The Great Gatsby question

He may have fought in a war, he had the medals to prove it, or he stole them. Oxford, not to sure about that one. Being connected with gangsters probably his undoing. Been awhile since I read the book and saw the movie.

I approached Fitzgerald's book from the perspective of the story itself, irrespective of whether it's purely fictional, completely true, or something in between. I felt the story was so masterfully done as to make a strong reader cry.

In that sense, among well-written works there's no such thing as fiction. If it speaks a true-ringing version of the human condition, it is an encapsulation of Truth. Only stuff that seems too false to be swum in by our emotional selves is "fiction."

Everything that ever happened to me (except my fingers grinding on the keyboard this instant) is only a story--recalled from memory in whatever flavor I enjoy recalling it. It's gone--gone before I could really experience it. We experience things in retrospect, re-living them from our short-term or long-term memories. And so they're all "stories," whether they happened or not.

I guess that's why I never cared whether a book or a film was "based on a true story." If it rings true and profound, it is Truth enough for me. (And as a writer I know all too well how happenings must be reordered to get them to make sense on paper.)

Sorry for the rant! I loved The Great Gatsby because of how it was told. I learned a great deal from it. So, to me ...it was all "true"!

a wonderful tale from the lost generation. doomed socialite jay gatsby has established a party set in a beautiful,exotic mansion. his progress through his fallen scene is charted with his end caused by his small town boy.s view of love.scotty writes like a dream and the characters will haunt you. magnifique.

One of the best things about The Great Gatsby is that Fitzgerald always keeps Gatsby at a distance from the reader. Gatsby is truly unknowable. We never really get inside his head. Instead, we are given only glimpses & fragments of the man as seen through the point of view of Nick, the narrator, which, of course, is never objective. Everything the reader learns about Gatsby is filtered through Nick's perspective & memory: the rumors circulating about Gatsby's past & present & memories Nick has of conversations held with Gatsby. Even at the end, when Nick speaks with Gatsby's father & learns his real name, we can only surmise what Gatsby really wanted for his future. We are never allowed, wisely, I think, to see Gatsby's point of view. Whether some of the stories are true or not may never be known, and, their veracity is almost irrelevant. There are some things we know, such as, his connection to someone like Meyer Wolfsheim, his blinding love for Daisy, etc., but, the stories going around about him serve a higher purpose, and that is, to reinforce the mystery that makes him so appealing as a character

I say wisely, because, I think by having the narrative told only through Nick's eyes, it has allowed Jay Gatsby to become this "larger than life" figure in American literature.

Ok I dunno if this is a liberal arts give me but Some things are clear. He fought in the war that much is definitely true When He met Daisy she was not yet betrothed she was just a charming beautiful socialite who prior to her chemistry with Jay Gatsby was doing the typical socialite shuffle in that you hope to meat and marry a rich man from the right set of wealthy people and so expand your horizons. Love was often secondary. I do not remember if it was that her family had more status than money so she felt compelled to make the marriage or that she simply was weak and did not want to risk becoming a social pariah. As a young man who dated a Dallas debutante this book stuck incredibly close to home for me. So Gatsby Goes to war is his typical affable yet capable self and he is determined to be the man that would have the social assets to marry Daisy and so he worked to do something heroic in the war and got his officers bars and a free education at Oxford as part of the then liberal social out reach to those who had performed gallant service to the WW I effort. Gatsby being a naturally observant fellow and utterly driven to get his Daisy used his time at Oxford to gain all the social graces one would need to suddenly show up and be seen as a legitimate member of the "social classes." The implication about his money though is that while normally very moral, in order to get the amounts of money needed quickly enough he may have been involved in either some world world war one lucrative trade deal or that he was in some way participating with prohibitionists. People forget that the time this was written in both prohibition and the Treaty of Versailles were both in effect. The Treaty was in effect a very crippling monetary reparations on germany and a number of very harsh prohibitions about the kinds of military arms that the could have. I only remember that one of the more shady figures he dealt with but kept well away from anyone he cared about was a man with a German sir name. As I remember it, the actual nature of what he did was kept intentionally vague and or ambiguous as it would seem telling the story fro Nick Caraway's vantage point. I apologize if I am butchering some of the names I am not going to go back and look at the book that i read 20 years ago. But I am very sure on the facts. In general I loved F Scott Fitzgerald's work because he was not only a good writer but when he wrote human nature and its moral frailties in an environment of excess, selfishness and worship of all things materialistic and shallow, the man knew of what he wrote. He was a swell himself and he married a wife that was famous for both going crazy and for insulting things like the size of his manhood publicly and anything else she could come up with when she was out of control. F Scptt Fitzgerald did anyone with ears to listen and eyes to read a great service as he so insightfully described the pitfalls, guilder cages and ugly things that can happen to a person who thinks that by simply moving into a wealthier zip code that life will be nicer. He goes so far to say that even around more talented people and the super wealthy that it is just the opposite. You will find people with value systems so screwed up that virtually anyone you confided in or got attached to could end up hurting you in ways that were profound and would seem unthinkable when you first meet them. I forget that women that Nick was seeing the same time as all the Gatsby stuff was going on with Daisy pondering leaving like fearful spoiled girl trying and failing again to choose something other than a life of accountability free luxury in order to have the one man she have big love with. But I loved the quote he had about leaving her and why. They used the metaphor of driving to indicate much more than simply how they drove their cars but rather how they navigated a world that was full of other people. People who were also flawed but usually far more vulnerable and with much more to lose than any of the swell socialite class. He says something to the effect that he just cannot stand anyone that is such a reckless driver. Of course the way it is done in the book is absolutely poetic and I am simply disgorging this stuff from memory but it is right on the money. And take it from a marine going to college out in the plush are of Palo alto and Stanford, The human drama of this book is still being played out today and it is equally sad every time. I think america should be the land where people can become extremely prosperous but there also needs to be some cultural wisdom imparted to what can happen with such a powerful force like money. Money is not evil, Nor is it good. it is the elemental power to make manifest through the power of purchase anything a person wants given it is available. But because of that one better be pretty sober in who they associate with and how they run their life or Money will ruin a person access to the deeper things that make life worth living and wealth worth having.

Not knowing sometimes is the best part about reading The Great Gatsby. Guessing is what life is all about. Potraying to be someone we are guilty for at least once in our life. I believe for once in life potraying someone other than who and what we is okay.

After reading this book, one should totally read "Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda" (especially if you enjoy Fitzgerald's work!) Its full of love letters written between Fitzgerald and his wife in chronological order, depicting their relationship through time.

If Gatsby Just Would Have Moved On From Daisy He Would Have Never Gotten Shot & Killed , At least That's What I Think . Gatsby Was To In love With Daisy It Makes Me Wonder If They Had Way More Going On Then Just Being In love In The Past Or Being Old Friends . I Feel Like Their Is More To The Story With Them Two& Something Is Being Left Out . Overall This Book Is A Really Good Book . It Actually Seems Like A Romantic Book Between Gatsby & Daisy .

I HATED THIS BOOK!!! I thought that Gatsby was merely using Nick in order to fall further and unmistacably in love with a married woman!!

Is a really good book i didnt love it but it was really good.
i do hate daisy i think that was the name of the girl. gastby was in love with the image that he had about her that he end up death.

I think they deepen the myth of Gatsby and illuminate the fact that he did not have any real friends who knew the truth about who he was. Nick seems to be his closest friend and many of his opinions of Gatsby are based on rumor, assumptions, and hearsay.

None of the bad ones, the story about Oxford might be true.