"The Great Gatsby" is a classic American novel published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, exploring themes of wealth, love, and moral decay. The protagonist, Gatsby, pursues wealth but finds himself trapped in endless desires and emptiness, leading to a tragic outcome. The novel depicts the rise and fall of American society in the 1920s, offering a critical perspective on the American Dream.
Introducing
'The Great Gatsby,' one of the quintessential American novels often referred to as a GAN (Great American Novel). It portrays the moral and ethical corruption behind the material abundance of the American Dream, revealing the flaws of American society in the aftermath of World War I victory. The author, Scott Fitzgerald, born in Minnesota in 1896, served as an officer in World War I. After his discharge, he briefly worked in advertising before embarking on a career as a writer. He garnered critical acclaim and had a complex friendship and rivalry with another great writer, Ernest Hemingway. Despite early success, his later works faced consecutive failures, leading to alcohol dependency. He passed away in his 40s due to a heart attack.
'The Great Gatsby,' published in 1925, is Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, beloved by many Americans to this day. It has also become a staple read for American high school students, depicting the societal backdrop of its time.
Characters
The protagonist is a man named Gatsby. The narrator of the book, Nick Carraway, and his cousin, Daisy, are also present. Gatsby, unable to forget his former love, Daisy, orbits around her. However, Daisy is already married to a man named Tom Buchanan. Tom had an affair with a married woman, and her husband is a car mechanic named Wilson. Additionally, Daisy's friend, Jordan Baker, a golfer, makes an appearance.
Plot summary
Nick Carraway settles on the East Coast in the spring of 1922. He visits the town of West Egg, a wealthy upper-class neighborhood. There, he witnesses the mansion of a man named Gatsby. Nearby, Carraway's friend Tom Buchanan and cousin Daisy live in luxury, raising their three-year-old daughter. Carraway visits their mansion and meets Jordan Baker, Daisy's friend and a female golfer.
Gatsby is famous for his extravagant parties held at his mansion in West Egg every Saturday, attended by hundreds, including celebrities. Carraway soon comes to disdain the mad revelry of these parties. Gatsby later confides in Carraway that he hosts these parties in the hope that Daisy, his former lover, will attend one day by chance.
Eventually, Gatsby meets Daisy through Carraway's arrangement. In New York, Tom confirms Gatsby's love for Daisy and exposes Gatsby as a bootlegger without concrete evidence. Tom claims to have done his own investigation into Gatsby. Gatsby pressures Daisy to confess that she no longer loves Tom and wants to return to him. Daisy hesitates, but ultimately speaks as Gatsby wishes, yet Tom realizes that Daisy's heart does not truly belong to Gatsby. He mocks Gatsby, convinced that nothing will happen between Daisy and Gatsby even if they go home together.
Meanwhile, Tom's friend, the car mechanic Wilson, and his wife Myrtle are arguing. Myrtle was having an affair with Tom, which Wilson discovered. She runs out of the house and is struck and killed by Gatsby's car while running away, with Daisy accompanying her. Later, Tom, Jordan, and Carraway, who followed behind, discover the accident. Tom mutters that Wilson finally got what he deserved but decides to pause briefly after noticing something amiss. Tom soon learns that his secret lover is dead, and in the shocking turn of events, Wilson, almost crazed, mentions the yellow car. Tom tells Wilson that the yellow car is not his. When they stop by Wilson's garage to put gas, Wilson, mistaking Gatsby's yellow car for Tom's, decides to kill Gatsby.
After revealing Gatsby's whereabouts to Wilson, Tom prepares to leave on a trip with Daisy. Meanwhile, Gatsby waits gloomily by his pool, expecting a call from Daisy, believing that she no longer loves him. At that moment, Wilson approaches and shoots Gatsby, then also commits suicide not far away on the grass.
After Gatsby's death, Nick struggles to find people to attend his funeral, but no one shows up.
Review
One of the prominent items in the novel is the automobile. The main characters drive luxury cars, and Wilson's profession is an auto mechanic. Additionally, Daisy kills a person with her car. In this work, the automobile symbolizes Gatsby's material success while also serving as a catalyst for his lonely demise.
The backdrop of 1920s America in this novel coincides with the golden age of the automobile industry. Represented by Ford, the American automobile industry was massive enough to dominate global production. However, in the novel, people are killed with these luxurious cars, and those who drive them engage in reckless behavior. This disparity between the glamorous material civilization and the lack of moral civilization reflects the absurdities of the time. It may carry a message of denouncing the contradictions of the affluent material civilization and the moral decay of American society at that time.
In the novel, Gatsby leads a highly extravagant life. He throws lavish parties every week, spending money extravagantly, attracting many upper-class and celebrity guests. However, people gossip about him engaging in bootlegging to earn money, and no one attends his funeral in the end. Despite appearing to live a glamorous life and garnering attention from others, his reality is that of an empty vessel. This serves as a reminder that there are things money cannot buy, a reality we often witness around us.
We often see the sons of tycoons or celebrities, who seem to have everything, indulging in despair or emptiness, hosting parties or turning to drugs. This suggests that human happiness is a separate issue from wealth, no matter how abundant it may be.
Upon reflecting on the title of the work, "The Great Gatsby," I pondered why Gatsby is considered great. In truth, it's challenging to perceive Gatsby as great within the novel. He violated the prohibition laws of the time, amassed immense wealth, remained fixated on his past love, engaging in inappropriate encounters. Ultimately, he meets an unjust death while attempting to shield Daisy's guilt, and his funeral is attended by no one, depicting a tragic figure.
Some may interpret the title "The Great Gatsby" as ironic, considering Gatsby's lack of greatness both socially and personally, even in death. However, my perspective differs slightly.
The backdrop of the novel is the early 1920s, just after the end of World War I. As with any society, there is bound to be significant change before and after a war, and America at that time was no exception. Gatsby, a character in the novel, is portrayed as someone who participated in the war but yearns for the pre-war society. This is epitomized by his inability to forget Daisy. However, Daisy is not the same person he once loved. This signifies the difference between the pre-war society and the current American society. Unlike Daisy, Gatsby's unchanging demeanor reflects a preservation of the purity of the pre-war era. In a rapidly changing world, retaining something immutable could be seen as great.
Final thoughts
It's a work that many people recommend, and scenes from the movie adaptation with Leonardo DiCaprio linger in memory. Upon reading the book properly, I found it to be a profound and thought-provoking piece of literature. It's worth noting that it's a novel that also influenced Haruki Murakami, known for his meticulous translation efforts on this novel. In Murakami's work "Norwegian Wood," one can find traces of his affection for "The Great Gatsby." There's a passage where the protagonist, Watanabe, expresses his admiration for the novel, stating that he considers it the greatest novel ever, and that any page he turns to always moves him deeply.