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BSD + Tumblr [4/?]

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BSD Ch.45 “Fix-it, Master Craft” Analysis of references to The Great Gatsby

As someone who has read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby for a literature class, Chapter 45 of the manga is one of my favorites, as it’s full of references to the themes and symbols of the book. An unrelated fun fact I’d like to share as well is that the real life Fitzgerald dedicated The Great Gatsby to his wife, whose name was indeed Zelda! 

Spoiler Alert! This post talks about events and characters in both Chapter 45 of the BSD Manga, and the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Firstly, let’s do a quick summary of the events of Chapter 45, which picks up right after the conclusion of Chapter 44, where Alcott has reunited with Fitzgerald, and has volunteered to help him rebuild his fortune so that he can ultimately acquire The Book. 

Following the strategy Alcott devises, Fitzgerald approaches Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, an engineer who works for a security company, who has been accused of murdering a coworker while under the influence of alcohol. Ironically, he was caught by the security system that he himself had engineered, dubbed the Eyes of God. Fitzgerald interrupts T.J. Eckleburg’s suicide attempt, and offers to acquit him, regardless of whether or not he is actually guilty.

credit by dazaiscans

Next, Fitzgerald approaches the CEO of the security company, named Tom Buchanan, and makes the same offer. However, Buchanan refuses. Meanwhile, Ranpo exposes Buchanan as the true culprit of the murder. Fast forward to T.J. Eckleburg’s trial, Fitzgerald confronts Buchanan with this information, and asks for money in exchange for his silence on the matter. Unsurprisingly, Buchanan agrees, and the two have a little villain solidarity moment together.

However! Fitzgerald bursts into the courtroom with both the signed check from Buchanan, and a recording of their conversation. He then reveals that his true plan involved complicated machinations with stocks and the jury, which TL;DR ultimately Fitzgerald ended up as the owner of the security company, and with the Eyes of God in his possession. Bonus! T.J. Eckleburg’s innocence is proven as well, and he now works at Fitzgerald’s security company. 

Dr. T.J. Eckleburg and the Eyes of God

In The Great Gatsby, the name Dr. T.J. Eckleburg was indeed mentioned, however, he (or rather, it) was not a human being, but a billboard advertisement. A really creepy billboard, in fact, depicting one pair of eyes smack dab in the center. Throughout the book, various characters talk about how T.J. Eckleburg watches them, particularly when they’re doing something unethical. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg is symbolic of the literal eyes of god in The Great Gatsby. 

In Bungou Stray Dogs, this is cleverly referenced in how T.J. Eckleburg is a real person, who invented a security system called the Eyes of God. Moreover, the concept that the Eyes of God is infallible or omnipotent—this is also something that subtly references the symbolism in The Great Gatsby. 

Tom Buchanan is a Horrible Person

You may be wondering why so many characters in this chapter have western names, despite being located in Japan. This applies to Tom Buchanan too, who also is named after someone from The Great Gatsby. I don’t actually have much to say here, Tom is a horrible guy in both Bungou Stray Dogs and Fitzgerald’s writing, arguably the least sympathetic asshole in the book, which is a pretty high bar to clear, because everyone in The Great Gatsby is a horrible person in some way or form. Which brings us to our next point:

Morality vs. Money

One of the recurring motifs in The Great Gatsby is that pretty much everyone is selfish, conniving, and has probably committed a crime at some point. Especially for the sake of climbing into a higher social class by using a method to unlawfully get rich somehow. This motif is also applied briefly to Chapter 45, where we see Fitzgerald flaunting his incredibly garbage morals at everyone!

It’s good to know he’s self aware! We see a lot of petty crime and corruption going on in this chapter, from pretty much everyone! Fitzgerald running around and tricking people into giving him money and assets. Alcott’s objectively underhanded and dishonest method of procuring Ranpo’s help. Tom Buchanan commiting a murder and framing his subordinate. The Jury almost giving T.J. Eckleburg a guilty sentence despite his innocence. 

Ultimately, T.J. Eckleburg echoes a parallel to a sentiment that was prominent throughout The Great Gatsby. 

In the end, one of the major takeaways from The Great Gatsby was how the rigid classism and unfairness of society works. According to the “American Dream”, hard work and perseverance is rewarded. Fitzgerald challenges this belief, writing a story that ended with three of the lower class characters dead, and the characters who were of elite status got off (more or less) scott free.

However, it should be noted that Chapter 45 ends on a much more positive note. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg is proven innocent, Tom Buchanan ends up on the streets, and Fitzgerald emerges from the entire ordeal richer and more powerful, while retaining his newfound shopping sense. This could be Asagiri’s way of showing how Fitzgerald has changed as a character—a direct contradiction to the final line and takeaway of The Great Gatsby:

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

The events of Chapter 45 reflect the themes and symbols in The Great Gatsby, (while also using names and epithets from the book as well) with the sole exception of the concept that people are unchanging, which Asagiri cleverly contradicts through both Fitzgerald’s own character arc moving forward, and concluding the chapter on a positive note for the protagonists.