Distopijsko čitanje Velikog Getsbija i 1984

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald may be read as a dystopian novel. In order to illustrate the possibility of this reading, we shall draw on similarities between the aforementioned novel and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, which has already been recognized as a dystopian novel in the literary canon. Bearing in mind that the novel Nineteen Eighty-four is a widely recognized dystopia comprised of elements characteristic of the dystopian genre, by using comparative analysis this paper aims to present the readers with a different understanding of Fitzgerald’s novel. We shall observe the similarities between these two novels regarding the organization of societies described in them, the general atmosphere of the depicted ages, the novels’ protagonists, the motif of the all-seeing eyes, as well as the treatment of the past. By drawing parallels between the novels we shall try to establish a dystopian reading of The Great Gatsby