Title:                   The Great Gatsby

Author:             Francis Scott Fritzgerald

Subject:             English

Assignment:     Writing to an author

Date:                  18-01-18

Introduction

This time I chose ‘The Great Gatsby’ written by F. Scott Fritzgerald. It’s a classic one as I may trust the internet. The story is all about the roaring twenties and always seeing the best in people, even the filthy ones on the front page of the newspapers. The book is made into a film several times. The most recent production is with Leonardo Di Caprio in the lead role of Jay Gatsby.

The assignment I made this time is the book analysis within a summary of the story and the four questions I chose from the list.

Enjoy my interpretation of The Great Gatsby…

Summary

It is the summer of 1922 and Nick Carraway, a graduate of Yale, gets a job as a bond trader in New York. He settles in an upscale neighbourhood on long island, near his niece and her husband Tom. She and the eccentric golf star Jordan Baker welcome him. Nick is mainly interested in his wealthy neighbour, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby stands on the beach looking at the green light coming from Daisy's jetty every day.

Through Jordan Baker, Carraway discovers that Daisy had a relationship with Gatsby in 1917, but from her parents she had to marry Tom. Daisy does not know that Gatsby lives next to Nick. Gatsby wants Daisy to come visit so that he can meet her again.

On Nick's 30th birthday - he, Tom, Daisy, Jordan and Gatsby go into town together. Tom discovers that his mistress[1] will leave the country and that Daisy and Gatsby love each other. When they drive back to Long Island, Daisy drives on to Tom's mistress, who dies. Gatsby keeps this secret. That evening, Gatsby is murdered by Mr. Wilson, the husband of Tom's mistress. Tom told him that Gatsby killed his wife and after killing Gatsby, Wilson commits suicide.

The four questions

If the story you’ve read did not take place in our time, imagine how it would be for the main character(s) to live in our time. Describe what life he / she / they would lead and what choices would be different for him / her / them.

I haven’t read much about the 20s, so reading about the glamorous and lavish lifestyle in Gatsby was glorious. People borrowed money from the bank to buy luxury products. People thrown big party’s and the champagne flowed like water. The shares on Wall Street also continued to increase in value. Because of this, many people thought they could earn money and bought a lot of shares. The people were relieved because the war had stopped and people wanted to celebrate life and the prosperity of the inhabitants increased sharply. But there also were pitfalls, the reclamation, illegal liquor sales and the way people were obsessed with hedonistic pleasures and materials. This story is a very interesting look on what the 20s were like. It shows us the good times and the bad times after world war l.

Nowadays our economy doesn’t need to recover from a war zone, but from a crisis. The people now have learnt from the past.  Borrowing money from the bank has consequences. The parties people throw are smaller and it is inappropriate to show up uninvited. People pay more attention to their expenses and the stock market has changed. The infrastructure has also improved over the years. It would be easier now to travel from Long Island to the city. They could take the train, underground or a car that runs on green electricity instead of oil or petrol. it would also have been a lot easier for Gatsby and Daisy to keep in touch over the years. We have smartphones now, on which we can google almost everything. We can send someone a message whenever we want or just call a friend. If these technologies had existed before, Gatsby and Daisy could have been I a relationship all along and Daisy never had married Tom.

Choose one of the following political figures and explain how they would’ve dealt with the situations the main character(s) faced. Angela Merkel (Germany), Barack Obama (USA), Hilary Clinton (USA), Theresa May (GB), Winston Churchill (GB), Donald Trump (USA), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Justin Trudeau (Canada).

I’d like to see Donald Trump in the position of Gatsby. If Donald Trump discovered that the love of his life was taken by another man he would probably just raise his tax and damned him. But I don’t see him fight as a soldier abroad in the first place. We all know he isn’t fit enough. He should lose a few pounds first. I also don’t think he would buy the house right across hers just to watch the light from the house. He would probably buy the whole street. He would spread rumours about the men who ‘stole’ his girl. Maybe something like #fake man or #fake love. Twitter would definitely explode. He also probably sends the biggest and most expensive valentine gifts to her with a letter written on paper[2]. And make a song for her with trump-ets… that would be hilarious. Donald is also a business man just like Gatsby. On the other hand, he is not as charming as Gatsby. Further I can’t predict how Donald Trump would act in this case.

Explain how other characters affect the main character in his/her decisions and how that affects the story and the life of the main character.

Gatsby always said that he keeps holding on to his dreams and Nick helps him with it. They spend a lot of time together and become friends. Nick actually starts to like the man living next door. And without Nick he probably wouldn’t have met Daisy again. Nick trusted Gatsby and did him a favour without something in return. Nick just invited daisy and Gatsby for coffee. 

Gatsby was a great man and everyone in town knew his name. In the beginning, Nick wanted nothing to do with Gatsby, but in the end, he even arranges his funeral and contacted Gatsby’s relatives.  Only to Nick, Gatsby revealed that daisy was driving in the car when Myrtle was hit. Nick advised Gatsby to leave town but Gatsby wanted to remain close to Daisy so badly, that he stayed. The next day Gatsby’s body was found in his pool and Wilson had committed suicide for the death of his wife and Gatsby.

Tom had told Wilson that the car belonged to Gatsby so Wilson came to avenge his wife’s death

Gatsby was in love with Daisy and had his whole life stippled out with Daisy in it. Daisy told him she loved him, but when they had planned to get away, she chose Tom above it. He started to be a little obsessive with her, but if you have once loved someone in your life, you won’t just let go of it and see her walk away with another man.

What would you say is the message of the story and how does the writer try to convey this message to the readers? (additional: what does this message mean to you on a personal level?)

I would say that the message of the story has everything to do with creating a life in your head and trying to peruse that life. We all have dreams that we wanted to achieve, but you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself and de people surrounding you. The characters in the story are all driven by their own needs and desires to accomplish their own dreams. But just thinking about ourselves isn’t the best way to build up the country after a world war. They are not thinking concerned about anything socially redemptive or anything that would broaden the reach of social institutions to strengthen democratic.

On the other hand, you read a lot about having hope and continue to believe in what you most desire, as Gatsby did in the green light. He believed that if he could reach to the light he could have the girl he wanted.

This story has everything to do with the American dream. Wealth was the American dream. But the fool dust that trailed in the wake of those dreams- the casual, destruction, the cyclical violence, the erosion of altruism- make it clear that at least to Fitzgerald, wealth isn’t simply good. Everyone wanted to have enough money to buy fancy cars and whiskey to crash them. Jay Gatsby was a great man. great people especially must be careful about what they worship

  but it is funny that F. S. Fitzgerald didn’t even know that the great depression was coming but his book sure reads prophecy

[1] The Mistress was called Myrtle

[2] Paper made in Amerika itself