For english, I chose to read The Great Gatsby. It is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and is one of the best novels of the 20th century.
it is set on Long Island's West Egg and in New York City in summer 1922.
It is set in Long Island and New York in 1922. The novel takes place following the First World War. American society enjoyed prosperity during the "roaring" 1920s as the economy soared. This era is also called the Jazz age.
Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel. He is a young man who moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a wealthy but unfashionable area populated by the new rich. He is intrigued by his new neighbour, Jay Gatsby, who owns a huge mansion and throws huge parties every saturday night.
One evening, Nick travels to the fasionable East Egg, to visit his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan. Nick learns that Tom is having an affair with a woman named Myrtle, whos husband owns the Wilson's garage in the valley of the ashes, between New York and West Egg.
As the summer progresses, Nick eventually gets an invite to one of Gatsby's magnificent parties. He meets Gatsby, who is a young man with a remarkable smile, and who calls everyone "old sport". he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After their reunion, their love for eachother is rekindled, and they begin an affair.
After a time, Daisy's husband Tom becomes suspicious of Daisy's relationship with Gatsby. Althougn he himself is involved in an extra- marital affair, he cannot believe that his wife would be unfaithful to him. He forces Daisy, Gatsby and Nick to drive to the Plaza Hotel. Here he confronts Gatsby about his relationship with his wife. Daisy decides that her alleigiance lies to Tom. Tom sends Gatsby and Daisy back home in the same car to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him.
On the way home, Tom and Nick learn that the other car carrying Gatsby and Daisy had struck and kiled Myrtle, Tom's lover. Nick talks to Gatsby and he tells him that it was actually Daisy driving the car, but Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, in which the only attendees were Nick and Gatsby's father. Nick then moves back to the midwest, to escape all the drama surrounding Gatsby's death.
There are many themes in this book, but the main one, I believe, is relationships.
The first relationship is between Gatsby and Nick. These two characters had a strong friendship. Some people believe that Gatsby only became friends with Nick because he wanted to meet Daisy, but throughout the course of the book, we learn that Nick became on of Gatsby's greatest and closest friends. We learn that Gatsby did not have many true friends. He was rich, well known and liked by everyone but still had no companionship. It is remarakable how two people could become such good friends. Gatsby was extravagant, while Nick was quiet and reserved. Nick paid Gatsby many favours, the most important of which was reuniting him with Daisy. Nick gave Gatsby hope for love again, as he had spent most of his life trying to attract Daisy's attention. Nick finally gave Gatsby what he really craved. Nick got to see the true Gatsby, behind all the glitz and glamour of the parties.
A true example of their friendship is seen when Gatsby dies. Nick tries to hold a large funeral for him. His attempts were futile though, and this is when we see the shallowness of society at this time. Although hundreds of people flocked to Gatsby's mansion every saturday, none of them were real companions, nor did they care about his death. All of Gatsby’s former friends and acquaintances have either disappeared—Tom and Daisy, for instance, move away with no forwarding address—or refuse to come. Nick truely was the only friend that Gatsby had. Nick singled him out as the only real person in a crowd of fakes – as he says, Gatsby is “better than the whole damn bunch put together.”
The main relationship that book is centred on is the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy knew each other when they were young, and ever since, Gatsby has tries to regain his love with her. The reason he bought his house was so that he could be close to Daisy - her house is at the other side of the bay. He throws his extravagant parties just to try and attract her attention. When they finally are reunited, their love is rekindled. This relationship is based on materialism. The affair is made possible because he is extremely rich; Daisy is a materialist that can be lured by money. When they first reunite, Daisy shows little true emotion. It is only when he shows her his huge mansion and expensive possession that Daisy displays strong emotion.
I believe that Gatsby truely did love Daisy, but she may not be actually in love with him. He took the blame for Myrtle's death, just to protect him. She turns out to be very shallow - she returns to Tom because he’s what she knows; the prospect of giving up her whole life to run off with Gatsby is just too overwhelming, no matter how unhappy she is. At her core, Daisy is also incredibly selfish. She wouldn't come to Gatsby's funeral, or even send a flower. She turned out to be just like all the rest of the socialites at this time, not the heavenly being Gatsby believed she was.
Another important relationship in this book is that between Daisy and her husband Tom. They do not have a good relationship with each other. Daisy only married him because she couldn't marry Gatsby. Gatsby was a poor boy, whereas Tom had a fortune. She went with the safe route, which was also quite shallow. Tom has been cheating on Daisy for quite a while now, with Myrtle Wilson. When he finds out that Daisy is also having an affair, he cannot belive it. Although he is unfaithful, he can't belive that his wife would be unfaithful to him. It seems like Tom is the controller in this relationship. He is selfish and seeks control over every situation. He forces a confrontation between himself and Gatsby about Daisy, and sends the two of them back in the same car to show that Gatsby cannot hurt him. He always wants to seem like the alpha male. Tom is neither attentive or sensitive towards his wife. This relationship is not a good one, even though Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby in the end, I think she just went with the safe option again. It is not a relationship of true love.
I really liked the style of the Great Gatsby. It is narrated by Nick Carraway. In the first few lines of the book, he describes himself as being "inclined to reserve all judgements". I think this makes him the perfect person to tell the story, as he is not biased in any way. He is an honest and straightforward man, who I think narrates the story excellently. Nick puts his honesty into his own words: "I am one of the few honest people I have ever known."
I find it interesting that the narrator of the novel is not the main character in the book. Nick was like an extra in the book, not a main character, but his presence was always felt. Many people would assume that Gatsby would narrate the novel, as the book is basically about him, but I admire the authour's decision and confidence in Nick. I think he does a very good job of narrating the novel, and without him, the story of Gatsby could never have been admired by future generations.
Another feature of the book that I really enjoyed was the symbols. There was an excellent use of pathetic fallacy in the book. Daisy and Gatsby's awkward reunion begins with the pouring rain outside, but as their love is reawakened, the sun comes out from between the clouds. Gatsby's confrontation with Tom occurs on the hottest day of the year, which is quite similar to Tybalt and Mercutio's confrontation in Romeo and Juliet. Wilson kills Gatsby on the first day of autumn, and as Gatsby floats in his pool, there is a chill in the air. This is a symbolic attempt to stop time and restore his relationship with Daisy to the way it was.
Gatsby broke a clock in Nick's house during his reunion with Daisy. This symbolized how time stopped for the two of them when Gatsby went to war. He wishes things could go back to how they were before Daisy married Tom, but inside he knew that it was impossible then. The clock breaking could also be seen as the end of Gatsby's time. It foreshadowed that his time was running short and soon something might happen to prevent him from marrying Daisy.
The green light is a fantastic symbol for hope in the book. The light is situated at the end of Daisy's dock in East Egg. It is clearly visible from Gatsby's house, and he spends a lot of time gazing at it. As the light stayed flashing all the time, it was a symbol of hope for Gatsby that he would be reunited with Daisy.
I think the world that F.Scott Fitzgerald describes is a very interesting world. It takes place in America following the first world war. American society enjoyed prosperity during the "roaring twenties" as the economy soared. I do not think that this world would be a very appealing world to live in. The society at this time were very materialistic and focused very much on fortune and material possessions. One example of this was when Daisy married Tom. She did not truly love him, but married him only for his fortune and the financial security he could offer her.
There were many parties, and most people lived a very extravagant lifestyle. But we learn that even though Gatsby throws magnificent parties, none of the guests are his real friends. People come without invitations, I do not think the people were very sincere. The people Gatsby thought were his friends, turned out to be very shallow people. None of them bothered to come to his funeral, they all said they were engaged in previous arrangements. Even though there was lots of glitz and glamour, I think it would be a lonely place at times. It was a corrupt world, but the glamour of it hid the problems. Nick himself is disgusted by the people at the end of the book, which causes him to move away. He cannot understand the shallowness of the people around him, and I do not blame him.
In conclusion, I think this book was a great read, full of passion and deceit, with a lot of twists along the way. I would recommend anyone to read it and become enthralled by the mysterious character of Jay Gatsby.
