4 ms·

I misunderstood this article as well! Anyone want to let me in on what the book's really about?

• karaterobot 6y ago
  The article doesn't offer a position on that. It just points out the obvious fact that it's NOT about how cool and fun it is to be rich and throw fancy parties, and that understanding the context of the narrator being a returning soldier and member of the lost generation is important.
  • filoleg 6y ago
    >[...] understanding the context of the narrator being a returning soldier and member of the lost generation is important. This was one of my biggest annoyances about how this book is usually presented and taught to high school students. Back when I was a HS student myself (barely a decade ago), I had read that book. While it was a decent book imo, I thought it was overhyped. Mostly because the primary message of the book explained to us by teachers was that it was basically a story about a man who was so deeply in love with a woman who he didn't get to date, he had built great riches and life for himself. And yet none of that extravagant lifestyle could satisfy his desire for her, and it all ends in a tragedy. Something something greed something something green eyes are a symbol of his undying light for her or something. And while the veteran background of the narrator was mentioned by teachers quite a few times, and we were told it was important to know, teachers never went as far as explaining why and how it was important to the story. Or how it was related at all. No connection to the lost generation either, besides it being mentioned once. Basically, the book was treated as a dramatic tragedy about a very quick fall of a man due to his love and desire. At no point when the book was discussed years later with people in real life it went deeper than that. Many years later, I saw someone pointing out what you've just pointed out in your comment online, and the book had suddenly clicked for me. It all started making sense, and I finally understood why it was regarded so highly. If you view the entirety of the storyline through the eyes and context of the narrator's past, it adds a whole different dimension to the story, which not only adds depth, it straight up transforms your entire understanding of what it really was about. The only solid analogy I can think of is if someone described MLK's civil rights movement as a simple protest due to a woman being so stubborn she didn't want to sit in the back of the bus, and her friends wanted to back her up, because they were upset about separate fountains and other facilities too. But once you actually understand what it was about, it completely changes the impact and gravity of what it really was.
    • munchbunny 6y ago
      > Mostly because the primary message of the book explained to us by teachers was that it was basically a story about a man who was so deeply in love with a woman who he didn't get to date, he had built great riches and life for himself. And yet none of that extravagant lifestyle could satisfy his desire for her, and it all ends in a tragedy. Something something greed something something green eyes are a symbol of his undying light for her or something. Oof. No wonder. When I read it during high school, my English teacher specifically talked about it as a commentary on the society of the time, especially about class. I still remember him pointing out that Nick was a Yale graduate (he mentions "New Haven" early) and that we needed to keep in mind the perspective the narrator brings to the story - a background shared with Daisy and Tom, but detached due to coming back from the war. Even if I was too young to fully appreciate what the narrator brings to the story, reading with that understanding really gave the book depth, and it was quite clear it wasn't celebrating any of the characters.
    • marnett 6y ago
      Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” is another phenomenal book which embraces the post-war era and the Lost Generation theme in a much more central way. I highly recommend it!
• toyg 6y ago
  The main point is that it's a critical view of American society of the period, not an ode to it (or to its insticts).
  • solumos 6y ago
    I'm so confused by this article - is that not apparent when reading it? Especially in a high school English class?
    • toyg 6y ago
      People are superficial.
• jl2718 6y ago
  I didn’t get the article either. My take from 20 years ago was that the book is about a moderately successful but self-loathing bootlegger’s extremely elaborate suicide, spending himself to death, the tragedy being that nobody understood or cared; all anybody saw was the party.
• rawgabbit 6y ago
  Fitzgerald is a writer of the Southern tradition that decries the Northern materialistic mantra. Gatsby is a hick from nowhere who attaches himself to a rich man but gets kicked out by the rich man's new wife. An ambitious young man, he improves himself to the point where he becomes a military officer. While in training camp, he meets and falls in love with the beautiful and wealthy Daisy. A WWI hero, Gatsby goes to New York and pursues the American dream of riches. He earns his money through organized crime but still yearns for Daisy. Daisy marries a wealthy man who cheats on her. Anyways, a love triangle ensues and Gatsby ends up getting killed. Daisy blithely goes back to her wealthy but brute of a husband. Traditional analysis says that Fitzgerald's book is a cautionary tale of the corruption-price of the American dream of becoming a self-made man. Another traditional take, is the wealthy elite's stranglehold on power and social status. For me, it was a meh. Gatsby lied, cheated, stole to win his dream girl who only cared about her wealthy life style. Fitzgerald crapped on New York. In the novel, Fitzgerald compared Manhattan to a grotesque surrealist painting. What else is new. Personally, I would choose living in New York over Mississippi or Missouri any day.
  • nickff 6y ago
    I think you may do well to re-read the book's conclusion, from the car accident on.