The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is an American classic because it portrays a lifestyle that was lived back in the 20’s. The way the book was written accurately portrays such an extravagant, careless lifestyle that many wealthy people, including Fitzgerald, lived. Another reason it is a classic is because it’s all about hope and the American dream. Gatsby’s dream was to be with Daisy in this magnificent house that he had built for the two of them. While it’s no white picket fence, it’s basically a wealthy, more extravagant take on the classic American dream. Another aspect of the story that I think is really important is the theme of hope. No matter what happened, Gatsby still managed to hold onto hope even when it started to flee. While most times his hope was unhealthy, I think it is still inspiring especially considering that he came so far in his life following his hopes and dreams. America is a place where people want to come to follow their dreams and if you take out the Daisy aspect, Gatsby’s life story is about being able to rise up from challenges, such as being poor, and coming out successful.

 Nick Carraway is such an appealing character to the audience for many reasons. For one, he looks into the extravagant lifestyles of Tom and Daisy without any awe. He himself did not grow up into money like they did, but yet he’s not so much as drawn to their fortune like most people would be. He is however in awe when it comes to Gatsby, but this seems mainly because he is such a mysterious man. One aspect to Nick’s character is that throughout the entire movie, he doesn’t seem to care much about anything. We see that he forgets his birthday. His lack of caring can also slightly be seen in his last name “Carraway”. His lack of caring makes him an interesting character for the audience to connect with because the entire movie, he’s almost judging Daisy and everyone for their careless ways, yet he’s being just as careless as they are most of the time.