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3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Re-read to measure one year's improvement in English analysis, and to honor my very pretty new copy.
Rating: 4/5
Pages: 164
Started: 2 June 2023
Finished: 4 June 2023
Summary:
On a sunny spring day, rising bonds salesman Nick Carroway moves into a small cottage on the peninsula of West Egg, directly next to the opulent mansion belonging to new-money bootlegger Jay Gatsby. Nick alternates between attending Gatsby's flamboyant and excessive parties and visiting with his cousin Daisy and her husband on the old money-associated East Egg, one peninsula over. As Nick becomes more entangled with Jay Gatsby, more obsessed with the persona he created, he attempts to unravel Gatsby's story.
Thoughts:
I found this book both less touching and more fun the second time through. The best part of reading it was being able to compare my understanding and analysis to that from last year--looking back, Mrs. Housley's impact on my ability to reason my way through a book is incredible. Reading the book was a bit nostalgic; it definitely brought me back to early spring of Junior year, reading on the couch, filming a video-version of one of the chapters. I could distinctly hear the exact cadence that my group-members used to deliver some of the lines. Thinking about that, though, made me realize how play-like the whole book is. The lines feel as if they could easily be delivered on stage, and with the exception of a few scenes, a lot of the book really could have been a play.
Thinking back to my analysis from last year, one of the ideas that I struggled a bit to trace during my first read was the idea of new money versus old money. I understood the basics, that Tom was old money and Gatsby was new. But I don't think I fully understood how Tom was a calm old money foil to Gatsby's desperate new-money wanting, and how Daisy, pure in her white clothes, fit into that dichotomy of riches. Gatsby is a complex book, so I can't say I understand it all perfectly, but I do think that their situation makes more sense to me now. Daisy is feminine, sexual in a youthful and pure way. She is ultimately desirable. Tom Buchanan's old money wealth is a symbol of stability. Gatsby, on the other hand, is the American Dreamer. Rags to riches, makes his own wealth, is the center of 20s debauchery. Yet his ultimate goal, his "grail," is Daisy. In a way, this presents her as the American Dream, a good pure object of desire. Through Daisy's choice to recommit to the stable Tom, Fitzgerald suggests that old money ultimately has more power.
The other thing I struggled to understand while reading last year was the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Now it seems clear that the eyes were part of an advertisement; their being talked about as God is a demonstration of the way that America, both old and new money, reveres capitalism.
The final thing I payed attention to was Gatsby himself, and the ways in which he was centered. Yes, Nick was the narrator, but he was made irrelevant by his obsession with Gatsby. But Gatsby also centers Gatsby; it's not until he knows his life is over that he tells Nick about his past and the creation of the facade of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a persona, and a fascinating one. New money, pink suits, a death reminiscent of Shakespeare's Ophelia. But what struck me most about Gatsby was the futility and impermanence of his life. He made his money but almost no one attended his funeral. The final lines of the novel clearly restate this idea that no matter how hard we try, our fates are inevitable. Old money attains the grail. New money dies a watery death having never really made an impact on the world--the American Dream itself is futile.
Fitzgerald's misogyny is evident throughout this book, which makes it a bit unpleasant at moments, but The Great Gatsby is a classic for a reason. It's writing is clever, it's characters complex, and honestly it is a book I would recommend to almost anyone.
Words:
Meretricious (adj) apparently attractive but having no real value or integrity
Caravansary (n) an inn with a central courtyard
Redolent (adj) strongly reminiscent of
Garrulous (adj) excessively talkative, especially about trivial matters
Orgastic (adj) characterized by pleasure
Quotes:
"Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry" (78).
"He stretched out his hand desperately as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a feragment of the spot that she had made lovely for him. But it was all going by too fast now for his blurred eyes and he knew that he had lost that part of it, the freshest and the best, forever" (138).
This quote felt exactly like that final bus ride back from the grad party. The sun was rising but we couldn't quite see; eyes blurred by tears; inevitably moving forward despite knowing that the past was good and safe and could never be gotten back.