In an attempt to relate the novel to brand new audiences, Fitzgerald has set up this rap battle between Gatsby and Buchanan, two characters from his book. Below are his own notes regarding the piece. Hope you enjoy it!
Central to the rap, the subtle symbols hidden inside clothing, body language, and exchanges between characters point to the deep conflicts within The Great Gatsby. Just as the modern rappers of our era place extreme emphasis on the “cool” hats, shoes, glasses, and hand signals, our characters brought out their innermost feelings in the same manner. Fitzgerald wanted his novel to achieve a new definition of modern, and while it certainly accomplished that goal, supplanting it with our own modern take on music adds an extra charisma for today’s audiences.
Over the past few decades the musical medium of rap has gained prominence. Artists have come together to produce intricate lyrics and sophisticated rhythms, often to deliver striking indictments or sentiments. Just as jazz was coming to fruition during the 1920’s, rap has earned its place in history during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In order to bring out and examine the characters and their feelings in The Great Gatsby, we created a “rap battle” between Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, two characters who subtly and then overtly quarrel with one another in The Great Gatsby. We believe a rap battle is perhaps the best musical vehicle to deliver each characters’ scorching rebuke of the other because of the substantive and stylistic elements of rap. The words pour forth and rush quickly, like the pace of the summer and the lives of the characters. And while the content may be focused on making the speaker seem bigger and better than he really is, the delivery is such that the confrontation appears quite sophisticated.
In his 1925 review of The Great Gatsby, H.L. Mencken wrote that, “What gives the story distinction is something quite different from the management of the action or the handling of the characters; it is the charm and beauty of the writing.” Our lyrics tend to focus on the same few topics: wealth, social standing, lovers, history, and time. These topics could be discussed in fewer words, but their circuitous delivery allows for the audience to see the feud developing between Tom and Gatsby. The confrontation exposed in our rap battle does not significantly progress from one concept of a given topic to another, but it does give each character the opportunity to share his thoughts in a rhetorically vibrant manner. While their beliefs and thinking could be seen as “flat,” the way in which they express and carry themselves throughout the book is anything but. Rap is a means by which we can, in the words of H.L. Mencken, fill the writing with “charm and beauty.”
Several lines in the rap battle offer windows into the attitudes of not only Tom and Gatsby, but of their contemporaries and acquaintances as well. At the beginning of the exchange, Gatsby says, “Leave behind all your worries when the trumpets start.” When writing about the time period, F. Scott Fitzgerald dubbed the 1920s “The Jazz Age.” This is hardly a misnomer, for new forms of amusement arose, including dance halls and speakeasies. In a reaction to the horrors of WWI, many young Americans took it upon themselves to have fun -- and in the spirit of jazz, to improvise along the way. Gatsby’s parties are in part so popular because of the music that played in the background. Attendees to his festivities could be whisked away from everyday worries on clouds of explosive sound and color.
Although the atmosphere in West Egg is jovial and apparently carefree, the partying does come with consequences. Gatsby warns that he can, “Lighten your load / So long as you don’t drunk drive up and down my road,” a direct reference to Owl Eyes’ car crash that takes place on pages 53-55 of the novel. Contained within the gardens and home of Gatsby, the guests can be drunk and detached from reality, but as soon as they leave the emporium of libations and love, they may both literally and figuratively come crashing back down to earth.
One of the big issues that runs throughout the course of the novel, and, accordingly, throughout the rap battle, is the idea of new money versus old money. Gatsby brags that, “I’ve worked hard for my money and my standing / You’ve got assets ‘cause your daddy ain’t demanding.” Countering this, Tom asserts that, “When it comes to wealth I don’t think you have a clue / Your parties are big but your connections are few.” For Gatsby, being wealthy means being, “a self-made man in a self-made land.” He has worked hard for his money, albeit through illicit means, while Tom has inherited both his money and his resulting social status. But Tom sees this as a positive. Gatsby is a bootlegger and a scoundrel, and his money is dirty. Tom, on the other hand, is an East Egger, a man whose name and its prestige afford him the opportunity to mingle with the established rich. Tom proudly counters that his, “money is clean.”
Fitzgerald certainly devotes time throughout the novel to examining the “cleanliness” of the money each man possesses, and he also explores the concept of what it means for them to have clear minds. Gatsby believes that his thoughts are appropriate and socially-aware. Coming from West Egg and representing new money, he is surrounded by a diverse mix of people. On pages 61-63, Fitzgerald lists the names and occupations of some of the guests from both East and West Egg. Those from the East are likely Protestants, and they undeniably have family money. From the East come Eastern Europeans, Western Europeans, Jews, theater and entertainment folk. Gatsby takes a dig at Tom in the rap battle, when he exclaims, “You say you’ve got morals and knowledge and class / But what makes you better than a poor bloke or a lass?” For Gatsby, a clear mind means accepting the changing social scene of new wealth. But for Tom, having a clear mind means respecting the law -- and the supposed laws of nature. He believes, as he declares on page 13, that, “the white race…[is] the dominant race.”
The concept of a dominant race was beginning to be challenged in the 1920s. The Jazz Age is noted for being a time of changing attitudes. While many Americans enjoyed the prosperity that came with the Jazz Age, they were also afraid of its social consequences (more casual attitudes toward gender roles, sex, race, etc.). These changes were related to time. And time is one thing that both Tom and Gatsby felt quite strongly about.
For Gatsby, time is something that can be bent to fit the will of a man. This is unrealistic and negatively consequential, however. As Tom declares in the rap battle, “You ain’t got a future ‘cause you want the past / Hey Jay I think your dreams’l be slippin’ fast.” Tom recognizes that time is something that even rich men can’t control. At the end of the battle, he tells Gatsby that, “the current is stronger ‘cause your plans are failing.” This establishes a connection between time and the American Dream. Having a dream is fine, but unrelenting stubbornness to nostalgically repeat the past spells doom.
While lyrics give the genre of rap music its substance, the delivery of those lyrics adds to its charismatic and unique flare. During our rap battle, we witness two intelligent, analytical men building an argument around successive stanzas of music. Allowing one character to express all of his views on a certain topic, and then presenting the other with the chance for refutation is indeed a simple pathway for the debate, but during the battle, the characters hand off to each other, constantly exploiting weaknesses in the other’s lyrics. At the beginning of the music, Jay Gatsby is seen to take the upper hand and confront Tom immediately, directly expressing his distaste for Tom’s harsh criticism. However, once Gatsby summarizes his preliminary thoughts in the first few stanzas, Buchanan interrupts, both rebuking Gatsby’s attempts at argument as well as introducing new points for discussion. Characteristic of a classic rap battle, the constant switching between the two characters allows the audience to witness the clever weaving of rhetoric and dialogue that assumes center stage throughout the act.
Another particular aspect of our rap battle is the degrading grandiosity of the characters throughout the song. The rap begins slowly, with both Gatsby and Buchanan approaching their argument in a calm and restrained manner. This is paralleled in The Great Gatsby, as both characters do not immediately express their distaste for one another. In fact, many of their encounters are somewhat lifeless, lacking in substantial dialogue until the end of the story. Similar to how their relationship breaks down by the end, as Tom realizes the back door approach of Gatsby to Daisy, the rap battle increases in intensity toward the latter half. Gatsby is the first to increase the speed of his delivery and stand up to Tom Buchanan. While Tom also increases his pace as well as substitute restraint for frustration in his tone, he does not go as far as Gatsby does in his quest for the moral high-ground. On page 135, Tom exclaims, “Go on. He won’t annoy you. I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over.” To Gatsby, reliving the past with Daisy is just about the only thing he truly cares about, whereas for Tom, Gatsby’s endeavors are cunning, but negligible attempts to win back a lost prize. This attitude is reflected in the rap, as Tom gets angrier but does not show it, instead opting for a moral approach to the touchy situation Gatsby created.
The impressive blending of lyrics and delivery has always been a hallmark of rap music, and we believe that is evident in the exchange between Tom and Gatsby. By bringing extended meanings to their simple words, and mixing them with subtle emphasis and tone, Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan are able to lay out their thoughts in a creative way for the audience to interpret. In the earliest criticisms of The Great Gatsby, authors like Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, and T.S. Eliot all praised the work, stating that, “it would define a new modernity.” By using one of our current definitions of modernity, rap music, we are able to harness the power of Fitzgerald’s work for a newer world.
The video that we recorded for the rap battle is, of course, the primary means of providing a visual counterpart to the lyrics. In the video, we focus on four primary elements: setting, clothing, body language, and the physical exchanges between Tom and Gatsby. Each of these components is indicative of the attitudes that the characters have toward each other, about themselves, and about the world in which they live.
We begin the video in Tom’s living room, lavish, comfortable, and inexcessive. Described in the book, the Buchanan’s room was, “a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows… curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags.” This serene area is one we tried to replicate in our video. In addition, the space is shown to contrast heavily with the music and lyrics. Many of the lyrics carry frustrated and angry connotations, which don’t necessarily blend well with the plain nature of the room in which the rap battle occurs. Modern rap is also filled with numerous visual cues, such as synchronized dancing and props, but our space is mostly devoid of any garnishes, in an attempt to create a more realistic portrayal of the 1920s style of the Buchanan home. The words not only clash with each other -- they clash with the environment, embodying the challenge that Gatsby brings with him to Tom’s home.
While the way that a room is dressed carries significant weight, so too does the way that the characters are dressed. Tom wears a black and white tuxedo. This represents several things, including his inherited wealth, the “clean money” that he holds, and his strongly principled views about the world. For Tom, things are pretty black and white -- there is one class of people that is better than the rest, there is one way to “make” your money, and there is one way that a man should act if he wishes to win over a woman. Tuxedos are elegantly formal and were the choice of many wealthy Jazz Age men. A tuxedo respects the establishment without challenging it. In stark contrast to Tom, Gatsby is in a blue suit and a pink shirt. He is bold, eager to flaunt his new money, and he represents the epitome of a new class of more open minds (and open casks and kegs and bottles). The colorful attire gives Gatsby an extra way to stand out, and it is connected to an important passage in the novel. When Gatsby was giving Daisy (and Nick) a tour of his house, “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. … Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily” (92). For Gatsby, material wealth is just about second to none. Clothing is a great way to express that, and to capture the attention of a significant lover.
Body language is a more subtle portrait of a person’s overall mentality. The words that a character speaks are explicit reflections of the thoughts going through his or her head. The words that aren’t spoken, however, might sometimes be written clearly in a person’s eyes, lips, hands, etc. When we are introduced to Tom at the beginning of the novel, Fitzgerald tells us that he is, “a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward” (7). In the video, Tom is quite laidback and slow in his movements. He appears to act deliberately, considering his every move, so as to say, ‘I am such a grand physical force that if I move suddenly, I may disrupt the order that surrounds us.’ Throughout the exchange, Tom rarely moves in response to what Gatsby says; he only visually reacts when Gatsby challenges his wealth, his social standing, and “his” girl, Daisy. Tom does consistently lean forward when he is speaking, which serves as a clear reference to his arrogant manner.
Gatsby, on the other hand, is quite active throughout the rap battle. He uses his hands expressively while talking, and he more readily moves his arms or turns away when Tom challenges him on a given subject. When Gatsby picks Nick up for lunch, Nick describes Gatsby in this way; “He was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that it so peculiarly American--that comes, I suppose, with the absence of lifting work or rigid sitting in youth and, even more, with the formless grace of our nervous, sporadic games. This quality was continually breaking through his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness. He was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand” (64). Gatsby is eagerly pursuing his American Dream, Daisy, and more wealth, and these ambitions are made clear in his constant physical motion. He has neither the time nor the need to be as slow and graceful as Tom -- as old money -- because the spirit of change that has made him rich is one that demands ever more excitement.
There are three major physical exchanges that occur between Tom, Gatsby, and a chair. The first is when Gatsby pushes Tom, the second is when Tom pushes Gatsby, and the third is when Tom trips on his way out of the room. When Gatsby pushes Tom, he bounces back -- and Tom stands even taller. This conveys more than just the fact that Tom is a big man. Gatsby clearly sees himself as representative of a new era and class of wealth, but he can’t easily or briskly brush off the old money that is already established. When Tom pushes Gatsby, Gatsby goes flying, and we get the sense that Tom is invincible. He rids himself of the nuisance that is new money, returning order to a house built upon time and tradition. But upon exiting the room, he trips over his chair. We chose to have Tom trip, because it is an ironic gesture, and one that depicts his and Daisy’s eventual departure from New York. At the end of the story, Nick reports that, “I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all--Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life” (176). Tom and Daisy tried to supplant their old money in the area right outside the city that never sleeps. They neglected to fully adjust to a new age of liberal social attitudes and behaviors, and as a result they returned west, in a Manifest Destiny of sorts, to a more promised and fertile land. Tom trips over the chair because even the richest and most established Americans are not infallible. Certainly not when the context is around people more accepting of change.
Central to the rap, the subtle symbols hidden inside clothing, body language, and exchanges between characters point to the deep conflicts within The Great Gatsby. Just as the modern rappers of our era place extreme emphasis on the “cool” hats, shoes, glasses, and hand signals, our characters brought out their innermost feelings in the same manner. Fitzgerald wanted his novel to achieve a new definition of modern, and while it certainly accomplished that goal, supplanting it with our own modern take on music adds an extra charisma for today’s audiences.
