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I love The Great Gatsby, one of my favorite books, set in the "roaring 20's".
Fitzgerald interestingly and very effectively tells this story through Nick Caraway's narration. Nick is Jay Gatsby's neighbor who becomes his friend and go-between for Gatsby's elaborate plan; to entice Daisy Buchanan, his past lost love, to leave her husband to be with him. Gatsby represents so much that is seductive, but his pursuit of his delusional dream- at the expense of all else- ultimately leads him to his own destruction.
I have often thought about this book's title, and how misleading it can be- "The Great Gatsby". Was he? Or was he an extravagantly wealthy singularly driven man who acquired his riches in a dishonest, criminal way, just to fulfill his selfish desire.
Through Nick's narration we observe the subtly sleazy way Jay Gatsby inserts himself into Daisy's life, expecting her to drop everything (husband, child, status) for him. In his childish way, he thinks he can recreate his past.
Nick is torn- he cares about Gatsby because they are friends; Jay Gatsby has a charming and easy way about him and seems to care about Nick. Is this false? After all, Nick is being used as a lure for Daisy; she is in the more affluent West Egg, Long Island, not far from Nick,(he is also her cousin) who lives in a small cottage next door to Gatsby's lavish mansion in East Egg. This arrangement is a sure way for them to meet and rekindle their love, or more accurately, his obsession.
Nick prides himself for withholding judgment about people, and he does for awhile. He is like a hanger-on, and doesn't object when he is taken to an apartment in N.Y.C. by Tom Buchanan, Daisy's philandering husband, to not only meet Tom's girlfriend, but witness him punch her in the face, breaking her nose. Nick doesn't do or say anything about it. He also begins to wonder about Jay Gatsby's past; how he achieved his wealth, and his obsession concerning Daisy, but doesn't say anything except "you can't repeat the past".
Nick is aware of how amoral, dishonest and phony many of the people who attend Jay Gatsby's extravagant parties are and how he doesn't fit in, but he continues to hang on. Could he also be using Gatsby for his own voyeuristic need for intriguing information and gossip?
The hit and run car crash involving Gatsby and Daisy, resulting in the death of her husband's mistress towards the end of the story confirms Nick's uneasy feeling that these are not the type of people he wants to associate with.
Neither Gatsby nor Daisy seemed too concerned about the death, and neither did her husband. Nick is revolted by this, and even more so when it is apparent that all Gatsby cares about is Daisy.
Gatsby's tragedy comes at the very end of the novel, when it is clear that as a result of his obsession, he has lost his dream, and has no friends except for Nick. I think Nick remains faithful to him because he has no one else, and he saw in Gatsbys obsession a childlike romanticism and hope that he wanted to be a part of.
This is a beautifully written novel; I love the way Fitzgerald uses language to portray the phoniness of Gatsby's wealthy party guests, the humor he uses when describing their appearances, and giving them ridiculous names; Mr. Mumble, the Catlips, the Fishguards, the Smirkes, just to name a few. As a writer, Fitzgerald's social commentary on the 1920's is superb. I also love the way he subtly reveals the strange and almost codependent friendship between Nick and Gatsby, and the end of the story is poignantly sad."