The Great Gatsby
My View of The Great Gatsby
Nick Carraway graduates from Yale, fights in World War 1 and afterwards returns back home to start a career. He decides to move to New York to learn more and to meet people who can help him with the business. So he rents a house in West Egg, Long Island. His cousin Daisy lives in a more fashionable East Egg together with her husband Tom. They invite Nick to dinner where he meets a young woman Jordan Baker, whom Daisy wants Nick to date. Daisy, who is still very beautiful and charming woman, now has a small child. Her husband Tom, being quite a rude man, still considers himself an intellectual. During the dinner the phone rings and when Tom and Daisy leave the room, Jordan tells Nick, the caller is Tom’s lover. And that turns to be true. He has a mistress, Myrtle Wilson who actually has a husband, George Wilson. In some time Tom takes Nick to meet the Wilsons. Several weeks later nick is invited to one of Gatsby’s parties. He goes there together with Jordan, hoping to meet Gatsby. Finally he notices him and sees he does not drink much or join the rest of the party. But he joins Nick and tells him his personal story: he is a rich guy, from a noble family, from San Francisco and he graduated from Oxford. Nick sees that Gatsby is a very influential man, he has many rich friends, a good job, he is always busy. In some time we also get to know that five years ago Gatsby fell in love with Daisy but being a very poor guy he could not provide her with the life she deserved. So Daisy left him and since that time his life aim was to earn money and show Daisy what he can. That is why now he always arranges pompous parties in order to impress Daisy. But after having talked to her he realizes that they will never love each other like they used to. In the last chapters the author describes the most nightmarish events that actually help him to focus on the main ideas and show the moral of the story. After a party Daisy and Gatsby go back home by car and Myrtle accidentally runs out into the street, believing that it is Tom who is coming by in his car, so the yellow car hits and kills the woman before speeding off. Gatsby assures Daisy, he will say that he was the driver and so he killed Myrtle. And now Tom hates Gatsby even more. Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, is sure that Myrtle’s death was not accidental. So he goes around town inquiring about the yellow Rolls-Royce. While Gatsby is relaxing in his pool, Wilson shoots and kills him before killing himself. Nick struggles to arrange the funeral but he find very few people who actually want to attend. And only Gatsby’s father is full of respect for his son. While reading the book we can’t but always have different opinions towards Gatsby’s personality and his deeds. At the very beginning of the story we get just a little information about his life and it all is represented as a gossip. Some time later we realize that Gatsby is not a bad guy, he is very educated and he gained full of respect. In some time Tom accuses him of bootlegging and some other illegal activities. But it is clear that Gatsby was struggling for Daisy’s love so he was ready to do everything just to get money and win the woman back. He always tries to present himself as a noble, clever and successful man but in fact that is a person who he really is. He is uncertain of his future with Daisy but it does not stop him so he agrees to take the blame for Myrtle’s death. I think this deed characterizes him as a man of high moral principles, sincerity and devotion. And I can’t but agree with Nick who is sure that Gatsby is worth "the whole damn bunch put together”, meaning that no mistake that Gatsby has ever made can worsen our attitude towards great Gatsby.
(By Luck)
When Dreams Come
True…
"The Great Gatsby”
by F. S. Fitzgerald turns out to be one of the most profound investigations of
the depths of human desires and cravings. It focuses on revealing the real
nature and on the disillusionment of the main character. The reader is
presented with the detailed description of the main character’s (Jay Gatsby)
backgrounds and the ways he exploited to reach his state of well-being.
At the age of 17
he invented a new personality for himself and resolved to follow it to the end.
His dream was to win the heart of the lovely girl, Daisy, who conquered his
thoughts and her image directed all his efforts. He made up a new name – he
became Jay Gatsby out of a poor officer James Gatz. On one hand, his desire to
become rich was propelled by the wish to forget his own poverty; on the other
hand, he wanted to touch the green light – Daisy.
To become wealthy
was his only lofty aim. But the means to reaching this aim was fallacious. He
had sold alcohol illegally and had been engaged in trading in stolen
securities. He built a gaudy mansion where the opulent parties took place very
night. His greatness was a mere shrouding cloth that hid his inner essence.
Gatsby’s house is
a strong descriptive detail which enables the reader to sense the atmosphere
and the dreams of the character. At night it was full of unfamiliar guests,
wanton women, prim men and impudent loafers. During the day it was quiet and
still; only the wind pierced the rooms producing a chilling impression upon a
random visitor. Jay Gatsby pretended to look great and popular; but in fact he
was lonely like no one in the book.
Gatsby was almost
lurid in his persistence to win Daisy back. Their resurgent love inspired him
with hope that the impossible was at arm’s length. He was absolutely blind with
love and didn’t notice the shallowness and rapacious nature of his beloved.
Throughout the
pages of the book Gatsby is on the edge of attaining what he wanted – Daisy was
again in love with him and they were planning to claim it to her husband Tom.
When the two lovers were driving home from New York, Daisy showed herself as a reckless
driver and ran down her husband’s mistress, Mrs. Wilson. But the criminals
drove away. The death nearly made Mr. Wilson insane and he decided to find the
murderer of his wife. He found out the car belonged to Gatsby and shot him down.
Daisy and her husband left the city without leaving an address. Nick Carraway,
the narrator of the story, was the only person who went to the funeral. He was
also the only one to realize that the tenacity of Gatsby’s dreams was ruined in
a moment.
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic
future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no
matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. … And one
fine morning --”
(by MissJane)
The Great Gatsby – a Lover,
a Dreamer, a Seeker
In the
world where people were struggling for a prosperous life and successful
well-being there was a man who was looking for a dream. Not the American dream,
notorious and tempting, but his own dream.
In the
world where people were seduced by money and riches there was a man allured by
a woman.
In the
world where material possessions substituted moral values there was a Man with
Green Light in his Eyes, full of Hope and Love.
The
Great Gatsby is a strange man. You'll never be able to understand him
completely unless you read the book to the very end. At the very beginning of
the first chapter the author describes J. Gatsby as a typical
representative of the capitalistic American society, but then, throughout the
story his opinion is changing but not due to the development of the main
character. Gatsby stays the same. We just learn him better.
Gatsby
is not a typical representative of the society, he is completely different.
Though he managed to become rich and prosperous, he always regarded his money
as a means to get closer to his dream, not as the only aim. He moved to West
Egg just in order to be closer to a woman he loved: "Gatsby bought that
house so that Daisy would be just across the bay”. Everything he did was
devoted to her. Gatsby is a symbol of permanent hope and light of love that
never fades away.
Besides
for numerous symbols colour structure also plays an important role in the
novel. At the very beginning of the story the leading colour is yellow: "Every
Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer
in New York – every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back
door in the pyramid of pulpless halves”, "The light grow brighter as the earth
lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow
cocktail music”, "...and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses”. His car is also yellow. "It was a yellow car, <…> big yellow car. New.” Yellow
symbolises the continuous partying and revelry that are indispensable parts of
Gatsby's parties. It can stand for Gatsby's richness, wealth and money, it can
also symbolise the light his life is full of.
Another
colour present in the story when describing Mr. Gatsby is pink. "His gorgeous pink rag of a suit made a
bright spot of color against the white steps.” And this is of course a
metonymy. Gatsby’s pink rag of a suit stands for Gatsby himself. Gatsby is like
a bright spot of colour against the colourless life that surrounds him. "White”
means no colour. So, the society in which Gatsby lives is just a crowd, a crew,
a herd of people that do not have their own life position. Of people who are
just a mass rather than individuals. They exist. And Gatsby wants to live.
That is
why when Mr. Gatsby is dead dark colours prevail. ”…he began to pull so incessantly at his sparse gray beard that I had difficulty in getting off his coat”.
Gray is a dark colour, but it is soft. But it is just a hint at the emotional
background. After Gatsby’s death nearly all colours disappear. The story
becomes a plain sequence of events. The author uses less stylistic devices. The
tone becomes monotonous. And that all show us that without Gatsby life is a
boring thing.
The main
idea of the story is contained in the last lines. "Gatsby believed in the green
light, the orgiastic future that year by years recedes before us. It eluded
us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our
arms father. … And one fine morning –
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne
back ceaselessly into the past”.
(By Rina & Asya) My view of "The Great Gatsby"For me the most interesting line of the story was the development of Gatsby and Daisy affair. From the very beginning we understand that they have no hope for happiness. When Gatsby is introduced to Tom, the latter doesn’t like Gatsby from the very beginning. And from this moment the tension is growing. Here the author insert a small passage concerning Gatsby’s life, we learn that he is from a very poor family, achieved everything himself and his only aim of life was to be with Daisy, his only love and wish. The climax of the story is the party in New York where Gatsby, Tom, Daisy and Nick take part. So when they go there Tom takes Gatsby’s car, and calls the garage on his way to refuel. The garage is situated in the house where his lover and her husband George Wilson live. And after their way back home Daisy and Gatsby drive this car and strike Myrtle Wilson. George Wilson thinks that it is Tom’s car, but Tom says that it belongs to Gatsby. So George Wilson goes to Gatsby’s house kills Gatsby and himself. Jay Gatsby is a very unusual person. He was a usual boy from a very poor family, but he wanted to escape, and he did it. When he was an officer, he met a girl Daisy and fall in love with her, he understood that he had nothing to offer her, and she had no time to wait, but the hope still lived in his heart. Daisy got married to Tom, but Gatsby had no intention to yield, he moves to a new house only to see her house, he arranged parties and waited for her coming, he gather news about her, so she lived her life. They couldn’t be together, but I think Gatsby died thinking of her and imagining her swimming with him. In this way his melody stops Daisy isn’t described as a positive character. First of all she is a social being more than a human one. She promised to wait for Gatsby’s coming from the war, but she found a better match and forgot her promises. It is difficult to judge her behavior, maybe Gatsby didn’t show that his intentions were serious, or Daisy didn’t love him, or Tom was really a good guy, but she preferred Tom. Here the very moment was also of vital importance. After a couple of years living together Daisy and Tom faced problems that every family faces, it is natural. And in this period Gatsby appears. Maybe it is just a coincidence and Daisy had no love towards Gatsby. The tragedy is not over. In spite of the fact that so many people took part in Gatsby’s parties no one wants to come to his funeral. So Great Gatsby was left alone in his grave only with his nostalgia and hopes. (by Ayayulia)
American dream: material prosperity or love and hope
As it is said all American dreams have nothing to do
with moral development. Americans want to get, to consume, to buy, and to
increase their prosperity. The Jay Gatsby is a typical representative of the American
society. His life is an everlasting pleasure. He has a lot of parties for his
friends.
Gatsby has actually
achieved the great American dream to become rich. His life is more than
physical satisfaction, but still there is one point I should mention. Gatsby is
in love with Daisy. So he is able to feel and ready for the moral development.
We can also say that
Gatsby another side of the American dream. It’s said that during the party
Gatsby is just standing apart from his guests. He seems to be a lonely man. I mean
that inside all this richness there is a futility, moral futility.
"…Gatsby possessed an extraordinary
gift for hope, a romantic readiness". This quotation also proves that Gatsby is
not so materialistic. His lover Daisy married another man. Some time passed,
but Gatsby still loves her. He saves his feelings. That means that all this
time he has had a hope for meeting Daisy one day.
So we can understand
that trying to achieve material prosperity we lose moral values. Gatsby is rich,
but his richness is not in his material prosperity. It is in his love and hope.
(by Seagull)
The main idea which goes
through the first chapters is about reaching the American dream – earning much
money and living in prosperity. It is said in the book that there were many new
rich people who wanted to get incorporated into the society of old aristocrats,
though those new rich were in a way despised by Fitzgerald because the only
feature of the upper class they had were money and success. They didn’t possess
that level of personal culture as the old upper class had. This is actually well
depicted in the scene of a party where Nick, the narrator, underlines a
noticeable difference between those from the West Egg and those from the East
Egg.
Gatsby
goes out of his way to show that he is not worse than those who inhabit East
Egg. Now, to be sure, five months at Oxford do not make an Oxford man, nor does
a chestful of medals prove that a man is valorous. But Gatsby, with naïve
innocence, believes they do. And what is ultimately important is not that he
has gained these symbols of accomplishment - the medals, the pictures, the
house, etc. What is important is Gatsby’s belief, his dream.
In
these chapters Gatsby would like to make his dream come true and this is why he
is called the great. But at the same
time we can say that Gatsby’s perception of Daisy is a dream as well. He thinks
of her as a sweet girl who loved him in Louisville, but he can’t reconcile with
the thought that she can’t give up her social background in order to be with
him. After all, Gatsby’s dream collapses and he is never to be with Daisy, so
his hopes for the future collapse as well. And finally Gatsby is killed, and this
how the author underlines that perhaps Gatsby has nothing to live for. He achieved
a lot of success and earned a very high social position in order to find Daisy
and marry her. His every effort was aimed at this future. But he failed to, so
this is why in fact he was killed. The tragic end of the novel emphasizes the
tragedy of Gatsby’s live. (by 8davids8)
The narrator, Nick Carraway,
begins the novel by commenting on himself. He does not like the lifestyle of
New York and decides to move in Midwest. He rents a small house in the West
Egg. We know very little about Nick. He is very tolerant. Carraway comes from a
prominent Midwestern family and graduated from Yale. He’s connected to wealthy and important
people, like his cousin Daisy and Tom but he isn't drowning in wealth.
Therefore, he fears to be misunderstood by those who have not enjoyed the same
advantages. He attempts to understand people on their own terms, rather than
holding them up to his own personal standards.
We can say that he intellectually-developed. Through
Nick’s eyes, we meet his second cousin, Daisy Buchanan, her large and
aggressive husband, Tom Buchanan, and Jordan Baker, who quickly becomes a
romantic interest for our narrator. Tom Buchanan is an extremely wealthy man, a
brute, and an athlete. He’s selfish and does what he needs to get what he
wants. Most of all, he seeks control of his life and control of others.
Another interesting character in this story is
Mr. Jay Gatsby. He is a wealthy and mysterious man who owns a huge mansion next
door to Nick and spends a good chunk of his evenings standing on his lawn and
looking at an equally mysterious green light across the bay. Gadsby represents
everything that Nick hates about New York. Jay Gatsby is a man with a lot of money, a lot
of acquaintances, and very few friends. Only in the in the second part we can
see the main idea of this story. Nick
tells us a true history about Gatsby. He was actually James Gatz. His parents
were unsuccessful farmer people. He tried to go to College but left after 2
weeks. He was discovered by wealthy miner Dan Cody, who took care of him.
Gatsby reveals to Nick that he and Daisy used to love each other before he went
away to the war. And now Daisy is unable to leave her husband. At the same time
Myrtle is struck and killed by Gatsby’s car. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was
driving, but he’s going to take the blame for it. George Wilson Myrtle’s
husband shoots and kills Gatsby before taking his own life. Nick is the only
person who takes care of Gatsby’s affairs and arrange for his funeral. Standing
on Gatsby’s lawn and looking at the green light Nick concludes that our
nostalgia, our desire to replicate the past, forces us constantly back into it.
The very nature
of Jay Gatsby contains some features of jazz. Though all his life is dominated
by one dream, as a Blues by one melody, much in it depends on improvisation. And
this dream is Daisy. Gatsby is the most complex character in this story. Gatsby is a newly wealthy person who orders
his life around one desire to be reunited with Daisy, the love he lost five
years earlier. With Daisy he forgets to play the role of a man with lot of
money, a lot of acquaintances he shows himself to be a love-struck, awkward
young man. His cherished dream leads
him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved and, eventually, to
death.
We can say that
The Great Gatsby is full of not only different images and symbols but also it
represents the color structure which characterizes thoughts, feelings, state of
the main characters or the atmosphere of general events. We can say that the green light is probably
one of the most important symbols in The Great Gatsby. Green is the color of
hope, freshness, vitality and future. In
the context of the novel this green light represents Gatsby’s hope to meet
Daisy again and a chance to return her back. "Gatsby believed in the green
light”. (By Tanya)
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