Leave F. Scott alone ... (Josh)

After reading Tyson's 13 page criticism of the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald I was rather surprised by Tyson's ideas presented through out the essay. It is understandable to analyze the details in such a novel but Tyson truly takes it to the next level, grasping at straws so far removed from a logical argument that it was awkward to read the essay at times. Tyson tries to argue that Fitzgerald's thorough description of the time period which somehow manages to leave out the Harlem renaissance and the activity in the jazz clubs in Harlem during the time makes the novel a racist work. Sure Fitzgeral does describe the Great War, popular hair styles, entertainment icons, and the new found american love affair with automobiles, among other things but for the most part avoids mentioning most aspects of African American culture; I would agree that technically speaking the text is racist simply because of its lack of Black culture through out the piece, but that conclusion would be through a new-african american criticism lens as opposed to a lens that takes into account author intent. Fitzgerald tried to keep the novel short a sweet for reasons which we can only speculate, but that fact that the Great Gatsby is only 218 pages long certainly has contributed to its popularity and timelessness; if Fitzgerald had started to discuss a topic such as Harlem or other African American aspects the novel would surely have taken on a much longer length simply because of how complex the topics were. Fitzgerald wrote the Great Gatsby to give a view into a very specific time and very specific area of that time period, and he did an excellent job at describing the lives of the wealthy in the roaring 20s but in order to keep the novel on its intended course he had to leave out some aspects that might have forced a switch in focus at times.