The Great Gatsby is one of the finest literary works in American history, but your high school teachers probably never told you why. The book is fuckin' RedPill as it gets. About 5 months ago there was a post on this sub called "The Great Gatsby - A tale of ONEitis." There were two comments on that post which beautifully laid out the story from TRP perspective.

BurgundyCarpet's comment:

The Great Gatsby is TRP as fuck, but its TRP themes are slightly more subtle than you describe. Here's how:

Tom Buchanan is actually quite Alpha. He's a strong-ass dude (the narrator describes his body as "capable of enormous leverage" when they first meet), he's rich and connected as fuck, he's a former champion athlete, and he's hella preselected. He is essentially an Alpha Male, who has developed some Beta traits (like buying Daisy waayyy too much shit, buying hella shit for his mistress Myrtle, etc). But at his core – he's a born and bred alpha male, the product of "fine breeding" just like the horses he rides.

In contrast to this, Gatsby is essentially a Beta Male who has developed some Alpha traits – but they're not enough to compensate for his core of beta-ness. Fitzgerald writes that Gatsby's house is a "Parody of wealth", because Gatsby's whole personality is a parody of an Alpha male:

• He throws elaborate parties because he thinks that's what an Alpha would do, but he doesn't really know how to be social so he just walks around, an orbiter at his own parties.

• He buys tons of shit because he thinks that's what an Alpha would do, but he doesn't even particularly want or need the shit he buys: he doesn't even use his swimming pool the whole summer.

• He lifts and dresses well because he wants to be Alpha, but he still doesn't look like an Alpha because his wardrobe choices reveal his beta soul and lack of education – he is known for wearing ostentatious pink suits.

The Great Gatsby is one of the saddest fucking books ever. It's like a Red Pill greek tragedy. It's the story of a poor Midwestern farmboy with a burning desire to change his circumstances, so he learns game and undergoes what seems to be a radical TRP transformation, from poor drifter to wealthy bootlegger.

But Gatsby had one critical flaw, and Fitzgerald hits us over the head with it: He had NO inner game, only outer game. Gatsby thought that you could become a sexy Alpha male just by looking like a sexy Alpha male, but he never understood that Alpha-ness is a personality trait and a set of behaviors, not something that you can emulate just by wearing expensive clothing.

In the end, what killed Gatsby was his own beta-male core: He had oneitis, zero inner game, and zero frame control.

The Great Gatsby is a book about the importance of inner game. It's a book about the difficulties of rising above the circumstances you were born into: not just on the material plane, but the mental plane. Gatsby had all the material wealth he ever desired, but he was still poor on the inside because he could not overcome the scarcity mentality that he was exposed to while growing up. Fitzgerald even makes a point of saying as much: When Gatsby dies, an acquaintance of his remarks "Damn, the poor son of a bitch." This remark only makes sense if you interpret it metaphorically: Though Gatsby was wealthy on the surface, his mindset was still that of a poor man.

(This idea of a mentality being passed down from your parents, just like they pass down their genes for eye color or nose shape, is critical to the book. At one point when Daisy laughs, Gatsby remarks that her voice is "full of money" – by which he means, she is rich on the inside AND outside – she has an abundance mentality. That's what Gatsby was eternally questing after and could never achieve – an abundance mentality.)

Tom vs. Gatsby is a match between the natural-born Alpha (Tom) vs. the up-and-coming challenger (Gatsby). The book is sad because the up-and-coming challenger fails at his mission and then dies. Similarly, Fitzgerald died after believing that he had failed his mission to become a famous and well-respected writer.

Sad shit, bros. I'm playing "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey on my tiny lil' violin over here.

Side note: I'm an emotional nigga, so I cried at the end of Gatsby because to me it was a profoundly affecting story about the difficulties of being a man in the world. But I've never heard of a woman crying at the end of "Gatsby", and I think it's because they identify more with Daisy than with Gatsby. And The Great Gatsby from Daisy's perspective is just "I cheated on my husband with my ex-boyfriend, but he took me back. Cool! : )"

spikeminor's comment:

Great Gatsby is a very red pill book and you can find tons of theories mentioned in the side bar.

Hey, I don't think Tom Buchanan is the Beta bux here. Tom is the real alpha here, although he is really arrogant. Tom was a rugby player in his college years which he shows off in his trophy room. He is extremely wealthy and has a very high social status in the East Egg. The wealthy families resides in the East Egg and they are known as old rich because their wealth has been passed down from generations. So basically compared to West egg where newly rich people such as Gatsby resides, Tom has a higher social status. Gatsby has lower social proof and he can't possibly break the social disparity between old rich and new rich.

ABUNDANCE MENTALITY

Tom has mistresses besides Daisy due to his abundance mentality and he uses his mistress as a possession for showing off to his male friends. That's why he introduces Nick right away to his mistress. He knows he is rich and can get any woman.

Daisy suspects and knows that Tom has mistresses but she doesn't end the marriage because she would rather share a alpha than be with a beta.

Dark Triad

Tom can be considered Dark Triad. In many different instances he loses his frame and lashes out in anger while other times he keeps cool like a level headed Machiavellian. I think the reason he pulls Daisy is because of social proof again. She is his another trophy, another symbolic wealthy wife. Daisy running away with Gatsby would hurt his social status in his circle. On the part where Daisy is pressured to choose between Tom and Gatsby you see that Daisy can't make up her mind. Tom is extremely cool headed in this scene and kept his frame even allowing Daisy to go with Gatsby in his car. After all, he knew that she would return to him as he has planted all the seeds of doubts about Gatsby's status.

Beta Bux

Gatsby is the epitome of beta bux and has a severe case of oneitis. He is trying to relive the past. His goal in life is a woman which is the first mistake he makes. Everything he does in his life is for Daisy. He has no side chicks, plates nothing. He becomes too needy and clingy. Gatsby would be labeled a creep and a stalker if he had no wealth in his possession. He is used by Daisy for revenge against Tom's infidelity but given the choice to choose her hamster goes nuts.

Why does Jay Gatsby spend his entire life to obtain Daisy?

This ladies and gentlemen, lies in the past of Jay Gatsby. He comes from poor family with an abusive father. Basically his parents didn't give any shits about him. He felt unwanted and void, that's when Daisy came along and voila. She is his first. What he was not given from his parents he seeks and finds it in Daisy. This is why he has the severe case of Oneitis.

From TRP perspective don't use women or anyone as a tool to fix your emotional problems. Face your problems and fix it.

Alpha Traits of Jay Gatsby

He establishes social proof through hosting grandeur parties. Gatsby is a very motivated and passionate person. He begins his journey through self improvement. Although he doesn't take part in his hosted party, he does know how to socialize with the right people. His job also was landed to him by connections from his past.

Another important factor for his exponential social proof was his mysteriousness. Everyone found him mysterious because all the people who has never seen him in his parties would spread rumors about him. His intention of not attending his parties was to constrain his temptations and it made him more mysterious and desirable because everyone wanted to find out who Gatsby was.

Pussy Pass

Daisy kills Myrtle the mistress while riding her car because women can't drive car for shit. Gatsby takes the blame for it.(Seriously, how beta can one get?) She has no accountability and allows Gatsby to take the blame for her which ultimately gets him shot.

Briffault's Law/ Branch Swinging

The female, not the male, determines all the conditions of the animal family. Where the female can derive no benefit from association with the male, no such association takes place.

Daisy uses Gatsby as a tool to take revenge against Tom's infidelity. He is then disposed off. No future relation takes place. This is why Daisy doesn't attend Gatsby's funeral.

Myrtle the mistress is only using Tom to get into East Egg. She married Wilson under the impression that he was rich because she comes from an even poorer family. Ultimately, she is trying to get into wealthy lifestyle away from her husband Wilson, through the affair.

I basically hate all the characters in the book except for George Wilson, because he was caught up in the fire between all this bullshit, he was only an innocent scapegoat.

Fallacy of Social Proof

One must understand that Gatsby is non existent to everyone but one person. No one gave a shit about him, it was his parties only. No one wants to be like Gatsby, everyone one wants to be in his party because it would increase their social proof and hopefully allow them to meet someone that would take them to East egg life.

This is going to contradict what I mentioned about social connections. You simply can't rely on social connections only if you have no substance or value.That's why TRP is all about increasing values of one's self. Gatsby also always gives, gives and gives. He never asks anything in return from anyone.

This is why in his funeral almost no one showed up because no one knows him personally and he hasn't made the one to one connection with anyone.

tl;dr The Great Gatsby is a book that was written for men. It's essentially F. Scott Fitzgerald's attempt to warn us of the dangers of ONEitis, as well as the importance of developing an abundance mentality. This might be well-known knowledge on this sub, but Gatsby provides it with a level of depth it deserves. As we watch these themes play out in a man's life (even a fictional character), we are better equipped to internalize them as we grasp their full importance.

Special thank you to BurgundyCarpet and spikeminor for posting those comments on SouthwellR's OP.