What Role Does the Book “The Rise of the Colored Empires” Play in The Great Gatsby?

The Role of “The Rise of the Colored Empires” in The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s reference to the fictional book The Rise of the Colored Empires serves as a crucial narrative device that highlights the racial prejudices of Tom Buchanan and reflects the broader racial anxieties of 1920s America. Through this reference, Fitzgerald not only critiques white supremacist ideologies but also underscores the moral and intellectual shortcomings of his characters, particularly Tom.

Characterization of Tom Buchanan: A Reflection of Racial Anxiety

Tom Buchanan, a wealthy and entitled character, frequently asserts his belief in racial superiority. Early in the novel, he references The Rise of the Colored Empires, exclaiming:

“It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.”

This statement reflects his fear of societal change and aligns with the pseudo-scientific racism that was prevalent in early 20th-century America. Literary scholars, such as Sarah Churchwell in Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby, argue that Tom’s invocation of racial theories serves as a deliberate contrast to Gatsby’s idealism, reinforcing the novel’s critique of inherited privilege and reactionary ideologies.

Historical Context: The Influence of Eugenics and Racial Pseudoscience

Fitzgerald’s fictional book draws clear parallels to Lothrop Stoddard’s The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy (1920), a real-life work that propagated fears of non-white populations overtaking Western civilization. Stoddard was a Harvard-educated eugenicist whose writings influenced immigration policies, such as the Immigration Act of 1924, which restricted non-European immigration to the U.S.

Scholar Thomas J. Hegler (Journal of American Studies) notes that Fitzgerald satirizes these racial ideologies through Tom, presenting him as both intellectually insecure and morally bankrupt. Unlike Gatsby, who is defined by ambition and reinvention, Tom clings to outdated and exclusionary ideas, fearing the loss of his social dominance.

1920s Societal Attitudes and Fitzgerald’s Critique

During the 1920s, America saw a resurgence of nativist and eugenicist movements, as well as the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and restrictive immigration laws. By embedding The Rise of the Colored Empires in his novel, Fitzgerald subtly critiques these regressive ideologies.

Critic Maureen Corrigan, in So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, argues that Fitzgerald presents Tom as a relic of the past, clinging to racist fears while Gatsby represents a forward-looking vision of the American Dream—one ultimately crushed by the entrenched power of figures like Tom.

Conclusion: A Literary Mirror to Racial Supremacy

Through The Rise of the Colored Empires, Fitzgerald offers more than just an insight into Tom Buchanan’s beliefs—he holds a mirror to 1920s American society, exposing the persistence of racial hierarchies masked by pseudo-science. By satirizing supremacist ideologies, Fitzgerald critiques the moral decay lurking beneath the wealth and glamour of the Jazz Age, making The Great Gatsby not just a novel of romance and ambition, but also a sharp social commentary on race and power.