Identity In The Great Gatsby

It is in human nature to define ones own role in society, as time goes on that role shifts and shatters and reforms anew. Both Coupland and Fitzgerald, in their novels “jPod” and “The Great Gatsby”, explore this theme of identity through; creation of a persona for personal gain, the impacts to that persona and internal turmoil that can be caused by external influences, and the potential harsh realization of reality that stems from filling a persona.

The characters in both novels, much like many people in real life, strive to accomplish many goals, mainly stemming from social and romantic origins, and in order to achieve these goals, characters will take the role of a self-created persona. For example, take John Doe, who tries to be as average
For example Carol realizes she may in fact be a lesbian, despite previous denial, after freedom changes. “'Ethan, I... I think I might be a lesbian.'” (p506, jPod) She realizes' after months of denial and claims that her and freedom are only friends and share similar beliefs, that the whole time she had romantic feelings for freedom. Steve also realizes he was living a lie in his forced and obviously fake corporate lifestyle. “'There was a part of me that knew things were all wrong in my life... I am no longer a prisoner to that part of me that made me such a corporate suck-hole.'” (p359, jPod) After being removed from his persona, by being shot up with heroin and sent to China, Steve had an opportunity to realize the life he was living was an intricately crafted lie to please people who didn't care about him. On “The Great Gatsby” side of things, Wilson realizes his ideas of a happy marriage are just an illusion. “'He had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world.'” (p124, The Great Gatsby) After lying to himself and suppressing the suspicions of his wife’s infidelity, a realization brought about by a loved ones affairs with another, much like Carol, led to Wilson’s realization about his marriage. Gatsby, on the other hand, values his persona so much that he gets killed so he doesn't have to witness the persona he crafted crumble around him. “Gatsby himself didn't believe it would come.. He paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.” (p162, The Great Gatsby) Gatsby held on to the persona too tightly to be removed from it, denying himself the opportunity to realize how flawed his lifestyle was, this kept building a more and more intricate lie, until it collapsed, killing him as part of the aftermath. The