Tyson’s psychoanalytical reading of The Great Gatsby

Ellis Govoni

Christie Beveridge

Critical Theory

10/23/12

In Louis Tyson’s psychoanalytical reading of The Great Gatsby I agree with many of her points except with her point about fear of intimacy with the characters. The first character she dissects is Tom.  She says “…Dividing interest, time, and energy between two women protects him from real intimacy with either. Indeed, Tom’s relationships with women, including his wife, reveal his desire for ego gratification rather than for emotional intimacy.” My problem with this statement is simply the fact that in Tom’s case, it is not a fear of intimacy; it is the present and arguably dominating presents of excessiveness. In almost all aspects of his life from his house to the number of hoarse, he has too much; ergo he has and excessive personality. The second example, and a logical segway in here statement is the analysis of Daisy and her so called fear of intimacy, which I also disagree with. She uses in reference from the book to back her statement “I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for one minute she’d look around uneasy and say ‘Where’s Tom gone’ and were the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door.” This seems to be a clear indication that Daisy does not have a fear of intimacy. However in the following statement by Louis, she says that after Daisy tried to call of the wedding a day before it was to take place due to a letter she got from Gatsby. This to me is not a fear of intimacy; this is a very common occurrence before marriage called cold feet.

1)    When in reference to ego, how does an affair boost an ego?