The Great Gatsby

[Dylan]

*****
The Roaring 20s represented an era that we find ourselves look upon glamorously now. Art Deco, flappers, jazz, the city--it’s represented in and out of our culture. The Great Gatsby puts these idealized views on their head with a series of complex characters that represent the part of town less travelled (metaphorically speaking). If you like to see the dynamics of class, love, and the American Dream interact with one another, then The Great Gatsby is certainly for you.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about title character Jay Gatsby, a mysterious multimillionaire who holds lavish parties in his pristine New York City mansion. Our narrator, Nick Carroway, is of comparatively modest means and is Gatsby’s next-door neighbor. Nick’s cousin Daisy and her husband Tom live across the Long Island Sound with aristocratic lifestyles, contrasting with that of the up-and-coming Gatsby. These characters have more complex backgrounds than we’ve been led to believe, though--Daisy and Jay have past history together that guides a significant portion of the novel’s plot, eventually catalyzing the ending.
I can’t reasonably talk about how interesting Gatsby is of a character. You might not agree with his methods, pursuits, or business practices, but you will come to understand his heart of gold and desire for success. Fitzgerald purposely makes Nick a rather mundane character to depict Gatsby from the view of an everyman. Though Nick isn’t a Mary-Sue, he stands back to allow Gatsby to take the stage. That’s where the novel is at its best--demonstrating Gatsby’s struggles and successes and developing his character. Fitzgerald’s a careful writer, and you hate the characters you want him to hate (and vice versa). He has an excellent ability to paint a scene. Each character is compelling, even though Gatsby takes the center stage. For example, I found Gatsby’s nervousness to be irritating, but it was a part of his character that I felt suited him. Even though a lot of the novel’s settings are false, I still felt as though they could exist within the early-20s setting Fitzgerald established.
I really liked The Great Gatsby. I found the characters so much more interesting and profound than I thought I would. The themes are well-placed, and certainly make you think about the value of the American Dream in our modern society. I’d recommend reading something else by Fitzgerald if you’ve already read The Great Gatsby, because that’s what I’m going to do soon for sure.