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“The Great Gatsby” Review
Although there are some romantic aspects The Great Gatsby is a fictional novel written by the
American author F. Scott Fitzgerald published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1925, the story
instead focuses on the romance of the roaring 20s.
Published in 1925 yet set in 1922, The Great Gatsby is a story of a poor child having a vision of a
better life, becoming a self-made man and later living out his American dream. The story is set
in 1920’s. It depicts the rise or jazz era, film stars, automobile fascination, criminal activities,
bootlegging and many other aspects that were evident in America at that period of time. The
story also shows different layers of male and female mind, how Jay Gatsby become weaker for
his love despite being an alpha male, how being a millionaire makes Tom Buchanan and
aristocrat, racist and rude character, dishonesty of Jordan Baker, conflict of Daisy Buchanan’s
mind choosing between long-time lover and husband.
To understand the aura of The Great Gatsby we must understand author F. Scott Fitzgerald. He
is regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th Century although he gained
little to no reputation in his short lifetime. His father Edward Fitzgerald had Irish and English
background. He spent his childhood in New York where his father worked for Procter and
Gamble. After graduating from Newman School, he studied at Princeton University. His first
novel sales were not so good although his passion laid in writing novels.
He was an alcoholic since school days, which eventually led him to many diseases. He suffered
from two heart attacks in late 1930s and later died of a heart attack at the tender age of 44.
Fitzgerald’s works represent the Jazz Age. He completed four novels: ‘This Side of Paradise’,
‘The Beautiful and Damned’, ‘Tender is the Night’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’, which was his best-
seller. He became very famous after his death and millions of copies of ‘The Great Gatsby’ have
been sold till date.
F Scott Fitzgerald continues the story through a young man’s voice, Nick Carraway. Nick, who
has just moved from Midwest to West Egg, got a new place for him in the city. He started living
in a place just across a big mansion of a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Soon after arriving
in the West Egg, Nick visits his next distant cousin, Daisy Buchanan, who lives at East Egg. Daisy
Buchanan remains a very interesting character throughout the whole story. She is a very
wealthy woman and her wealth mostly came from marrying a rich guy named Tom Buchanan.
Tom, who has been indicated as a treacherous person in the novel for having extra marital
relationship, is also a racist. He proudly claims that only the white has contributed to the things
which made their country civilized so far. His behavior to others also shows his arrogant nature.
Though the character Daisy is disliked by many due to her foolishness, or in other words, her
incapability to take strong decision is some serious matters in her life. Describing about the
moment of her daughter’s birth, Daisy told her cousin Nick: “I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the
best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” This statement of Daisy clearly
depicts her thoughts, her weaknesses, and her incapability or regret in life for not getting
something she desired. Basically, Daisy was indicating here about her love for a guy whom she
could not marry. Later, we find out that Daisy’s lover was Gatsby.
Jay Gatsby is the mystical character in the novel. He is found to throw lavish parties in his great
mansion in which mostly uninvited guests used to come. Gatsby’s intention was to get Daisy as
one of his guest through these parties. When he finally meets Daisy in his mansion, he
mentioned the significance of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Jay Gatsby a.k.a Jimmy Gatz fell in love with Daisy before he was going to the war. She promises
to wait for him but her devotion wavers as the months of his deployment drag on and she
eventually marries the wealthy Tom Buchanan. Gatsby subsequently becomes rich and buys a
house on Long Island Sound directly across the bay from the mansion that Tom and Daisy
occupy.
He throws huge and lavish parties. He hoped that one day Daisy would simply walk in and start
talking. He tries to keep himself as mysterious as possible to throw off Daisy. The old lovers
eventually meet through the of Nick Carraway, a distant cousin of Daisy’s, who has rented a
house next door to Gatsby after coming east to learn the bond business. The story ends in a
tragedy with Gatsby’s dead body on a mattress.
The author of The Great Gatsby has kept his book sharp and concise. He didn’t prolong the
novel unnecessarily. So, the readers will not feel the book as prosaic or mundane. The readers
will get connected to Jay Gatsby’s journey of becoming the man he once had vision to be.
Readers who love to read romantic novels will love this one as it has a beautiful love story with
a tragic end. Through Nick Carraway’s narration of the story, the readers will feel Jay Gatsby’s
desires, high ambition, obsession as well as loneliness, emptiness. Readers will also learn about
the socio-economic situation of America in 1920’s. Readers will get glimpses of the author’s
previous life experiences. The book has some great quotes. The book shows what money can
actually buy in a person’s life. Lastly, the readers will get an idea of how and American dream
look like, how to achieve it and what significance it plays in person’s life to achieve happiness.
So, we would happily recommend this book to anyone.

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“The Great Gatsby” Review

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