Connecting "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" to "The Great Gatsby" Queer Lens

It is brought up in the queer lens literary criticism of The Great Gatsby, that the sexual ambiguity of the novel and homosexual aspects of some characters are caused by Fitzgerald's interest in homosexuality. The point is raised that Nick Carraway is gay, which leads to the emphasis on many other characters' homosexual qualities, through the eyes of Nick. This literary criticism suggests that Fitzgerald makes Nick gay, or seem to be gay, to reflect himself and his own homosexual identity, similar to how Nick describes other characters to have homosexual qualities, to reflect himself. Although it is still uncertain whether Fitzgerald was gay or not, he demonstrates a clear interest in homosexuality throughout his literary work. In his short story, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz", he does not necessarily portray any of the characters as gay, but there are a few quotes that contribute to the queer lens perspective.

This story is told by a third person omniscient narrator, whose identity we are unsure of. Therefore, we know that Fitzgerald is not trying to portray any of the characters as gay; however, there are some remarks that may suggest that Fitzgerald was gay, or at least had an interest in homosexuality. The first example is when he describes Percy as "a quiet, handsome boy,"(Fitzgerald 2). Another quote is also about Percy, he is described as "gorgeous in white kid knickerbockers, smoking in an easy chair," (Fitzgerald 7). These quotes most likely reflect Fitzgerald's view on these characters and how he wanted to portray them. Although these quotes are brief and almost insignificant to the plot and understanding of this short story, they provide support to the literary criticism of The Great Gatsby and one of the claims made by the author.