The Great Gatsby: Review - Book Report/Review Example

The Great Gatsby Order No. 254863 No. of pages: 6 Premium 6530 “The Great Gatsby” a wonderful novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s defines the American scene of 1920’s popularly known as “the Jazz Age”. It is a rather short but very captivating novel, the incidents of which occur on Long Island. It is an emphatic, symbolic, thought provoking look at America in the 1920’s which is considered to be one of the finest novels of the 20th century. This era was one of unprecedented affluence and material prosperity but tainted by moral and ethical bankruptcy. Fitzgerald has etched out the greed, cynicism, and the immoral mindless pursuit of pleasure in this scintillating and iconic novel. “The Great Gatsby” is a striking and masterful commentary on the lives of Americans, with special focus of those living on the East Coast. It is an insightful and unbiased depiction of the clash between “old money” depicted through Tom and Daisy Buchanan and the debasing and vulgar display of sheer richness or wealth by “new money” as specified by Jay Gatsby. The wide chasm or yawning gap that lay across the two classes is vividly depicted even at their locations. The two locations spoken of here are the East Egg area, dotted with elegant mansions, which is the cradle to old money, while the West Egg boasts of opulent, garish houses, populated by the newly rich. Separating the two different worlds is the valley of ashes, representing the divide between the two moneyed classes, an abyss which was impossible to bridge. All of Fitzgerald’s characters are what makes this novel stand out as a masterpiece of fiction, because it mirrored the attitudes that were so very prevalent in the society of the day. Jay Gatsby is the typical prototype of the 1920’s self-made American, through whom we come to understand about the metamorphosis of a simple and ordinary Mid-west young lad into one of the most sophisticated and legendary celebrities, who becomes the talk and the very heart of New York society. Gatsby procured both an aura of power and mystery achieved through the technique of delayed character revelation which lends a theatrical quality to the man, which was very much in keeping with his persona of the kind of person who lives life as if it were a dramatic event and as one who has created his own self "out of his own Platonic self-conception." But behind this queer veneer of flamboyance lurks a very sensitive man who is madly and deeply in love with Daisy, that he succumbs to having criminal dealings to accumulate more wealth, just to impress his dear love Daisy. His love for her is so vast and deep that he even takes upon himself the blame of the murder that was committed, in order to safeguard and protect her. Gatsby’s true loyalty to his lover Daisy is sufficient proof enough to show that in spite of his display of sophistication, he still retains the moral values of his long past humble upbringing. Daisy Buchanan, the wife of Tom Buchanan, is the perfect blend of beauty, grace, charm, and sophistication, but these great values are marred or boycotted by her fickle and sardonic demeanor. She is a woman not in love with love but in love with money, luxury and affluence. Although we see fleeting glimpses of her true love for Gatsby, it is not one that is substantial or sustained with emotion. This poor attitude of hers is time and again reinforced, when without a conscience, she allows Gatsby to accept and take the blame for killing Myrtle. Her ruthless selfishness is evidence enough to prove this sordid point, when she and her husband move to a faraway house with the sole notion of avoiding Gatsby’s funeral. Daisy is a perfect portrayal of the old money quality, where good taste and elegance are given more prominence and importance than the noble qualities of the heart. Nick Caraway is the linking thread that binds the different characters in the novel. He is none other than Gatsby’s neighbor, who also happened to be Daisy’s cousin, who negotiates between the two lovers and helps Gatsby to court Daisy and re-kindle his affair with her. Nick is also the narrator in this dramatic novel and is cast perfectly in the die of this role, because of his inherent sober, reflective nature. The novel can be read as a personal memoir of Nick and all his interesting experiences in New York during the summer of 1922. One such experience of Nick was when he recollected an incident between his father and himself and the snobbish and uncaring way they treated each other. This statement clearly brings out the image of “self” which reflects his morals and upbringing, when he states, - “I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.” (Nick, chap.1) Most of the rich and affluent people placed a lot of value and respect on the wealth people possessed and treated each other according to how wealthy they were. Snobbishness, greed and envy were some of the bad traits found among this group of people. For example, Nick was indeed quite envious of the dashing Jay Gatsby and never failed to make a dig at him or pass snide remarks about him. One such remark that he passed about Gatsby was, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God "a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that "and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (Nick, chap. 6) All the characters in this novel “The Great Gatsby, seem to confide in Nick since he is an avid listener and can keep anything secret, and we come to know of this when he speaks about himself, saying “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known" (64). Even though Nick is a secondary character in this novel, it is his personal observations and comments about all the other characters that moulds and shapes the audiences view of them. He can be compared to the fly on the wall, a part of the scene, but not too seriously or actively involved in it. Nick’s dialogues, which serve as interior monologues, especially in the chapters I and IX casts light on the American dream and the subsequent disintegration of the dream. In passing his comments on the image of “self” among Americans he says, Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry. (Nick, chap. 5) “The Great Gatsby” retains the lofty position of pre -eminence in American literature, for its deep insights into the hankering after the great American dream and the ultimate futility of this disillusioned pursuit. The novel examines and constantly reinstates the misplaced priorities of a generation of Americans but also paves the way to fulfillment through the character of Nick who gives up the long sought after material pleasures of the city for a simple and humble life in his own native town. From the onset of this gripping novel, Nick always showed that he disliked Gatsby. This disgust and hatred towards him was very well kept under wraps because of his unassuming demeanor. Some of the sore points he had against Gatsby was that he was handsome, affluent and moved with all the people of high circles. The core of the sore point was Gatsby’s love Daisy whom he secretly held an affinity for.. Though Nick was instrumental in helping their love to blossom, he held a lot of grudge and resentment in his heart because of this. But when he sees Gatsby so disillusioned and depressed, his heart goes out to him and Nick admits that it was the only compliment he ever gave him – he shouts these words to Gatsby across the lawn as he takes a slow walk to scrutinize the house which was once his home, saying- "Theyre a rotten crowd, "Youre worth the whole damn bunch put together." (Nick, chap.8) As he stood in front of the place he knew and loved so well, Gatsby realizes what a heavy price he paid by hankering after things that were so unreal in a realistic world. He had lost the warmth and love of a simple but endearing world and traded it for something so false such as wealthy, fame and fortune. The grotesque picture of his present life began fading slowly into the distance with all it pain, deceit and hatred. He longed to get rid of that fake image of “self” that he had spent all his life in building up and knew that it no longer held any charm. He yearned for the comfort of a happy simple life that seemed to be eluding him time and again. Finally, when Nick hears of Gatsby’s death, he refuses to attend his funeral because he felt it too hard to forgive him. But on second thoughts he realizes that whatever confusion had taken place because of him, he was justified in doing what he did. He came to terms with the fact that wealthy people have very carefree attitudes and don’t place value on the correct things in life – hence, they mess things up and always expect other people to clean up the mess they had made. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his own inimitable style of writing had carved out the true picture of the world as it is today. Most people are able to identify with the character of Gatsby who was affluent, handsome and had everything he ever wanted- but only thing they were all fake because they were materialistic and not sincere or true. He chased a false dream all his life and ended up a disillusioned person without achieving anything finally. The other strong point in Scot Fitzgerald’s work was in making use of his characters to flit between the chasm that separates the East from the West. Gatsby, Tom, Jordon, Daisy and Nick were all Westerners and could not fit in or adapt to Eastern life. He made his point loud and clear by passing on a strong message to his audience that is is much better to live a easy, straight and simple life filled with the truth than becoming disillusioned in a world that was so unreal, false and very, very cruel. REFERENCES: Free Book Summary Leading Business texts summarized www.getabstract.com The Great Gatsby US History Encyclopedia: SparkNotes: The Great Gatsby http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/ Read More