The Great Gatsby
I have read The Great Gatsby written by F.Scott.Fitzgerald for three times. However, I am still haunted by the question that came up to me when I first read the novel several years ago: why was Gatsby a great man?
To start with, he was great in general concerns. He owned enormous estates and huge amount of money that are the symbols of success. “If he’d lived he’d of been a great man…He’d of helped build up the country.” as was described by his father. However, that was surely not according to the writer’s intention.
As far as I am concerned, Gatsby’s greatness lay in his spirit and heart. He was born as a common child in a poor family. However, he had big dreams that were too big for his social status. He invented the name “Jay Gatsby” for himself—a name for a great man. He put all his imaginations to this name and to a bright future that the Nation had promised to its people in its Constitution. He worked hard systematically and grasped every chance he could get to fulfill his dreams. But it was not until he acquainted Daisy that he changed his mind. He fell in love with the charming girl and her glamorous life. Falling in love with Daisy, Gatsby realized that only by accumulating wealth as quickly as possible could he be able to marry the girl who had stolen his heart. Therefore, he joined the business of Wolfshiem, a gambler who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919. As a result, he turned into a millionaire from nobody within 5 years.
However, Daisy could not wait that long. She was used to the luxury life that wealth promised. She had scarcely any moral values and placed the value of wealth above all her emotions. Though she did love Gatsby, she married Tom Buchannan, a man with abundant wealth and high position who betrayed her right during their honeymoon.
Five years later, when Gatsby finally made himself a “great man” and met Daisy for the second time, he couldn’t conceal his emotion that had waited for so long a time. Daisy was just about to divorce and marry Gatsby when her husband’s words about Gatsby’s background alerted her. When she knew that Gatsby’s money was from illegal business, she changed her mind. Though she never loved Tom Buchannan and Tom was not faithful to her at all, she was sure that Tom would not leave her and that their luxury life would never change. The whole story came to a summit when Daisy killed Tom’s mistress in a car accident. Gatsby took the responsibilities in order to protect Daisy, and was killed by the mistress’s desperate husband under Tom’s instructions. Tom and Daisy fled away.
The story told us something about the life of the rich. Their relationships were mainly based on money and status. There is little emotion between them. But for Gatsby, even though he was a rich man himself, he kept the pure nature of the poor boy he once had been. He was faithful to his dreams and his loves. He “read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name.” When he finally got rich enough, he hold large parties just to attract Daisy’s attention. “Perhaps some unbelievable guests would arrive, a person infinitely rare and to be marveled at, some authentically radiant young girls who with one fresh glance at Gatsby, one moment of magical encounter, would blot out those five years of unwavering devotion.” However, he kept his loyalty and faithfulness from beginning to end. He devoted his emotion to a girl and to a crowd that did not worth any of it. Compared with “those who accepted Gatsby’s hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him”, Gatsby was the only lonely person who paid all his sincerity to this “rotten crowd” and received nothing.
However, things would get better, as the writer believed: “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And one fine morning—”. At least the writer had the belief, but our solitary hero could no longer see the rising sun.
To start with, he was great in general concerns. He owned enormous estates and huge amount of money that are the symbols of success. “If he’d lived he’d of been a great man…He’d of helped build up the country.” as was described by his father. However, that was surely not according to the writer’s intention.
As far as I am concerned, Gatsby’s greatness lay in his spirit and heart. He was born as a common child in a poor family. However, he had big dreams that were too big for his social status. He invented the name “Jay Gatsby” for himself—a name for a great man. He put all his imaginations to this name and to a bright future that the Nation had promised to its people in its Constitution. He worked hard systematically and grasped every chance he could get to fulfill his dreams. But it was not until he acquainted Daisy that he changed his mind. He fell in love with the charming girl and her glamorous life. Falling in love with Daisy, Gatsby realized that only by accumulating wealth as quickly as possible could he be able to marry the girl who had stolen his heart. Therefore, he joined the business of Wolfshiem, a gambler who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919. As a result, he turned into a millionaire from nobody within 5 years.
However, Daisy could not wait that long. She was used to the luxury life that wealth promised. She had scarcely any moral values and placed the value of wealth above all her emotions. Though she did love Gatsby, she married Tom Buchannan, a man with abundant wealth and high position who betrayed her right during their honeymoon.
Five years later, when Gatsby finally made himself a “great man” and met Daisy for the second time, he couldn’t conceal his emotion that had waited for so long a time. Daisy was just about to divorce and marry Gatsby when her husband’s words about Gatsby’s background alerted her. When she knew that Gatsby’s money was from illegal business, she changed her mind. Though she never loved Tom Buchannan and Tom was not faithful to her at all, she was sure that Tom would not leave her and that their luxury life would never change. The whole story came to a summit when Daisy killed Tom’s mistress in a car accident. Gatsby took the responsibilities in order to protect Daisy, and was killed by the mistress’s desperate husband under Tom’s instructions. Tom and Daisy fled away.
The story told us something about the life of the rich. Their relationships were mainly based on money and status. There is little emotion between them. But for Gatsby, even though he was a rich man himself, he kept the pure nature of the poor boy he once had been. He was faithful to his dreams and his loves. He “read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name.” When he finally got rich enough, he hold large parties just to attract Daisy’s attention. “Perhaps some unbelievable guests would arrive, a person infinitely rare and to be marveled at, some authentically radiant young girls who with one fresh glance at Gatsby, one moment of magical encounter, would blot out those five years of unwavering devotion.” However, he kept his loyalty and faithfulness from beginning to end. He devoted his emotion to a girl and to a crowd that did not worth any of it. Compared with “those who accepted Gatsby’s hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him”, Gatsby was the only lonely person who paid all his sincerity to this “rotten crowd” and received nothing.
However, things would get better, as the writer believed: “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And one fine morning—”. At least the writer had the belief, but our solitary hero could no longer see the rising sun.
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