Background Information
The author of The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896. He attended Princeton University but dropped out after two years. After leaving college, Fitzgerald joined the army and wrote his first novel, “This Side of Paradise 1920” but The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be the most important of Fitzgerald’s works.1 Sadly, the great writer died of a heart attack in 1940. It tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man who throws lavish parties to win back the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. The novel explores love, loss, ambition, greed, and the American Dream. It is often interpreted as a critique of the Jazz Age’s excesses and the moral decline of the wealthy elite. The novel was adapted for the screen in 1974 and 2013 and continues to be widely read and discussed today.
Goal of the Book
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the Great Gatsby to comment on the ethics and moral downfall of the Jazz Age and the American Dream. He also wanted to examine the power of money and its impact on individuals and society. Through Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy, Fitzgerald explores the corrupting influence of money and materialism, as well as the emptiness of the upper class. Gatsby’s pursuit of his dream ultimately leads to his downfall, demonstrating how pursuing money and power can lead to tragedy. He is destroyed by a combination of his own ambition and the emptiness of the American Dream, which is defined by shallow materialism and social status. Fitzgerald also uses the novel to comment on the moral decline of the era, as seen through the characters’ behavior. Gatsby’s parties and the immoral lifestyles of some characters illustrate how the Roaring Twenties was a time of decadence and excess. Similarly, the way Gatsby is eventually destroyed by his obsession with Daisy and his pursuit of the American Dream demonstrates the difficulties of achieving the American Dream in a society that values money and status over integrity and morality.
Reviews
Scholarly reviews of “The Great Gatsby” have generally praised the novel’s exploration of the culture of the Jazz Age and its commentary on the American Dream (Berman 84). Critics have noted the novel’s themes of disillusionment, loneliness, and the corruption of the American Dream (Kara). Fitzgerald’s work reflected “the goal of the American Dream in all its complexity and beauty,” according to New York Times critic Jack Smith (Curnutt 260). These praises for Fitzgerald’s writing in The Great Gatsby are relevant and I agree with them.2 According to Curnutt, the author’s use of evocative language, symbolism, and poetry helps bring the plot to life while also capturing the intricacies of the protagonists and the era (244). Overall, Fitzgerald’s writing style is a big reason why The Great Gatsby has endured as a classic for so long. It is a powerful and timely reminder of the danger of pursuing the American Dream at all costs.
Thesis
The book’s central thesis is that American society in the Roaring Twenties is disillusionment and moral decay, where the pursuit of wealth and status often leads to tragedy. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald shows how these themes are embodied in the characters of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. He does not explicitly justify the thesis but instead presents it as an observation that can be seen in the characters and their struggles. Hanzo says that Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy while knowing she’s married shows that people would do anything for wealth and prestige (186). Ultimately Gatsby’s dreams of reclaiming Daisy’s love are crushed, and he dies alone, a reminder of the tragic consequences of such pursuits. Similarly, Daisy is a direct representation of the moral decay of the era. Despite being married, she is willing to have an affair with Gatsby and then carelessly leaves him when her husband offers her money. This highlights the idea that money and status have corrupted Daisy’s moral compass. According to Cain, Fitzgerald’s portrayal of despair and moral deterioration in 19th Century America is consistent across the novel (458). Cain highlights that at the novel’s end, Nick reflects that despite Gatsby’s death, “the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us” (462). This is a reminder that the pursuit of wealth and status will always be present in American society and will likely continue leading to tragedy in the future.
Quality of Writing
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing is renowned for its elegant, evocative prose and vivid characters and settings (Berman 87). His style is characterized by beautiful language and meticulous attention to detail, making his novels pleasurable to read. He also has a unique way of exploring themes such as the pursuit of the American Dream and the moral ambiguity of the Jazz Age (Berman 83). His writing is thought-provoking, complex, and layered, and he has become an influential model for modern American literature.
Fitzgerald’s works are often seen as having a dreamlike quality, as he captures the beauty and sadness of life with a poetic eye. He often utilizes symbolism and metaphor to convey his themes and ideas, making his novels full of meaning and depth. His characters are often flawed and represent a range of human emotions and experiences. From the wealthy Jay Gatsby to the moral ambiguity of Daisy Buchanan, Fitzgerald’s characters are both relatable and thought-provoking. He also has a talent for conveying the American Dream’s disappointment together with the beauty and desolation of the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald’s writing is timeless, as readers from all generations have been able to relate to his characters and ideas. He captures the human experience in a way few authors have been able to. His novels are a testament to his writer’s skill and ability to capture life’s beauty and complexity.
Rating of the Book
The bibliography of The Great Gatsby is extensive and includes a variety of sources, such as books, articles, and interviews. It is considered an extensive and comprehensive list of references, making it suitable for first-rate work. The bibliography provides a good literature outline, including a chronological summary, character analysis, and examination of the novel’s topics. In addition, the bibliography also includes biographical and critical information on the author and the story (Curnutt 263). This is especially helpful in understanding the context and meaning of the novel. The bibliography also contains sources related to the novel’s history. This includes information on the Roaring Twenties, prohibition, and the culture at the time, which helps to provide a comprehensive understanding of the novel’s social context.
Furthermore, the bibliography includes sources related to the theories of literature and literary criticism, which is vital for understanding the various literary devices and techniques used in the novel. The authorities also provide a comprehensive overview of the novel’s critical reception. Finally, the bibliography includes sources related to the book’s film adaptation, scholarly articles, and story reviews. This helps to provide an understanding of the impact of the story on popular culture. Overall, The Great Gatsby bibliography is resourceful for anyone looking to understand the novel better. It provides an overview of the story, its plot and its critical reception. This makes it an invaluable resource for students and scholars alike.
Summary
The work covers concepts of optimism, greed, and social unrest and was adapted for film and the theatre multiple times. The novel’s lasting appeal and study of the American Dream have earned it a 20th-century literary classic. Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is a classic piece of American fiction.3 Kara outlines that it is a novel of triumph and tragedy, noted for how Fitzgerald captured a cross-section of American society. The novel explores themes of love, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream. Gatsby’s dream of reuniting with Daisy is ultimately unfulfilled, as she fails to appreciate his greatness, even when he finally reaches out to her. The story also explores class differences and what happens when different classes interact. Fitzgerald illustrates the newly emergent social divisions of wealth in the 1920s, comparing Gatsby’s struggle to be accepted by the old-moneyed East Egg crowd with the upstart, newly wealthy West Eggers. In the end, Gatsby’s dream of re-creating the past and reclaiming Daisy gets destroyed by the harsh realities of the present. His death ends the era of optimism he embodies and serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of the American Dream.
Recommendation of the Book
Yes, I recommend The Great Gatsby to others. It is a classic piece of American fiction that captures a cross-section of American society in the 1920s and offers a powerful commentary on the decline of the era and its social issues. It is a captivating story of love and loss, and the novel’s themes and symbols are still relevant today.
The novel is filled with vivid characters, such as the mysterious Jay Gatsby and the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, who are all drawn to the fast-paced, glamorous life of Long Island. Gatsby’s pursuit of the American Dream is a poignant reminder of the cost of ambition and the pursuit of happiness. The novel’s intriguing and complicated themes, such as the corruptibility of the American dream and the influence of money, reflect contemporary life. There is a classic allure to the narrative as well. The novel is rich with magnificent descriptions of the scenery and the people’s emotions, and the imagery and allegory used by Fitzgerald are compelling. Those interested in the glitz of the Jazz Age and those interested in the novel’s deeper issues will find much to like in The Great Gatsby. It’s a classic that’s just as applicable now as it was back in 1925.
Works Cited
Berman, Ronald. “The Great Gatsby and the Twenties.” The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald, 2002, pp. 79-94, Web.
Cain, William E. “American Dreaming: Really Reading The Great Gatsby.” Society, vol. 57, no. 4, 2020, pp. 453-470, Web.
Curnutt, Kirk. “Last Kiss, The Great Gatsby, The Great Gatsby: An Edition of the Manuscript,” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, vol. 16, no. 1, 2018, pp. 234–252, Web.
Curnutt, Kirk. “The Great Gatsby: A Variorum Edition Save Me the Waltzgatsby’s Oxford: Scott, Zelda, And the Jazz Age Invasion of Britain: 1904–1929F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Short Fiction: From Ragtime to Swing Time,” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, vol. 17, no. 1, 2019, pp. 248–271, Web.
Kara, Gokcen. “Disillusionment and American Dream in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald S Great Gatsby,” Journal of Philology, vol. 1, no. 1, 2022, pp. 12-17, Web.
Hanzo, Thomas A. “The Theme and the Narrator of ‘The Great Gatsby’.” Modern Fiction Studies, 1956, pp. 183-190, Web.
“Terrible Reviews of Great Books: The Great Gatsby,” The Reader’s Room, 2016, Web.
Footnotes
- Fitzgerald wrote several other books, including “This Side of Paradise 1920,” “The Beautiful and Damned 1922,” “Tender Is the Night 1934,” and “The Last Tycoon 1941.”
- Independent readers have negatively reviewed “The Great Gatsby” for many years but no published scholarly sources were found to present negative critiques. See “Terrible Reviews of Great Books: The Great Gatsby”
- The book is studied by students in high schools and colleges across America.