III: The hopeful frauds

Central characters in these texts hold positions within society which are at best insecure and at worst illegitimate; their wealth and status are uncertain, tenuous, and shallow. This describes Jay Gatsby in the novel while Jeon Jae-jun fills this role in the series, The Glory. These characters aspire, often desperately, to achieve the security of ‘real’ money and prestige but both texts end with the ultimate and tragic failure of these aspirations. Gatsby and Jae-jun misjudge the efficacy of their personal charm and the depth of their influence; although generally scornful towards other women, their obsession with their beloved rules them and they are prepared to make significant sacrifices to protect these women. Despite all their efforts, their lack of ‘real’ class becomes apparent to others, including to their lovers who in turn reject them in favour of the established characters explored in the previous section. Both Gatsby and Jae-jun are in effect murdered by these rivals. There are, however, important differences in how readers and viewers are positioned to respond to these two characters. In The Great Gatsby, readers are encouraged to like Jay Gatsby, as does the narrator. In chapter 8 Nick Carraway says to Gatsby: “You’re worth the whole damn bunch [of the “rotten crowd”] put together” (p.146). Gatsby’s longing for Daisy Fay is presented as almost childlike and romantic; Nick describes it as “Gatsby’s wonder [and] dream” (p.171). In contrast, in The Glory, viewers are positioned to dislike Jeon Jae-jun; his desperate longing for Yeon-jin seems unfathomable, unhealthy and unjustified, while his demeaning and humiliating treatment of most other characters is foregrounded. Jae-jun is a bully who inherited his wealth through a happy accident of birth yet who is resentful that he does not have a position at the top of the socio-economic strata. Viewers are encouraged to disapprove of this character and want to see him punished; his leering at the breasts of the school-aged Dong-eun and his rape of So-hee are evidence of a selfish, violent, misogynist individual without redeeming qualities.

1. Veneer of class

Both Jeon Jae-jun and Jay Gatsby have a veneer of refinement. Outwardly they appear to be men with wealth and prestige. Gatsby’s mansion is “a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side” (p.11). It is here that Gatsby holds his weekly parties, with countless guests, free food and alcohol, and extraordinary entertainment. It may be expected at a formal function to have a string quartet playing in the background, but Nick notes that “By seven o’clock, the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums” (p.42). Nick is invited to his first party at his neighbour’s place in an ostentatiously ceremonial manner: “A chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer: the honour would be entirely Gatsby’s, it said, if I would attend his ‘little party’ that night” (p.43).  Jae-jun is the owner of a golf resort, as well as an upmarket boutique called Siesta. When his parents die and he gains his inheritance, Jae-jun expects to be even wealthier: as he explains in episode 2, “I have a lot of stuff to inherit”. His apartment is large and impressively decorated, featuring a huge sunken bath with views over the city. Jae-jun’s walk-in wardrobe is packed with designer clothes, and expensive watches and shoes (as seen in episode 9, when Myeong-o steals as much as he can). Jae-jun has several cars and at least two drivers. Neither Gatsby nor Jae-jun has a great deal of respect for any of the women they encounter. Apparently, Gatsby “knew women early, and since they spoiled him he became contemptuous of them, of young virgins because they were ignorant, of the others because they were hysterical about things which in his overwhelming self-absorption he took for granted” (p.95). In Episode 4, Jae-jun has a lover, Ha-na, in his apartment and shares a bath with her, yet clearly neither likes nor trusts her. When she suggests extending their relationship beyond the casual, he sneers that she is “not the sharpest tools in the shed, are you?”. When she unsuspectingly seems to mock his colour-blindness, he physically attacks her. Later viewers learn that Jae-jun has a history of violent misogyny; when, in episode 15, Jae-jun becomes increasingly concerned about the prospect of an autopsy on the body of So-hee, he asks what will be done with “the thing in her belly”. This is, in effect, a confession that he was the one who raped her when they were both in high school, not Myeong-o as Dong-eun suspected. Despite this general lack of regard when it comes to women, Gatsby and Jae-jun make a point of offering excessive and somewhat clumsy gifts to them, as if this largess reinforces their own wealth and prestige. In episode 4 Jae-jun offhandedly presents Ha-na with expensive handbags from his boutique.  Lucille, a guest at Gatsby’s party, mentions that “when I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and [Gatsby] asked me my name and address – inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown in it [worth] two hundred and sixty-five dollars” (p.45). When Gatsby arranges for flowers to be delivered to Nick’s humble cottage in preparation for a visit from Daisy, Nick describes this as “a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s” (p.81). Notwithstanding these extravagant gifts, for both Gatsby and Jae-jun this appearance of refinement is misleading; eventually this veneer of sophistication is removed or discarded. Scratch the surface of their elegant lives and an awkward and tasteless reality is revealed, as is the tenuousness of their positions in society. Gatsby is described as “an elegant young rough-neck… whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd” (p.49). His mansion, it is noted, is “spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy” (p.11). The books lining the walls of the “high Gothic library, panelled with carved English Oak” (p.46) are “absolutely real – have pages and everything” (p.47) but these pages have been left uncut and the books are therefore impossible to read. Jae-jun’s pet dog is called Louis XI, not in reference to a king of France but because his name is Louis and he is eleven years old (ep2). In episode 7 Jae-jun’s loss of temper in front of a shocked Ye-sol in response to an impatient motorist suggests a lack of control and therefore an absence of class. In episode 12 Jae-jun violently confronts a teacher, Mr Chu, who is suspected of talking inappropriate pictures of very young schoolgirls. Based on the information Jae-jun has received, the teacher is using the pretence of recording student achievement to disguise his pursuit of sexual images of his charges. Jae-jun’s reaction is extreme, unrestrained, and ferocious; he hits Mr Chu with the school camera, then proceeds to bash him bloody in front of horrified staff members and eventually a student. As his actions are inexplicable to the many witnesses, they seem irrational. Only to the viewer – and to Dong-eun, as well as the teacher who fed her the incriminating photos – do they have any justification. Jae-jun is behaving as if he is still a school student himself, this scene reminiscent of one shown very early in the series of him beating up a fellow student for making comments about his colour blindness. Despite Jae-jun’s reaction initially being understandable to the viewers, it is extreme: vicious, immature and counter-productive, putting Jae-jun in legal peril. The director’s decision to focus the camera on Ye-sol’s shock and horror at the behaviour of her ‘uncle’ foregrounds Jae-jun’s socially unacceptable violence and lack of refinement. Both Jae-jun and Gatsby use a veneer of refinement to cover significant personal flaws. Neither character responds well when faced with their wealthy and powerful rivals; their longing, envy and discomfort are all-too evident. Jae-jun seethes resentfully at the wedding ceremony of Yeon-jin to the wealthy Do-yeong (ep2). In Episode 3, viewers witness Jae-jun’s impotent fury at the lack of respect from Do-yeong’s mother when she visits his golf course. When Gatsby meets Tom, “a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby’s face” (p.72). The young Gatsby is very conscious of the “indiscernible barbed wire” of social distance between Daisy and himself when they first met (p.141). Even these two ‘aspirational’ characters recognize that they are outclassed by their rivals.

2. Blurred class distinctions

Jay Gatsby and Jeon Jae-jun often ignore social boundaries and do not value adhering to social norms, which results in a blurring of distinctions between the classes. Jae-jun’s boutique, Siesta, serves as a venue for rendezvous with his married mistress, Yeon-jin, as is seen in episode 2, and a source of props for Hye-jeong’s social media posts (ep 4). It is the public venue in which he and his lover indulge in their affair; the shop assistant outside must steer customers away from the fitting rooms, offering discounts and compliments as inducements. Likewise, Gatsby’s parties are also a front; the weekends of raucous anarchy serve only to induce Daisy Buchanan to join in, and are abandoned as soon as contact with Daisy is achieved. Both characters are careless with social interactions: one with lovers and the other with acquaintances. Jae-jun is promiscuous and viewers see him with a series of girlfriends, none of whom seems important to him. Gatsby’s parties are likewise unregulated – “lots of people come who haven’t been invited” (p.104) so Gatsby doesn’t know who he is allowing into his home. Both characters therefore are vulnerable to censure and gossip. Tom Buchanan compares himself to Gatsby by saying: “I know I’m not very popular. I don’t give big parties. I suppose you’ve got to make your house into a pigsty in order to have any friends” (p.124). A characteristic of these blurred boundaries is the fact that Jae-jun and to a degree Gatsby have clumsy and unclear relationships with their staff. Jae-jun’s treatment of one of his drivers, Myeong-o, is in turn bullyingly, scornful and violent. Myeong-o and Jae-jun went to high school together, so Myeong-o seems to sometimes act as if they are friends; in the second episode he strolls into Jae-jun’s bathroom while an undressed Jae-jun is putting in his contact lenses. Within a few minutes, though, Jae-jun repeatedly slaps Myeong-o for endangering his life by doing drugs while driving him around. Jae-jun asks: “You think your job is a game? And that I’m still your friend because I hang out with you?” (ep.2). Jae-jun also has a strangely informal and unprofessional relationship with his lawyer. In episode 7, the lawyer over the phone demands to know, “What kind of shit are you in this time? … Hey, are you stealing things now?”  Even face-to-face the man is impatient with and dismissive of his client. In episode 12, at the police station, Jae-jun argues openly with his lawyer and must be told repeatedly to shut up. In the later chapters of the novel, Nick learns that there are new staff at Gatsby’s place. He is barred from entering his neighbour’s mansion by “an unfamiliar butler with a villainous face” (p.108). When Nick asks Gatsby about these new employees, he is told that Gatsby doesn’t even really know them; he has taken them on as a favour to a business partner: “they’re some people Wolfshiem wanted to do something for [because Gatsby] wanted somebody who wouldn’t gossip” (p.109). Their ineffectiveness as ‘bosses’ is seen as a reflection of the fact that they do not belong in charge; their authority is not natural and does not sit easily on their shoulders. 

3. Misjudging their influence

One of the mistakes these characters make is misjudging both the efficacy of their personal charm and the depth of their social influence, especially considering their criminal tendencies. Gatsby may be able to avoid a speeding ticket because he “was able to do the commissioner a favour once” (p.67), but when he needs protection from investigating reporters looking for a story (chapter 6) or detectives arresting his accomplices in his bond swindles, his influence with the commissioner counts for nothing. This suggests that Tom Buchanan is correct when he sneers that Gatsby is, “Mr Nobody from Nowhere” (p.123). In episode 3 viewers see Jae-jun supposedly at work, strolling through the café of his golf resort. When he recognizes a female patron, he ostentatiously greets her in Spanish, announcing to the middle-aged woman, “You’re as beautiful as always”. This is the equivalent of Gatsby bestowing on his guests his “radiant and understanding smile” (p.147). In episode 9, Jae-jun makes a clumsy attempt to put his rival, Do-yeong, onto the police radar, by linking the richer man with the missing Myeong-o during his interview with Detective Choi. This ploy is ineffective and childish. In episode 14 when his lawyer points out that an autopsy on the body of So-hee is inevitable, Jae-jun is frustrated, fearing the revelation of not only the girl’s pregnancy but through DNA his identity as the rapist. He asks if the police would insist, “even if a third-generation [chaebol] opposes it?”  His lawyer quickly dismisses his influence and says ‘Yes’. 

4. Acting illegally

Both Gatsby and Jae-jun act illegally for their own gain. They cheat, scam and steal. Throughout the novel, references are made to constant and mysterious phone calls that Gatsby must deal with (pp. 49, 54, 70, 90-91, 102, 158); the suggestion is that these calls are part of the machinations behind the various scams that Gatsby is involved in. His working relationship with Mr Wolfshiem (p.68) seems linked with criminal behaviour. Gatsby offers Nick an opportunity to benefit from these schemes, saying, “you might pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be a rather confidential sort of thing” (p.80). In episode 9 of The Glory Jae-jun is blackmailed with documents that are a “record of your embezzlement. That account book … shows where that money went instead of that golf course in the Philippines”. It is not only Jeon Jae-jun, however, who commits crimes of dishonesty in The Glory; other characters who also aspire to wealth and power do so. In episode 3, viewers learn that the flight attendant Choi Hye-jeong is paying Myeong-o to investigate a man who is pursuing her, to see if he is as wealthy as he has claimed; it soon becomes clear that she plans to marry into and for money. In episode 3 Lee Sa-ra discusses the use of tax breaks in her sales of art, in essence using tax loopholes for the rich to subsidize her drug habit and fund her luxurious lifestyle. It is Son Myeong-o who sends those documents to Jae-jun in episode 9 in an unsuccessful attempt to blackmail his former boss. Such acts of dishonesty and links with other criminals makes these characters – and in particular Gatsby and Jae-jun – vulnerable to exposure in the media and to the criminal justice system.

5. Their adored lovers

Although generally misogynistic, these two characters have as their ‘north star’ their obsessive love for two tantalizingly close but ultimately unobtainable women. Their affections are unhealthy and, in the end, not reciprocated. In episode 2, after viewers see Jae-jun and Yeon-jin having sex in the fitting room at Siesta, the name of Jae-jun’s boutique is explained by Yeon-jin: he called it that because “You like doing it with me during the day.” In that same episode, she makes it clear that although she is willing to indulge in this extra-marital affair, she will not tolerate him marrying “because I don’t like to share with other women”. This Jae-jun accepts without argument; although he has a series of lovers, there is never any talk of marriage until very late in the narrative after Yeon-jin has made her rejection of him clear. Jae-jun’s expression of pain and repressed fury during Yeon-jin’s triumphant wedding ceremony in episode 2 reveals his attachment to her. In episode 9 viewers – and the appalled Do-yeong – focus on the enormous quantity of Siesta merchandise Jae-jun has gifted Yeon-jin over the years of their relationship, the camera slowly scanning the shelves full of handbags and the rows of bright blue bags emblazoned with the name of the boutique. When, in episode 15, Jae-jun learns that Yeon-jin’s marriage is over, he quickly ends his relationship with Hye-jeong to pursue Yeon-jin once more. Early in the novel, readers learn that in a years-long effort to reconnect with her, Gatsby “bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (p.76). According to Jordan Baker, in chapter 4, “he’s read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name” (p.77). When they finally meeting again, the impact on Gatsby is obvious: “He literally glowed” (p.86) and “he was consumed with wonder at her presence” (p.89). Nick observes that, when showing Daisy around his house in Chapter 5, Gatsby “hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” (p.88). Despite the desperate strength of their affections, both Gatsby and Jae-jun spend most of the texts impotently unwilling to declare themselves, instead waiting in the wings, as it were, hoping to be chosen over the more wealthy and powerful husbands. This suggests a lack of social confidence, evident when Gatsby asks Nick, “what’s your opinion of me, anyhow?” (p.63). Readers and viewers may ask themselves if Gatsby and Jae-jun already know that they will not be chosen by their lovers, and thus hesitate, through cowardice and fear, to force the issue.

6. The daughters…

Interestingly, neither of these characters appreciate or even seem to comprehend the significance of their beloveds’ daughters. Jae-jun’s reaction to finding out that he is Ye-sol’s biological father is to pride himself on her prettiness (ep 6). In episode 7 it is clear Jae-jun sees Ye-sol only as a useful tool he can use to force Yeon-jin to end her marriage and finally to choose him. By episode 15 Jae-jun does so openly, using as his ally Yeon-jin’s mother-in-law who confronts the young mother: “Mr Jeon said that Ye-sol isn’t Do-yeong’s kid.” In the climactic seventh chapter of the novel, Gatsby is finally introduced to Daisy’s daughter, Pamela. It is obvious he does not know how to react: “he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don’t think he had ever really believed in its existence before” (p.111). These daughters represent and reinforce the connections Yeon-jin and Daisy have with their respective husbands, and as such are barriers neither Jae-jun nor Gatsby know how to circumvent. 

7. Love their murderers

These two characters are fully aware of the crimes committed by the objects of their obsessive love, and far from judging them, Jae-jun and Gatsby in fact empathize with these ‘murderers’. Jae-jun thinks that witnessing the worst of Yeon-jin’s behaviour and yet remaining attached to her is proof of the strength of his affection: “I know [all the evil you’ve done], but I’ve always been there, right next to you. That’s love” (ep.8). He ignores the plights of Yoon So-hee and Son Myeong-o, instead all his sympathy is with the one responsible for their deaths. Gatsby, in explaining Myrtle’s death to Nick, sympathetically notes that, “when we left New York [Daisy] was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive” (p.137).  When the desperate Myrtle runs out onto the road, “first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. … I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t” (p.137). Again, the sympathy is saved for the object of his adoration, and none is left for her victim. Once these crimes are committed and exposed, both men are prepared to make significant sacrifices to protect their loved ones. In episode 9 it is revealed that Jae-jun offered Yeon-jin an alibi in 2004 to clear her of any blame regarding So-hee’s death, claiming that he and Yeon-jin were in fact together at the time, watching ‘naughty’ films. At the beginning of episode 14, when the murder of Myeong-o is revealed and Yeon-jin is once again implicated, she appeals to Jae-jun for the same sort of help he gave her 18 years earlier. When Yeon-jin pleads with him to help her and their daughter, Ye-sol, he readily agrees, saying, “We must have been very naughty that day too. Right?” Later in that same episode, when talking to her husband, Jae-jun explains: “A long time ago I gave Yeon-jin an alibi. Apparently, a girl she was with on a roof top had died. But guess what? Someone she was with on October 19^th died, again. What shall we do now? Are you going to do it this time? Give Yeon-jin her alibi?” Jae-jun does not hesitate to place himself in some legal peril to protect Yeon-jin, regardless of her guilt. Gatsby, too, is prepared to take full responsibility for the death of Myrtle Wilson to ensure that Daisy is protected from the consequences for her reckless driving. At the end of chapter 7, when Nick accurately guesses that Daisy was the driver of the yellow car at the time of the hit-and-run, Gatsby says, “but of course I’ll say I was” (p.137). 

8. Rejected by lovers

Despite the extravagant gifts, adoration and loyalty both Gatsby and Jae-jun offer Daisy and Yeon-jin respectively, they are ultimately rejected by their lovers, who both turn to their wealthier and more powerful husbands. Daisy is described as “appalled by [Gatsby’s life in] West Egg… by its raw vigour” (p.103). Gatsby perceptively notes that “she didn’t like it… She didn’t have a good time” (p.105) when she finally attends a party at his mansion. When he forces a confrontation with Tom over Daisy’s affection, Gatsby sheds his civilised veneer: “He looked…as if he had ‘killed a man’” (p.128). He quickly loses the upper hand and reacts emotionally: “he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself” (p.128). The Baz Luhrmann production of The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo di Caprio, brilliantly focuses on this revelation of Gatsby’s true character, with him losing his temper then desperately but unsuccessfully trying to regain both his own control and Daisy’s affection. It is not until episode 8 of The Glory that Jae-jun declares his love for Yeon-jin, finally encouraging her to leave Do-yeong and instead choose him. Her response is rejection; she seems surprised to realize that she does, in fact, love her husband. In episode 15 Jae-jun attempts to force his lover’s hand and use Yeon-jin’s mother-in-law to pressure her into choosing him; once again she refuses, demanding, “Have you lost your mind?… You crazy arsehole!”. 

9. Murdered by rivals

Rejected, both men are ultimately killed at the hands of the husbands of their lovers in surprise attacks at the end of the stories. In the final episode of The Glory, viewers witness Jae-jun’s murder; blinded by a vengeful Hye-jeong tampering with his medication, he pathetically complains to the unseen person pursuing him, “My eyes really hurt right now. I think I need to see a doctor.” Clearly, he has no appreciation of the danger he faces. A blinded Jae-jun doesn’t even know who is pursuing him in the darkened construction site. He is then pushed off a high ledge and falls into wet concrete, into which he sinks and disappears. At the end of chapter 8 of The Great Gatsby, an armed George Wilson is out for vengeance for his dead wife. It is during the “three hours he disappeared from view” (p.152-153) that George confronts Tom Buchanan, who then directs him to target Gatsby: “By half-past two he was in West Egg, where he asked someone the way to Gatsby’s house. So by that time he knew Gatsby’s name” (p.153). The unsuspecting Gatsby is floating in his swimming pool, waiting for a phone call from Daisy that never comes, when George Wilson, “that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees” (p.154), finds him and shoots him. Despite the many parallels between the murders of Jay Gatsby and Jeon Jae-jun, the invited readings of these deaths are very different. Viewers are encouraged to be unsympathetic at the plight of Jae-jun; his surprise at the attack reveals his ignorance and stupidity. His murder is framed as a necessary step to protect the interests of a young, defenceless girl. The shooting of Gatsby is represented as a tragic mistake, contrived by a manipulative liar to suit his own purposes. Gatsby’s lack of defences are indicative of an unsuspecting innocence and naivety, thus more a reason for admiration than censure.