Be Careful What You Wish For

“A self-made man means one who has rendered himself accomplished, eminent, rich, or great by his own unaided efforts.”

—John Frost, Self-Made Men of America (1848)

When we think of self made man, we think of the astronomically rich robber barons of the gilded age and the characters in Horatio Alger’s books; however, Fitzgerald uses the discourse of the self-made man in The Great Gatsby and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz to show that self-made men often do not completely fulfill all of their dreams even with their opulence and power.

First of all, I don’t really believe in such a thing as a “self-made man.” All of the successful people that embody the idea of the self-made man, at one point, needed help from another person which could’ve greatly impacted their career. We often hear the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” The contributions from family, friends, and others played a major role in the success of those “self-made men.” Anyways, the use of the self-made man teaches many morals to the American audience.

Jay Gatsby and Braddock Washington are both rags-to-riches success stories that gained excess wealth that symbolized that of the Jazz Age. The former worked harder and, at first, had pure intentions to rightfully gain what he wanted, although the latter selfishly used his wealth and even killed people to protect his affluence. At one point, both men were corrupted by their wealth and desired more than they initially wanted. Even the title The Great Gatsby itself is a sarcastic statement of Gatsby and his “success.” Fitzgerald shows that these self-made men tragically died unhappy even though they were extremely rich; money doesn’t buy happiness.

I vaguely remember a story that I read when I was in 3^rd or 4^th grade about a man who got three wishes from a dragon, and he wished for wealth, a beautiful wife, and immortality but his greed and corruption resulted in him losing everything. The dragon comes back and tells him that he should have been wise and less greedy and instead wished for intelligence, honesty, and a good personality so that he could’ve achieved what he wanted without greed and corruption. Indeed, I either read very bizarre stories back then or I watched too much Dragon Ball Z, but this story shows that—like the stories of Gatsby and Washington—greed and corruption will leave you unhappy forever.

The discourse of the self-made man in the early 1920s gave Americans hope and motivation to strive towards a better life and achieve the American Dream, but in The Great Gatsby, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, and many others of Fitzgerald's stories, Fitzgerald depicts the inevitable greed and corruption that is hidden in human nature itself and the dangers it holds for those who selfishly gain money.