Review by ashleymae_ - The Great Gatsby

ashleymae_ 's review for:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

4.0

mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Fitzgerald paints the American Dream as a mirage, like the illusory water hole found in the great desert: Jay Gatsby (Jimmy Gatz) is an illusion himself, an idea that exists solely through his glamour and parties as he attempts to draw his lover into his world of champagne, orchestras and rising film starlets. Daisy, his lover from before the First World War, is as flimsy as her name suggests and unable to appreciate Gatsby’s sacrifice.

She eventually falls back into the arms of her disloyal husband, however we may forgive her as a stable marriage with an “old money” man allowed for her security, and divorce was damning for an upper class woman who is forced to rely on men to keep her in that position.

Daisy and Tom’s marriage was as hollow as Gatsby’s lifestyle, and not even our protagonist Nick has a grasp on something tangible as he half-wants Jordan Baker. Overall, I was invested in the story line as I find interpersonal relationships interesting; although I had to revoke a star due to the lack of character development. While I recognise that the goal of the writer is to present us these vain characters, I felt that they were too two dimensional and I was hoping that the protagonist would be the redeeming character as the most humble one in the novel. I also felt we were distanced from the protagonist as he shifted into an omniscient narrator at times, it is seemingly illogical that he could see things before arriving physically to the scene. Equally, this narration style facilitates the film adaption of the story. He does have a redeeming moment in the end

as he takes the responsibility of Gatsby’s funeral affairs, he is his only friend,

but he lacks his own backstory and future which is disappointing. Perhaps this is to demonstrate that in the world of the wealthy, money has the power to wipe away a person’s history even if this person is only in proximity to this world. I think Gatsby’s story was sad and I did feel empathy for him, while maintaining empathy for Wilson as well. It was interesting that Gatsby remarks nature as grotesque, the innocent rose a foul thing to him before he dies, but perhaps it is Gatsby that has become internally grotesque and is projecting that outwards onto the world. I have done a bit of tennis with my thinking here, but it is a great story for those who are interested in American myths such as the American Dream, applicable to my own context as the Australian equivalent being “The Lucky Country.”

Warnings: White supremacy, racism, misogyny, anti-semitism (against ethnically Jewish people), murder, adultery.

Content Warnings