterby thenewerconceptof personality did not alone underminetradi-
tionalnarratives ofvirtuoussuccess.However,whencoupledwithrisingsuspi-
cions regardingtherectitudeof new immigrants, theapparentexcessesof the
personalitycraze contributedto the diminishingauthorityof the mythof the
self-made man in the Twenties. The resultantcrisis in an American national
identityis representedby Fitzgerald throughthe figureof Gatsby.

16 Watkins
was thefirst
critic
to giveextensive
treatment
totheinfluence
ofFranklin's on TheGreat
writing Gatsby.
17 See Susmanontheemergence
of"personality" theturnofthetwentieth
after century.

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64 NOVEL I FALL 1994

Self-MadeMan
Fitzgerald'sNot-Quite-White
The nationalclimatethatguaranteesGatsby'sfailureas the traditionalself-
made man also providesthesocial conditionsunderwhichhis pristinedream
can be imagined.DuringtheTwenties,in popularand academicforumsalike,
racialnativismwas sanctionedby thepseudo-scientific discourseofNordicism
which narroweddefinitionsof whiteness.Afterdecades of seeminglyunre-
strictedimmigration fromeasternand southernEurope,nativistsrespondedto
thefearof theloss of whiteAnglo-Saxondominanceby attempting to fixand
maintaintheboundariesbetweenold stockAmericansand all others.Higham
demonstrates how, in thewake of WorldWar I, debatesover thenation'sori-
ginsmade extensiveuse ofNordicphilosophyto combatthefearof theloss of
whitesupremacy.He explainsthatthedeploymentof genetictypologiesbe-
came widespreadin Nordicistdescriptions oftheracialdegeneracyin new im-
migrants. Respectablesocialscientist MadisonGrant,probablythemostimpor-
tantnativistin modernAmericanhistory(Higham 155-56),workedfromthe
"science"ofeugenicsand taughttwo basic lessons.First,old stockAmericans
should properlyidentifythemselvesas Nordic.Second,Nordicsmustavoid
cross-breeding withwhiteEuropeansofa lowerracialdescent,namelyAlpines
and Mediterraneans, or facethedegenerative processof "mongrelization."is
Gatsby'sromantic ambitionis, ofcourse,to amassa fortune fantastic
enough
to win theheartof Daisy Fay,who revealsthatshe is as muchsouthernbelle
as flapperwhenshe referstoown youthas her"whitegirlhood"(24). A version
of theall-American girl,Daisy is a symbolforNordicnationalidentityin the
Twenties.19 She functions withinthenovelas a genderedsignforthemytholog-
ical Americancontinent: a nurturing motherand a beckoningloverwho offers
"the incomparablemilkof wonder"(112). The factthatDaisy's voice is also
describedas "fullof money-thatwas theinexhaustible charmthatrose and
fellin it" (120) is less a contradictionthantheflip-sideof thesame coin.In an
era of U.S. imperialism and corporateexpansion,thefrontier is seductivenotin
spite but because of its At
exploitability. the novel'sconclusion, Daisy's green
lightin Gatsby'seyesconjures,forNick,theDutchexplorers'initialsighting of
a pristineAmerica,"a fresh, green breastof thenew world."
Paradoxically,GatsbymusttransgresstheNordic/non-Nordic divide and
associatewithimmigrant gangsterMeyer Wolfsheim in order to generatea for-
tunegrandenoughto impressthebelleof Louisville.In a desperateattemptto
foilGatsby'sgranddesign,Tom spews theslogansand parrotsthepreceptsof
Nordicsupremacy.It is no secretthatNordicismreceivesitsmostunrestrained
expression on thepagesofGatsby inthemouthofTomBuchanan.As one contem-
poraryreviewerofthenovelreluctantly observed,Tom "is an Americanuniver-

18 Grant and his disciples were not alone among nativists in deploying eugenics to constructa national identitybased on
narrowingdefinitionsof whiteness. The "expert" services of eugenicistHarry H. Laughlin were retained by Congressman
AlbertJohnson'sHouse Committeeon immigrationrestriction, where he testifiedthat new European immigrantswere bad
breeding stock due to their "inborn socially inadequate qualities." Even presidential hopeful Calvin Coolidge lent his
signature to a popular piece on immigrationrestriction,published in a 1921 issue of Good HousemAeping, which used
biological laws to argue that Nordic stock degenerateswhen mixed with otherraces (Higham 314, 318).
19 For a discussion of nativistuses of popular images of the New Woman, see Banta (104-39).

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 LOUIS DECKER I WHITEAMERICANDREAMING
JEFFREY 65

sityproductof almostunbearablereality"(Bendt740). He assaultsNick with

his nativistracismearlyin thenovel,beforeeitherone of themis introducedto
Gatsby.Over dinnerat the BuchananLong Island estate,Nick confessesthat
his cosmopolitancousin,Daisy,makeshimfeel"uncivilized."BeforeDaisy re-
sponds,Tom interrupts conversation witha gloomyprediction:"Civilization's
goingto pieces ... I've gottento be a terriblepessimistaboutthings.Have your
read 'The Rise of theColouredEmpires'by thisman Goddard?"Nickanswers
in thenegative,and Tom,in a petulantmood,approvingly explainsthebook's
thesis:"The idea is ifwe don'tlook out thewhiterace willbe-will be utterly
submerged.It's all scientificstuff;it's been proved"(17). The exchangehas led
literarycriticsto speculatethatTom's authorityis LothropStoddard,whose
conservativeideas werewidelydis-seminated amongnativistsafterthepubli-
cationofhis TheRisingTideofColor.
Criticshave overlookedthepossibility that,in additionto Stoddard'sbook,
thewell knowngeneticist HenryH. Goddardmightalso be a sourceof Tom's
ideas. In a bookwidelyreprinted around1920,Goddardstudieddegeneracyin
an Americanfamilyhe called the "Kallikaks."The Kallikaksare "a family
of good Englishblood of the middle class." However,Goddard explains,"a
scionofthisfamily, in an unguardedmoment, step[ped]aside fromthepathsof
rectitudeand withthehelp of a feeble-minded girl,startled]a line of mental
defectivesthat is trulyappalling" (50). The "degeneracy"of the Kallikak
familyis thus"theresultof thedefectivementality and bad blood," fromthe
feeble-minded prostitute, "havingbeen brought into the normalfamilyofgood
blood" (69). Goddardconcludesby decrying theeffectsofmixinggood and bad
genes,reasoningthatit can onlyproducementaland moraldefects, suchas fee-
ble-mindedness, madness,alcoholism,sexualperversity, and criminality.
The workof Goddardand othergeneticists was circulatedamongnativists,
and used to make argumentsagainstthe excessesof democracy,whichwere
thoughtto be manifestedin the failureof the meltingpot to assimilatenew
immigrants intoAmericansociety.Nativistsvocalizedthe fearthatAmerica's
once pure racialstockwas now undersiegeby a generationof non-Nordicar-
rivalswho were,in too manyinstances,amassingwealthwithoutadheringto
theProtestant workethicand thegospelofvirtuoussuccess.20 "It'sup tous who
are the dominantrace to watchout," assertsTom, "or theseotherraces will
have controlof things"(17). His senseofcontrolis definedby his faithin the
moralstrength of whiteAnglo-Saxoncivilization.Nick thinksto himselfthat
Tom's whitesupremacist monologueis "pathetic."Daisy respondsto herhus-
band with littlemore than sarcasm("We've got to beat themdown"). Her
friend,JordonBaker,offersthemostprovocativeintervention withhercryptic
aside: "You oughtto live in California-"
Jordon's passing referenceto the West Coast is made intelligiblewhen we
consider the politics of nativism in Californiaat the time. AfterJapan demon-
strated its militaryprowess in Russo-JapaneseWar of 1904, Anglo-Americans

The nativistaccusation that new immigrantsdid not earn theirwealth according to the virtuous ethics of Protestantwork
qualifies Michaels's argumentthat,during the Twenties,citizenshipwas no longer imagined to be "a condition that could
be achieved throughone's own actions" but, rather,"an identitythatcould betterbe understood as inherited"("Vanishing"
223).

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66 NOVEL I FALL 1994

on thePacificCoast experienceda two-foldthreat:fearsaboutJapan'sexpan-

sionistforeignpolicywereplaced alongside thedangerposed byJapaneseim-
migration to Anglohegemony on theWestCoast(Higham172).EvenStoddard,
who discussesthe international "Yellow Peril"at lengthin TheRisingTideof
Color,makesreference to theCaliforniacrisisby quotingfromtheLos Angeles
Times:"IfCaliforniais tobe preservedforthenextgeneration as a 'whiteman's
country'theremustbe some movementstartedthatwill restrict theJapanese
birth-ratein California"(288). By the timeof Harding'spresidentialelection
in 1920,anti-Japanese hysteriaon theWestCoast had reachedunprecedented
levels (Higham265). As a result,theJohnson-Reed Act was draftedin a way
thatprohibitedJapaneseimmigration altogether,completinga long standing
policyofOrientalexclusion.
Tom,obliviousto criticism ofalmostanykind,interrupts Jordon's mentionof
Californiawiththe followingproposition:"The idea is thatwe're Nordics..."
(18). Later,duringthe novel's climacticPlaza Hotel scene,Tom and Gatsby
squareoffagainstone another.Tom,by linkingGatsby'senterprising ambitions
to Wolfsheim'sunderworldoperations,turnshis personalclaim on a Nordic
identityintoa weapon againsthis rival.In doing so, he diminishesGatsby's
standingin societyto thatof the"nobody"our heroso desperatelytriesto es-
cape.
I supposethelatestthingis tosit backand letMr. Nobody fromNowhere make
lovetoyourwife....Nowadays at
peoplebeginbysneering family and
life fam-
ily institutions
and nextthey'llthroweverything overboardand haveinter-
marriage betweenblackand white.(137)

This passage expressesthecomplexrelationbetweennativismand the color

line at thetime.It is temptingto conclude,along withWalterBennMichaels,
thatTom is identifying Gatsby"as in somesenseblack"("Souls" 195).Butthis
would be to misjudgethedegreeto which,even duringtheTwenties,nativists
werewillingor able to collapsethedistinction betweenblacksand immigrants
fromsoutheastern Europe.According to the nativistlogicof Tom's argument,
Gatsby seems less-than-white because of his intimateconnectionwithimmi-
grant crime. The associationlicensesTom's accusation thatGatsbyjeopardizes
the healthof the family,the institution indispensableto maintainingwhite
racial purity.Next,Tom suggeststhatblack/whitemiscegenationposes the
most profoundthreatto theNordic race. Althoughhe does not suggestthat
Gatsbyis any sense black,Tom's statementrevealsthe degree to whichna-
tivistsused Nordicismto narrowthenotionofwhitenesswhilesimultaneously
maintainingwhat PresidentHarding called the "naturalsegregations"be-
tween black and white.
JordonBaker, in response to Tom's diatribe against Gatsby, makes another
spontaneous intervention:"We're all white here." Jordon'saside points to a cri-
sis in the nation's Anglo identitywhere, fornativistsat least, whiteness is no
guarantee of racial purity.The fragilityof the modem family-racial and na-
tional, extended and nuclear-was at the heart of nativistarguments against

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 JEFFREYLOUIS I WHITE
DECKER AMERICAN
DREAMING 67

unrestrictedimmigration. NordicnationalistCharlesW. Gold, in a book enti-

tledAmerica: A FamilyMatter(1922),attributes thedownfallof Rome,and by
extension"thecontinuingdownfallof humanity"up throughthe present,to
mongrelization.Althoughhe appears to be unaware of the fact that the
"meltingpot" was a conceptonlyrecently popularizedduringtheProgressive
Era, Gold nonethelessargues thatthroughout theages efforts at thistypeof
ethnicassimilationhave been misguided."Tear fromthephrasethesoftening
metaphorand we recognize'meltingpot' in its true,its unpleasantform--
'miscegenation'"(149-50).He concludesthatnationalhistoriesteachAmerica
a simple but indispensable lesson: "Repeal our naturalization laws."
Legislativereform wouldbarentranceto aliens,helpingto "secureour children
and our children's childrenin their legitimatebirthright"(165). Or, as
Stoddardpleads,"theimmigrant tidemustat all costsbe stoppedand America
given a chanceto stabilize
her ethnic
being"(266).
The passage of theJohnson-Reed Actin 1924fulfilledthedemandsof racial
nativists,who insistedupon the preservationof what theyregardedas a
"distinctAmericantype":the whiteAnglo-SaxonProtestant. The law imple-
menteda "nationalorigins"principle.Bysettingquotasaccordingto thecontri-
butionof each nationalstockto thepresentAmericanpopulation,thelaw en-
suredthatsix or seventimesmoreimmigrants would originateannuallyfrom
northwestern Europe than from Europe.Highamconcludesthatby
southeastern
countingeveryone's ancestors theJohnson-Reed Act "gave expressionto the
tribalmood,and comfort tothedemocraticconscience"(322-23).

The AmericanDream:An Afterthought

The declineofthenationalmythof thewhiteAnglo-Saxonself-mademandur-

ing the 1920spredatesthebirthof theterm"Americandream."The termwas
notputintoprintuntil1931,whenmiddle-brow JamesTruslowAdams
historian
used it in his popularhistoryof theUnitedStatesentitledTheEpicofAmerica.
Thus, despite a halfa centuryof literarycriticismon the expressionof the
Americandreamin Fitzgerald'sGreatGatsby, thephraseis a misnomerwhen
used to characterizethebook's nationalist
vision.
Adamsmakesno mentionofFitzgeraldor Gatsbyin hisbook,norshouldhe.
The authorarticulatesthe fledglingidea of the Americandream througha
vague conceptofmoraleconomicsmeantto addressand subdue theimminent
threatof class antagonismcaused by theGreatDepression.By explicitlyap-
pealing to a shared,ratherthan tribal,sense of the nation'sdream,Adams
steersclearofgroupconflict.

The pointis thatif we are to have a richand full lifein whichall are to share
and play theirparts,iftheAmericandreamis to be a reality,our communal
spiritualand intellectuallifemust by distinctlyhigherthanelsewhere,where
classes and groups have theirseparate interests,habits,markets,arts, and
lives. (411)

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68 NOVEL I FALL1994

Adams's Americandreamis inspiredby pre-warProgressive ideals of individ-

ual upliftand ethnicassimilation, values intendedto assistreadersin manag-
It comesas littlesurprisewhen,at theveryend
ing thecrisesof theThirties.2'
of The Epic,the historianoffersa lengthyquotationfromMaryAntin'sopti-
misticautobiographyof RussianJewishmelting-pot success,originallypub-
lishedin 1912.
Nothingcould be further fromthe Nordicinflection given to the national
imaginaryas it is expressed Fitzgerald'sfiction.Gatsby'spristinevisionof
in
Americapast does notbelongto theAmericandreamof theGreatDepression.
Rather,it is a productof the risingtide of anti-immigrant sentimentin the
1920s,whichactivatednarrowingdefinitions of whitenessand, in doing so,
weakenedthemoralauthority of themythoftheself-mademan.Ifwe wantto
interpretThe GreatGatsbyhistorically, we should stop using the American
dream as an analyticalcategoryaltogether.Yet it is not enough to say that
Gatsby'sdreamis simplyan aspectofwhatFitzgeraldcoinedtheJazzAge. It is
also sweptalongby racialnativismpeculiarto theTribalTwenties.

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