Friday Review: The Great Gatsby

Dear readers, it would be great if you could put on Taylor Swift’s “Happiness” from the album evermore as you read this review. The song took inspiration from The Great Gatsby and captures key aspects of the plot.

When my friend saw the title of the book that I am reviewing this week, she squinted a little and joked, “Have we not done enough close-passage analysis on how delusional Gatsby is?” Indeed, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has been on countless high school reading lists since it was published in the 1920s. But the question arises: is the novel just an epitome of “Americana,” dotted with gaudy imagery and the root of English class frustrations?

For those who haven’t read the book, the novel is set in New York City during the 1920s. The main plot revolves around Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. However, minor plots, such as the subtle relationship between Nick, the narrator, and Jordan Baker, the golf star, as well as the tragic story of Myrtle Wilson, who cheated on her husband George Wilson with Tom Buchanan, are also integral to the overall narrative. It’s the combination of these plots—literal narratives woven with personal perceptions—that layers the complex themes of deception, love, gender, and the fragility of the “American Dream.”

Of course, the plot alone doesn’t make Fitzgerald’s writing enchanting; it is his memorable portrayal of the characters that adds an extra tinge to the readers’ minds. Each character renders an intimate identity that everyone can connect with: for instance, we can all sympathize with the enigmatic struggles of Gatsby, the unattainable pressures placed on Daisy, and the nonchalant honesty of Nick. Personally, I resonated most with Nick, and as the quote goes, “I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

It’s also important to touch on the significance of Nick’s narration in this book, as it adds a musical chord to the inevitable tragedy. Despite how resolved Nick is to be an unbiased narrator, spending half of the first chapter articulating his will to reserve judgment, his telling of the story is extremely biased. Every one of his bitter observations is conveyed, unconsciously reshaping the readers’ understanding of the events and carving out a sharper impression of the plot. Indeed, what words other than “clean,” “hard,” and “limited” can better encapsulate the cynical Jordan Baker? What symbol other than that on the advertisement of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s glasses better portrays the distorting capitalism of the Roaring ’20s? In a sense, the book resembles Nick—sometimes disliked by critics for being indifferent—complicit with the passive reality it appears to criticize.

The title of the book is The Great Gatsby, but instead of complimenting Gatsby’s assured perfection, the book is drenched with his frustrations and flaws. The novel is filled with contradictions: its yearning for and disdain of wealth, and its empathy alongside its desire to punish its characters. As Nick concludes the novel, “we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” It is our determination as mortals to carry on, regardless of our imperfections and fears, that makes us great. It’s Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of his dreams that makes him “great.” Perhaps we are all Gatsby in some ways. Sometimes, we all cling to lost dreams or yearn for wealth and fame. Perhaps Fitzgerald created a character that allows readers, even to this day, to self-reflect on our flaws.

If you haven’t read the book, look forward to reading it in English class as a III Former. If you have read the book, I hope this review sparks pieces of your memory. After all, this universe of ineffable gaudiness spun out under Fitzgerald’s pen discloses problems that present-day America still grapples with.