ENCHANTED AND REPELLED “Caring Ambivalently in The Great Gatsby”

Abstract

Most scholars portray the male characters in The Great Gatsby in one-dimensional terms, as either a villain or a hero. However, this essay uses care theory, specifically María Puig de la Bellacasa’s concept of the ambivalence of care and Joan C. Tronto’s ethic of care as conceptual framework for this analysis. Thus, this essay argues that The Great Gatsby exposes a speculative ethic that accepts the ambivalent nature of caring for a loved one, which complicates altruistic and egoist ethical frameworks. To substantiate this claim, the essay aims at offering a close reading of how the male characters care for others. Moreover, this essay demonstrates that The Great Gatsby reveals a speculative ethic which accepts risk, responsibility, consideration and self-interest in caring for a loved one, not as an ideal, rather as a pragmatic way of sustaining relationships.