Review for "The Great Gatsby"

The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, F. Scott. First published in 1925 by Charles Scribner's Sons.

Summary
The Great Gatsby is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, the neighbor of the mysterious Jay Gatsby. Nick is the cousin of Daisy Buchanan, who is married is an old Yale schoolmate of Nick's named Tom. Tom and Daisy live across the bay from Nick in Long Island, New York. One night Gatsby invites Nick to his party and Nick runs into Daisy's friend that he met once named Jordan. To his surprise he finally meets the elusive Gatsby, who takes a keen interest in getting to know Nick. We find out that Gatsby knows Daisy and has been in love with her for years. Nick also spends time with Tom who he discovers is having an affair in the city with a married woman named Myrtle. Nick is slowly being drawn into the world of the rich and party lifestyle. He helps Gatsby to meet with Daisy and the two begin to reconnect with each other. This upsets Tom who is determined to prove that Gatsby is a fraud and from what Gatsby tells Nick, Tom is right. One day Tom insists that Daisy, Gatsby, Nick and Jordan all go into the city for the afternoon.

A confrontation between Tom and Gatsby occurs, both bidding for Daisy's love. Daisy tells Gatsby that she does love Tom and can't just leave him immediately. Upset, Gatsby and Daisy leave the city to head back to Long Island. On the way back Gatsby's car hit and kills Mrytle, and drives off. Following not long behind them is Tom, Nick and Jordan who see the accident on the road. Tom is sad to learn of his mistress' death, and implicates Gatsby in the crime. Later that night Nick runs into Gatsby who confesses that Daisy was driving when the car hit Mrytle. After that Daisy does not call Gatsby and while swimming in his pool at the end of summer, Mrytle's husband comes from behind to shoot and kill Gatsby. Nick is surprised to find that no one attends Gatsby's funeral. Disgusted by the behavior of these rich people including Daisy, Tom and Jordan, he decides to leave New York and move back to his hometown.


Analysis
Fitzgerald uses the time and setting of 1920's New York to explore the concept of the American dream and more importantly the disillusionment of the American dream. The setting of 1920's New York is a perfect backdrop for the characters and their story. During the 1920's lots of people like Gatsby were starting their own businesses and creating their own wealth outside of their family in big cities like New York. As a result of big industry prospering and the popularalirty of automobiles people started to live a new lifestyle. It's a great setting to show the various social classes and the party lifestyle that everyone was trying to live. As well as how money can change or influence a person and their values.

The more involved with this extravegent lifestyle, the more Nick discovers the immoral behavior of his friends and the carelessness that comes with the rich. Nick says that Gatsby "paid a high price for living too long with a dream." (Fitzgerald, P.161 pg.3). Gatsby was chasing a dream that has long past him by. As the story goes on, the tone of the wealthy is no longer seducing Nick, but he decides that it does not line up with his personal morals.

Gatsby represents "new money" and Daisy "old money". The book defintely explores the difference in societal classes. Tom is a man from old money who marry's Daisy who is also from old money. However, Tom has an affair with Myrtle Wilson who is married to a man that owns a garage and live a fairly poor lifestyle. Nick is from an old money family, but he himself does not have a lot of money and is trying to work his way up in business, like Gatsby did.There's very interesting relationships from each of the characters in regards to money. In the end Daisy decides to stay married to Tom despite both of their infidelities. In contrast, Nick decides to decline Jordan's offer to be together.

The book offers great symbolism, some that are subtle and some that are not. The green light at the end of the dock represents the hope that Gatsby has in his dream of being with Daisy. The Valley of the Ashes represent a space in which the rich have exploited resources thus creating a land of the poor. A land where the dreams of Americans are not being fulfilled. This space is where Mrytle and her husband literally and figuratively live in.

The starring eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg on a billboard over the Valley of Ashes is mentioed  several times throughout the book. The character of Mr. Wilson looks out at the eyes of and thinks that it is the eyes of God (Fitzgerald, Pp 159-160). While the eyes are merely a painting on a billboard they represent the idea of not being able to get away with immoral behavior because someone is always watching.

Thoughts
I first read The Great Gatsby in high school, and then saw the Leonardo DiCaprio movie a few years ago. Not really thinking highly of the book, or film I thought it only be fair that I give the book another read. When I had to pick two American books to read for a class, I immediately chose The Great Gatsby. As I began to read the book I was not impressed with the first chapter or so. But as a I read on, I found the story and mystery of Gatsby to be very compelling. I quickly realized that it's a book about the relationships of these people and their connection to money. Yes, there is a love story between Gatsby and Daisy which drives the plot of the story, but that is never really the message or focus that Fitzgerald is trying to tell. Fitzgerald does a great job at showing the different ways people try to achieve their dreams and how they can be corrupted by wealth.

The ending is a bit of a surprise but in terms of the character of Gatsby, his ending was a result of the lifestyle that he chose to live. There's a sense of irony to it, being that Gatsby did everything in order to win the love of Daisy, when in the end he losses her, and his own life. I feel there's also a moral lesson to be learned in that, we can't buy people's love, they have to love us for who we are, whether or not we have money. Daisy says she loves Gatsby, but was she ever interested in him as a poor farmer? And even with his new money, she still wasn't willing to leave Tom for him. So Gatsby changed himself for something he was never going to get. As a result it's his downfall. So for me  the message is be yourself and don't chase people that don't love you the way you are.

I started reading The Great Gatsby with one question in mind. Is this truly an American classic and why? After reading it and analyzing it I have reached the conclusion that, yes, this is an American classic piece of literature. It's because of the themes that Fitzgerald writes about and the personal relationships between the characters that make it a compelling story and interesting look at people of different social classes. This is a book that everyone should read, and most likely I will read again.


So that's it, I hope you all enjoyed my review. If anyone has any suggestions for stories then please leave your recommendations and general thoughts in the comment section below. You can find me on Twitter @BelleArboreus and on Instagram @Fantastic_literature

I have begun putting together a podcast for the blog, so be sure to look out for that soon. I will do an audio review of The Great Gatsby, pretty much everything that you have just read. The next story review will be for The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.