The Great Gatsby

So, what’s the story about? It’s a tale of love during the Jazz Age the roaring 1920s. The novel follows Jay Gatsby, a war veteran who remains hopelessly in love with Daisy Buchanan, his youthful crush. Gatsby devises a highly strategic plan to win her back, using every resource he has. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin, who moves to New York and settles in West Egg, a neighborhood for the newly rich, unlike East Egg, home to the old-money elite, where Daisy lives with her unfaithful husband, Tom Buchanan.

Nick becomes an observer of the extravagant, morally flawed world around Gatsby. Interestingly, you might initially think Nick is the main character, but he’s overshadowed by the larger-than-life Gatsby, whose name the novel bears. Of all the characters, Gatsby is perhaps the only one who comes across as likable. The others seem weighed down by shallow ambitions, selfishness, and obsession with the American Dream selling their souls for the illusion of wealth and fame. By the end, Fitzgerald’s critical tone toward the American Dream will linger in your mind.

“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” – Daisy

Nick becomes Gatsby’s neighbor and accomplice in his scheme to win Daisy back, even though she’s married. But for Daisy, that’s not a major obstacle, her love for opulence trumps any loyalty or principle. Daisy is portrayed as the quintessential beautiful woman who leans heavily on her looks, believing they alone make her special. Like a female Dorian Gray, she idealizes beauty. Before her daughter was born, she even remarked that a woman must be both pretty and naïve to have an easy life. Social status, in Daisy’s view, is her trump card for maintaining superiority.

Gatsby, on the other hand, has amassed his wealth through questionable means, but his heart remains loyal to one love the one he couldn’t have when he was poor. He throws lavish parties just to catch Daisy’s attention, and it works. I won’t spoil the whole story, but Gatsby’s unwavering focus on winning Daisy is both endearing and tragic. His tactics may feel familiar even today: men flaunting their wealth, cars, luxury vacations, fine dining to impress women. But unlike today’s Don Juans, who often pursue multiple conquests, Gatsby’s efforts are solely for one woman. There’s something touching, yet heartbreaking, about that.

“[Gatsby] had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him.”

Gatsby’s happiness with Daisy always feels just out of reach, like a mirage not in the future, but the past. He constantly revisits the past, trying to rewrite the moments he lost Daisy eight years ago, refusing to accept that the past cannot be changed.

Is Gatsby an ambitious businessman deeply capable of profound love, or is he simply a narcissist unable to accept rejection? Does he objectify Daisy, seeing her as the ultimate trophy to crown his success? Or is he drawn to her because she symbolizes the aristocratic status his wealth can never truly grant him? For me, it doesn’t feel like unconditional love, even though he’s built his entire life around her.