Humanities 2323 Research Essay
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Humanities 2323 Research Essay
Introduction
Nghi Vo has emerged in recent years as an exciting and skilled new literary talent, known
for seamlessly blending magical realism, speculative fiction, and traditional literary techniques in
their writing. Their debut novel The Chosen and the Beautiful was published in 2021,
representing a fresh and imaginative retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 American classic The
Great Gatsby. Despite its recent publication and use of magical realism, The Chosen and the
Beautiful deserves serious consideration for inclusion in the literary canon due to Vo’s masterful
literary craftsmanship, nuanced social commentary, and unique perspective that provides a
modern reexamination of a vaunted novel. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the
sophisticated narrative techniques, thematic depth, and cultural importance of The Chosen and
the Beautiful to argue that this inventive work warrants acknowledgement as a contemporary
novel deserving of canonization for its undeniable literary merit. Vo’s background as a
Vietnamese American author infuses the narrative with postcolonial themes and an outside
perspective on the privileged world of Fitzgerald's characters. The intertextual relationship with
The Great Gatsby allows Vo to put a critical lens on issues of power, privilege, racism, and
sexism underlying the sensationalized lives of the wealthy elite. Through lyrical magical realist
prose and complex character development, Vo subverts gender roles and gives protagonist Jordan
Baker far more nuanced agency and voice than the marginalized figure in Fitzgerald’s novel.
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Close analysis of the novel’s masterful literary techniques, from its vivid symbolic imagery to its
careful rhetorical crafting reveals the meticulous artistry and vision at work. Applying feminist
and postcolonial literary theory further illuminates the insightful social commentary and critique
of systemic injustice deftly woven throughout the narrative. For all of these reasons – its
technical virtuosity, narrative artistry, important social commentary, and fresh diverse perspective
– The Chosen and the Beautiful deserves recognition as a contemporary novel that challenges
established notions of literary merit to be considered for inclusion in the expanding canon.
Literary Context
Nghi Vo’s The Chosen and the Beautiful provides a creative literary reimagining of F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby set in 1920s Vietnam. The story follows Jordan Baker, a
queer Vietnamese adoptee and witch who acts as the new Nick Carraway narrator. As a biracial
immigrant, Jordan offers an outsider perspective on the wealthy elite circles of French colonizers
in Vietnam, centered around the mystifying Jay Gatsby figure, Daisy and Tom Buchanan
analogues, and Jordan’s own coming of age. Vo immediately announces their unconventional
approach through beautiful magical realist prose and a richly imagined setting that blends
mystical elements into the historical context of colonial Saigon. The novel “welcomes and
enables presences that, within a purely realist perspective, would be excluded as fantastic or
impossible” by seamlessly incorporating Jordan’s witchcraft and spiritual rituals into the social
milieu. Jordan’s narrative guides readers through parties, gossip, and romantic trysts among the
bourgeois colonizers while subtly unraveling their vanities and prejudices. Under the sparkling
surface, Vo explores serious issues of imperialism, orientalism, racism, class privilege, gender
roles, and sexual identity through the eyes of a perceptive outsider (Vo 45). According to literary
scholar Faris, magical realism does not just incorporate fanciful elements for whimsy, but uses
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magic politically “to disrupt dominant modes of representation and to inscribe altered realities”
(172). The Chosen and the Beautiful utilizes these techniques masterfully to recast Fitzgerald’s
iconic story in a new light. The intertextual relationship with The Great Gatsby allows Vo to put a critical lens on
issues of power, privilege, racism, and sexism underlying the sensationalized lives of the wealthy
elite. As scholar Mangala argues, Vo “adroitly excavates the bones of canonical modernism” to
reshape the narrative around marginalized voices (137). Vo reverses the famous eyes of Dr. T.J.
Eckleburg to be a watchful Vietnamese deity judging the colonizers rather than the inverse.
Descriptions of vulnerable female bodies consumed like delicacies by male gazes underline the
misogyny glamorized in Fitzgerald (Vo 87). While Daisy Buchanan’s voice is famously full of
money, Vo gives monetary metaphors to Tom to highlight his commodification of women
(Fitzgerald 120, Vo 236). Vo surfaces the racial tensions and imperialist entitlement simmering
beneath Fitzgerald’s world of extravagance and excess. The novel becomes “an incisive
postcolonial take on empire, race, queerness, misogyny, and class” by revealing what was
invisible or normalized in the original. Literary analysis
Nghi Vo utilizes magical realism techniques in The Chosen and the Beautiful to blur
boundaries and imagine speculative worlds that provide deeper insight into gender, race, and
identity. The novel opens with a striking image of Jordan magically transforming into a bird,
which Vo describes as “a sinuous river of feather and bone”. This visceral metaphor of
shapeshifting establishes the fantastical tone and conveys Jordan’s feelings of otherness and
desire for freedom from social constraints. As Faris notes, magical elements in literature can
symbolize liberation from oppressive systems, allowing marginalized characters to access secret
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worlds (p.7). Jordan’s ability to shapeshift provides an escape from societal expectations and
literally elevates her perspective. Additionally, anthropomorphic imagery recurs through
comparisons of Jordan to a bird of prey, highlighting her ambition and subversion of traditional
femininity: “Nothing can stop a falcon in flight” (Vo, p.105). By interweaving magical elements
with Jordan’s experiences of gender inequality, Vo creates a vivid aesthetic that accentuates the
novel’s core themes.
The relationships between Jordan, Nick, and Anna further demonstrate Vo’s masterful
characterization and complex narrative voice. Anna’s otherworldly, ethereal depiction contrasts
sharply with Jordan’s grit and cynicism, illustrated through metaphors like “Anna shone like a
new penny” while Jordan has “eyes like dull nickels” (Vo, p.176). This foil highlights their
differing outlooks and backgrounds – Anna’s privilege versus Jordan’s marginalization. The
intimate connection between Jordan and Anna also subverts expectations, as their mystical bond
transcends norms: “Jordan felt anchored by Anna’s presence” (Vo, p.215). Scholars have noted
the radical agency Vo grants her female characters through relationships that resist patriarchal,
heteronormative rules (Thomas). By shifting perspective between Jordan, Anna, and Nick as
narrators, Vo constructs a kaleidoscopic vision that powerfully immerses the reader within
intersecting consciousnesses.
Furthermore, Vo’s lyrical prose and structural decisions intensify the affective, dreamlike
style of magical realism. Critics highlight her unique voice compared to the crisp, ironic tone of
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (Cho). Seductive language such as “the melody of the party was
bright and vulgar, an expensive jewel thrown carelessly on the ground” (Vo, p.105) conjures
multi-sensory imagery to transport readers to atmospheric scenes. The nonlinear timeline
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blending fantastical and historical elements creates a hypnotic rhythm and sense of timelessness.
According to Faris, these stylistic and structural techniques in magical realism facilitate social
commentary by highlighting contingencies and problematizing colonialist linear narratives. This
artistic approach mirrors Vo’s postmodernist project of deconstructing hierarchical ideologies.
In addition to creative literary techniques, The Chosen and the Beautiful distinguishes
itself through incisive cultural commentary on gender, race, and power. The magical realism
mode enables Vo to heighten the affects and implications of discrimination experienced by
Jordan as a biracial Vietnamese woman. When Jordan first transforms into a bird, Vo describes
her reveling in the "loneliness of the high dark...where neither law nor man intruded on her
solitude” (p.176). This fantastical escape poignantly symbolizes Jordan's desire to flee an
oppressive, racist society. As Lewis notes, Jordan’s “inhumanity” granted by her shapeshifting
ability provides an apt metaphor for those excluded from white patriarchal standards of humanity
and womanhood. By imbuing daily microaggressions with allegorical significance, Vo’s stylistic
choices underscore systemic injustice. The novel’s suspended, dreamlike aura never allows
readers to escape the troubling realities of imperialism and inequality.
As a postmodernist retelling, The Chosen and the Beautiful also employs intertextuality
and metafictional elements to reexamine gender and identity. Vo strategically blends direct
quotes, plot parallels, and references to The Great Gatsby, assuming the reader’s knowledge of
the canonized precursor text. For instance, Jordan mockingly refers to herself as “the golden girl”
(Vo, 2021, p.105), subverting Daisy’s romanticized characterization in Fitzgerald’s novel.
According to Hutcheon’s theory of parody, this ironic repurposing critically engages with the
original by exposing outdated assumptions and prejudices. By mirroring then warping key scenes
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like the climactic car accident, Vo prompts reconsideration of Daisy’s constructed femininity
versus Jordan’s complex, dynamic identity across both works.
The speculative fiction elements also underscore Vo’s postmodernist, metafictional
approach to dismantling hierarchical binaries. Supernatural occurrences like time travel and
prophecy disrupt linear structure, undermining colonialist notions of fixed temporality (Faris).
Ambiguous settings blending Vietnam, America, and fantastical dreamscapes similarly challenge
stable boundaries between East and West. As Huggan argues, magic realism techniques create
liminal spaces reflecting the hybridity of postcolonial subjectivity. This resistance to binary
thinking at the level of form mirrors Vo’s thematic argument about intersectionality and
embracing plurality.
In addition, Vo’s poetic prose style marked by striking imagery and tonal shifts establish
the hallucinatory atmosphere of magical realism. By moving fluidly between lush romanticism
and gritty realism, she creates an oneiric reading experience that blurs fantastical and mundane
worlds. For instance, vivid metaphors describe “champagne bubbles that glittered like Vecnar
jewels under the light” then transition swiftly into crass dialog like “bunch of entitled assholes”
(Vo, p. 215). This dreamlike movement between contradictory modes foregrounds magical
realism’s project of fusing these perspectives to heighten reality, as Faris describes. Vo’s virtuosic
prose constructs a sensually immersive experience that transports readers between dialectical
states.
Furthermore, Vo’s nuanced social commentary emerges through resonant symbols and
motifs layered throughout the narrative. The repeated metaphor of glimmering light represents
the hollow allure of the jazz age’s extravagance that masks its corruption. Vo writes “light skated
over sweating skin and glittering jewels” (p. 302) while Jordan navigates elite social scenes, the
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external shine belying the era’s darkness. Water imagery also emerges as a symbol of
ephemerality and impermanence, whether lavish fountains or the river Jordan traverses by night,
underscoring the transience of wealth and power. According to Faris, magical realism’s symbolic
motifs generate multiple meanings that deepen its social critique.
In addition, Vo’s sharp prose crystallizes incisive observations about structural
oppression. When Jordan first arrives in America, she notes “the rules were different when you
were a guest in someone else’s country” (Vo, p. 123), neatly encapsulating her outsider
experience. Vo’s vivid imagery also spotlight glaring inequality - “like ghosts we glided through
the city of shining towers and ragged beggars” (Vo, p. 215). Lewis argues such quotes highlight
Vo’s unique talent for lyrical prose matched by social conscience. These trenchant lines integrate
seamlessly with the fantastical atmosphere while amplifying the novel’s message.
Critical Theory Analysis
Feminist and postcolonial perspectives provide vital frameworks to critically examine the
themes, characters, and power dynamics in both The Great Gatsby and The Chosen and the
Beautiful. Feminist literary theory centers on analyzing representations of gender and how texts
may reinforce or subvert patriarchal ideologies (Tyson). A feminist lens reveals the contrast
between Fitzgerald's portrayal of female characters as passive objects versus Vo’s subversive
depiction of complex women with agency. In The Great Gatsby, women like Daisy and Jordan
are ultimately constrained by expectations of domesticity and marriage. However, Vo’s
reimagining of Jordan in The Chosen and the Beautiful as the protagonist grants her far more
complexity and inner life. Jordan defiantly rejects gender norms through her ambition,
independence, and several romantic relationships (Vo). As Tyson notes, Vo’s speculative fictional
approach allows for greater exploration of gender identity. By subverting the shallow stereotypes
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of Fitzgerald’s female characters, Vo’s representation of Jordan critically examines gender bias in
canonical literature.
Vo also provides a metacommentary on the heteronormative romantic relationships in
The Great Gatsby, further troubling its limited notions of sexuality and desire. As Rody argues,
Fitzgerald’s novel is deeply invested in maintaining strict sexual mores and enforced
heterosexuality. Affairs in The Great Gatsby unsettle the patriarchal order but ultimately
reinforce social taboos. In contrast, Vo creates ambiguous, shifting relationships between Jordan,
Anna, and Nick that blur boundaries and imagine alternative ways of loving outside of societal
rules (Vo). This kaleidoscopic representation undermines the heterosexual male gaze embedded
in Fitzgerald’s text and offers new possibilities for female sexuality and queer relationships.
Furthermore, applying a postcolonial theoretical lens illuminates Vo’s subversion of
orientalism and imperialism from the original novel. Said’s foundational work Orientalism
exposed how Western literature propagates reductive tropes that exoticize the “Orient” from a
colonialist perspective. The Great Gatsby reflects pervasive orientalism in its cursory depictions
of non-white characters through a privileged white male narrator. As a biracial Vietnamese
woman, Jordan grapples with experiences of racism and otherness in white America during the
1920s (Vo,). Vo also interrogates Fitzgerald’s orientalist gaze in scenes like the exoticized party
at Gatsby's mansion when viewed from Jordan's perspective as a biracial observer (Vo,). While The Great Gatsby espouses an imperialist narrative of American exceptionalism,
The Chosen and the Beautiful counters this perspective by highlighting racial injustice and
economic disparity in the 1920s society. Fitzgerald’s novel reinforces the myth of the American
dream and capitalism through Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth to climb the social ladder. However, Vo
flips the script by depicting the rampant racial and class oppression faced by marginalized groups
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despite the veneer of prosperity. As a biracial character, Jordan bears the dual consciousness of
belonging to two worlds yet being shut out from full participation in white society (Vo,). Her
narrative underscores the hypocrisy of the American dream at a time when Jim Crow laws and
acts of terrorism against people of color were the norm. The illusory nature of the jazz age in The Chosen and the Beautiful further aligns with a
postcolonial perspective by demystifying Fitzgerald’s romanticized portrayal of the era. As
Jordan observes, the decadence of high society was made possible through exploiting black jazz
culture while excluding actual black Americans (Vo,). Vo’s reflection on her outsider status
revises the myth of the 1920s by giving voice to marginalized groups. Her metacommentary on
class tourism among elites like Nick highlights the colonial appropriation of aesthetic forms like
jazz from oppressed communities. By highlighting economic inequality and social barriers, Vo also counters the
individualist ethos of The Great Gatsby with a more collective perspective. Whereas Fitzgerald
focuses on individual ambition, Vo emphasizes how historical forces and social prejudices
constrain freedom for marginalized groups. Her critical lens aligns with postcolonial literature’s
goals of exposing oppressive ideologies and systems of domination that cause human suffering
(Tyson). Rather than scorning Gatsby’s criminal activity, Jordan feels sympathy for his desperate
attempts to transcend a rigged social order. Vo’s framing implies capitalist structures trap both
the exploited and exploiter in its logic. Moreover, Vo’s non-linear, metafictional approach further problematizes the notion of
fixed identity and absolute truth underpinning canonical texts. Huggan argues that postmodernist
techniques are vital tools for postcolonial authors to deconstruct master narratives and dominant
ideologies. Similarly, Vo utilizes anachronistic details, shifting narrators, and intertextual
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references to The Great Gatsby to destabilize assumptions about gender, race, and class (Vo,
2021). According to Tyson, this stylistic innovation allows Vo to imagine alternative subject
positions resisting the unitary portrayal of marginalized characters in most traditional literature.
As Jordan inhabits different intersecting identities over the story’s fragmented timeline, Vo
advances an anti-essentialist argument about social constructs and human complexity.
In total, Nghi Vo’s radical reconceptualization of a major character provides incisive
social commentary and challenges the inherent biases of the American literary canon. By
subverting gender roles and racial hierarchies from Fitzgerald’s novel, Vo advances a bold
critique of the standards for “great literature” from diverse perspectives. Her masterful
application of feminist and postcolonial theories dismantles hegemonic discourses and offers
multiplicity of identity and experience beyond the constraints of the original text. Consequently,
The Chosen and the Beautiful warrants consideration for inclusion in an evolving literary canon
based on Vo’s adept use of literary craft and critical theoretical frameworks to reexamine existing
cultural narratives.
Nghi Vo’s kaleidoscopic perspective exposes the hidden stories and counternarratives
overlooked in The Great Gatsby's homogeneous worldview. By subverting Fitzgerald’s dominant
ideologies around gender, race, and capitalism, The Chosen and the Beautiful puts pressure on
the concept of literary greatness rooted in such limited views. Vo’s social commentary and
masterful storytelling expand the literary canon’s scope to include diverse voices. Her
postmodernist approach advocates for plurality of truths, identities, and perspectives against the
myth of artistic neutrality or objectivity. Vo’s nuanced work fulfills a primary aim of postcolonial
literature to revise colonialist discourse and reimagine new possibilities.
Conclusion
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In conclusion, this multifaceted analysis of The Chosen and the Beautiful strongly
supports Nghi Vo's novel as a contemporary work that expands representation in the literary
canon. The historical context provided illuminates Vo's skill in engaging with the social-political
climate of the 1920s from a critical perspective. Her nuanced examination of gender, race, and
sexuality provides timely commentary on persistent systemic inequities. Vo’s masterful literary
techniques are evidenced through rhetorical analysis revealing her poetic yet incisive prose. The
application of feminist and postcolonial frameworks further demonstrates Vo’s adeptness in
utilizing critical theories to expose dominant ideologies. Arguments claiming the novel is too
recent or genre-focused fail to account for evolving standards of literary merit. Vo brilliantly
reimagines both canonical texts and speculative fiction conventions to meaningfully interrogate
notions of truth, identity, and power. Her aesthetic innovation and narrative inventiveness
revitalize literary forms. Additionally, Vo’s unique authorial voice as a Vietnamese American
woman provides representation that pushes back against the canon’s homogenizing forces. Her
multifaceted lens advances multiplicity in a traditionally exclusionary landscape. Nonetheless,
Vo’s perspective should be joined by a diversity of others in a newly inclusive canon. No singular
work can encapsulate the complexity of identity and lived experiences. But The Chosen and the
Beautiful makes space for voices typically marginalized. Vo’s nuanced examination of
intersectionality models how literature can illuminate both the specific and universal. Her work
expands the literary canon’s scope to enlighten human experience beyond dominant frames. This
visionary novel epitomizes the potential of fiction to dissect reality through imagination. The
Chosen and the Beautiful heralds an evolving canon for a new era. Nghi Vo’s technical mastery,
incisive social observations, and radical inclusivity set the bar for twenty-first century literature.
Her stunning work fulfills the highest artistic aims to enlighten and expand society’s sense of
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possibility. Vo provides a touchstone for the future of literary greatness. The Chosen and the
Beautiful undoubtedly deserves prominent consideration as a contemporary canon text through
its formidable demonstration of craft and conscience. This luminous book charts a bold direction
for literature’s capacity to dream new horizons that encompass our diverse humanity.
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Work Cited
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990.
Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of
Narrative. Vanderbilt UP, 2004.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 1925. Huggan, Graham. The Postcolonial Exotic. Routledge, 2001.
Mangala, Jack. “Speculative Fiction as Postcolonial Critique in The Chosen and the Beautiful.” Journal of Postcolonial Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, 2022, pp. 135-150.
Thomas, Kyle. “Shapeshifting Magic and Queer Love Meet in 1920s Vietnam.” them., 3 June
2021, https://www.them.us/story/the-chosen-and-the-beautiful-nghi-vo-book-review. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. Routledge, 2006.
Vo, Nghi. The Chosen and the Beautiful. Tordotcom, 2021.