The Great Gatsby ( Spoilers included!)

This photo shows none other than Leonardo di Caprio as Jay Gatsby. In this photo, we can see a smiling Gatsby at one of his grand parties, holding a wine glass with the firecrackers in the background. “I’ve never seen a man so full of hope,” which is how Gatsby was introduced to us in the movie. In this picture, you can see the hope and the happiness though behind this picture, and that smiling face is a bigger picture that isn’t all happy and smiling.

The Great Gatsby, the third novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925. This classic about love, lie, and deceit was turned into a movie in 2013 directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Set in Jazz Phase New York, the novel is narrated by Nick Carraway, which tells us the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his chase of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman he loved at his young age. Nick was the neighbor of Jay Gatsby on the West Egg. Gatsby was surprisingly a young man who had an English accent, a remarkable smile, and calls everyone ‘old sport’. Gatsby loved Daisy Buchannan, but due to complications that lead Gatsby to leave, she married Tom Buchannan. After both get reunited after five years, Gatsby wanted to recreate the past.

I think that the book's whole concept is about Gatsby wanted to recreate the past and gain back his time lost with Daisy. But you can’t regain the lost time. One of the concepts that strike me the most is that the girl whose lie got Gatsby killed didn’t even show up at his funeral or any other who attended his grand parties. I cannot even imagine giving up your life for someone and being so selfish that they go on with their lives like nothing happened.

I have heard many people talking about this book about the American dream. I am not from the U.S., so I don’t know much about the American dream. Though from things I have read and heard, The Great Gatsby can have mixed opinions from different people on this topic. I think Gatsby doesn’t glorify the rag-to-riches life, but I think it doesn’t even criticize it. Gatsby got the luxurious experience he always wanted, but he didn’t end up in the pool because of the American dream but his hardships to recreate the past with daisy.

Gatsby was a man who dreamed and lied to achieve his dream. He lied about how he was rich and was an oxford man; in reality, Gatsby came from a poor family who earned his money working for Wolfsheim in his illegal businesses. The lies in the story don’t end here; Daisy and Tom lied about Myrtle saying he killed her, and he was the one having an affair with her. All this led to George, Myrtle’s husband, killing Gatsby and then suiciding himself.

“so, we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” When I read this book, I at first quite didn’t get the meaning of this quote. These words are the conclusion of the novel and as well as the movie. In this scene, nick returns to the spot of green light, which is, according to my understanding, Gatsby’s hope and dream. As everyone says, ‘you learn from your past,’ here Fitzgerald explained the significance of the past to visions of the future. Everyone has their own interpretation of this quote; I have my own. I think of the green light as my goal, and I am standing at the dock. The river in between is the path I must cover to achieve my goal, and the boat is my strategy to get there. But as I move forward in my boat, some winds take me back to the starting point; I think of these winds as my past mistake. I think the author is trying to state is that our future strategies should be made in a way where the past is considered.

'Jay Gatsby would never reach the green light for the end of his American dream saw him face down in his swimming pool.' this line really makes me. Many wonders 'is it okay to dream?' here my question was answered by my rereading of the book, I don't think that Fitzgerald is giving us the message that dreaming is your end, but I think he tries to provide us with the lesson that chasing an unworthy dream is the end.