The Great Gatsby English Edition 1 The Great Gatsby I Read is the work of the famous American writer F Scott Fitzgerald, which was published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in 2004, with a total of 225 pages.
This book is a novel. This is a story told by Nick about a man named Gatsby. The author told the reader a vivid love story that ended in tragedy. This story can be interpreted in many ways. The disillusionment of the American dream is a theme.
Here are the first four roles. Gates, the hero, has an obsessive love for Daisy. He tried to win her attention, her joy and, most importantly, herself. It turned out that what he struggled for was only an allusion, a shadow and a dream, but his hand could not reach it. He "paid a high price for living a single dream for a long time" (Fitzgerald, 200). Special attention should be paid to the narrator Nick. He is "one of the few honest people" we know in the novel (Fitzgerald, 70). So, we can, first of all, believe his story. As Daisy's cousin and Gatsby's neighbor, he is the link between them. Another function he plays is that as an observer, he can objectively evaluate and criticize our protagonist. Daisy and Tom are a perfect couple. Daisy, though born with beauty, is full of sensibility. "Her voice is full of money" (Fitzgerald, 152). Then Tom is vulgar, both physically and mentally. Tom and Daisy live a lavish life.
The following is the plot of the novel. Gatsby and Daisy love each other. However, Gatsby is too poor to marry Daisy. He went to Europe to fight. When he came back, he found that Daisy had married Tom. He made a lot of money illegally, came to new york, bought a house, and held various parties, which were beyond imagination, in order to attract Daisy's attention. Finally, he learned that his neighbor Nick was Daisy's cousin and asked him for help. Under Nick's arrangement, Gatsby met Daisy five years after their breakup. When Tom learned about the affair between Gatsby and Daisy, he criticized Gatsby for saying that the latter was engaged in drugstore business in front of Daisy and Nick, and asked Daisy to return to his arms. Later, Daisy accidentally killed Tom's lover Mertel while driving. However, Tom told her husband Wilson that Gatsby was Myrtle's lover and killed her. As a result, Wilson shot Gatsby and ended his life. After Gatsby's depressing funeral, Nick decided to go back to the Midwest. After all, Gatsby, Daisy, Tom and himself are all from the Midwest.
When The Great Gatsby was published, T.S. Eliot praised it as the first symbolic step of American novels since Henry James. I like this novel, which is not difficult to understand but not easy to appreciate. First of all, this is a novel about dreams. Young men who have no wealth and future, and perhaps young women, may lack nothing but dreams. However, how to realize their dreams is quite another matter. In chapter 9, we notice that Gatsby's schedule is strikingly similar to Benjamin Franklin's, and then we think of the American dream. As James Therus said, this is a dream. "In this country, everyone's life should be better, richer and more fulfilling, and everyone should get opportunities according to their abilities and achievements" (What is the American Dream). Franklin's generation achieved success through their personal struggle. Unfortunately, for Americans like Gatsby who lived in the1920s, this was never true. Gatsby is indeed ambitious, but he is a hero in an inappropriate era when money is the only criterion for success. Fitzgerald compared Gatsby "with a world that no longer exists, a world lost in the back of time, a world with more promises than reality" (Han Le). It was the dream that deceived him and made him live in misery; It was this dream that even made him die willingly.
In addition to the decline of the American dream, another theme of the novel, in my opinion, is that there is no true love in a world where ruthless materialism prevails. Although "Gates' love for Daisy seems to be the only pure impulse in the corrupt world" (Han Le), his love has no chance to develop. Daisy finally chose to follow Tom, and they escaped, "and let others clean up the mess they made" (Fitzgerald, 222). Regarding love, Fitzgerald said through one of his roles that "there are only the pursued, the pursuer, the busy and the tired" (Fitzgerald, 95). The love between Nick and Baker, if it exists, can also prove this point.
As far as the skills of American literature are concerned, The Great Gatsby can be said to be one of the most perfect works. This is a work that makes good use of symbolism. First of all, the green light at the end of Daisy Pier represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future. This is just an illusory dream, which will never come true. It is no more real than the stars in the sky. Second, the Valley of Ashes symbolizes "the moral and social degradation caused by the unrestrained pursuit of wealth". Third, the eyes of Dr. Eckleberry on the billboard represent "God looking down and judging American society as a moral wasteland". Every symbol has more than one interpretation, so I don't want to waste my breath here.
Then the language of the great Gatsby is worth mentioning. This language is elegant and generous, and can sometimes be compared to the language of poetry. At a grand gathering in Gatsby, "people disappeared, reappeared, planned to go somewhere, then separated from each other, looked for each other, and found each other a few feet away" (Fitzgerald, 44). Then, when Daisy sang to the music in a hoarse, rhythmic whisper, she brought out "the meaning that has never existed in every word and will never exist again" (Fitzgerald, 135). Then Gatsby "reached out desperately, as if he just wanted to catch a wisp of air …" (Fitzgerald, 19 1). I won't repeat more examples. Special attention should be paid to the description of dusk and moonlight scenery.
About our life, how should we realize our personal dreams? With the growth of age, people become realistic. This process is like putting a piece of paper into a glass of water, and the paper is gradually soaked and suddenly falls to the bottom. Then it is like an artichoke flower, peeling off its petals one by one, and finally withering. However, without dreams, what can people have? Pandora's box is opened; Everything flew out, leaving only the hope in my heart. Therefore, hope will always stay on desperate people, even if they have nothing.
Finally, the novel makes me think about what kind of life we are willing to live. All four main characters come from the midwest and live in the east. Many China people come from rural areas and pursue urban life. Nick never felt that he was a part of the East. If Gatsby felt this way, he wouldn't have died. The relationship between rural and urban life is worth rethinking, especially in the context of contemporary China.
I am honored to recommend this novel to my friends. Ernest hemingway, another famous American writer who was contemporary with Fitzgerald, said, "Gatsby is a great book. I have read it twice in the last five years. Every time you read, you will get better "(Hemingway, Gregory). I want to see it twice if I have time.
The Great Gatsby is an important American classic, and Fitzgerald is also regarded as a chronicler of the Jazz Age. Female characters play an important role in revealing the theme of the novel. In particular, the contradiction between Daisy and her aroused my interest, which made me think carefully about why she made such a choice when her ideal met reality.
Daisy was once a lovely, elegant and naive girl when she was "Daisy Fay". Although Gatsby is a penniless underclass youth, she is madly and happily in love with him. But she changed and gradually revealed her dark side. She noticed the importance of wealth and status, so she chose to marry Tom Buchanan, even though she didn't love him as much as Gatsby. Besides, Daisy thinks her daughter is a doll and continues to play with those guys. At last, her former lover Gatsby, a rich and famous man, came back to her. Considering Gatsby's illegal sources of money and his disgraceful past, Daisy finally refused to be with Gatsby. What annoys me most is that Gatsby was murdered because he misunderstood Wilson and Daisy didn't attend his funeral. When her ideal life is disturbed by the cruel reality, she may have many scruples. In fact, when we face conflicts, everyone becomes confused and at a loss. Everyone has his own choice. But the question is how much we can bear when faced with the results after our decision.
The slang "making friends with local tyrants" is very popular now. After we laugh at it, we should think about the hidden reasons for its popularity. With the rapid development of economy, more and more people have lost themselves, just like the younger generation after the First World War. Their value has changed or will change completely. They don't know what is right and what they should do. Some students play online games in the dormitory instead of going to class. In order to cope with the pressure of life, some employees have become workaholics. Some married stars betray their families, but they don't remember their vows. It seems that the whole society has run out of the normal track. So it's time for us to calm down and reflect on ourselves. What is our ultimate ideal, and how can we turn it into reality?
To be honest, no one can live in a society without money. And obviously, almost everyone has realized the necessity of money. Therefore, it is no wonder that people struggle to get more money. But what if the life with a lot of money is different from the life we dreamed of in the past? In my opinion, life is definitely more cruel than we thought, and life can't develop as we designed. We cannot have everything we want. What we can do and what we can change is only ourselves. Our choices, our goals or our attitudes will all affect the final result. The change may be small, but we should believe that as long as you stick to your ideal goal, miracles will surely occur. So, when your ideal is disturbed by reality, don't let your original steps be disturbed. Just follow your heart and be yourself. I believe that you will finally achieve your goal in the near future.
After reading the English version of The Great Gatsby, I am worried, but I need education. I read The Great Gatsby from my paper book instead of online, so it may be a bit strange and lack of comments in my reading history.
After reading this novel, I deeply sympathize with Gatsby. He pursued Daisy almost all his life, but was finally shot down because of Daisy's fault. I also sympathize with Nick. He told us this heartbreaking story. But I believe that everything is doomed, not only his success, but also his tragic and dramatic ending.
First of all, Gatsby is destined to succeed, which is determined by his character. He is an absolute perfectionist, to be exact, a paranoid. He never admits that he is inferior to others in all aspects. In order to achieve his goal, he arranged his life when he was young. He can't waste time on women like Tom, nor can he live a meaningless life like Wilson. His ambition makes him unable to satisfy his ordinary life. After he denied his poor family background and changed his name to Jay Gatsby, he either succeeded or died.
Anyway, he will succeed. I have always believed this, because his character is guaranteed.
I also believe that Gatsby will fall in love with a lady with a prominent background. Because he is a perfectionist, he must long for a charming, rich and elegant aristocrat. Daisy is just a perfect representative, a concrete thing in his dream.
However, Daisy is far from Gatsby's ideal. She is beautiful and charming, but she is also fickle, shallow and hypocritical. She is a careless person. She will break things and hide them behind her money. She made Gatsby take the blame for killing milt Miller, even though she drove the car herself. Finally, Daisy and Tom did not attend Gatsby's funeral, but moved away, leaving no contact address.
Gatsby knows exactly who she is. At the beginning of the novel, he said, "Her voice is full of money." But what does it matter? Without Daisy, the mystery of his life would be incomplete. As we know, he is a paranoid and never lets it happen. He can't restart.
Gatsby's obsession with Daisy and Daisy's personality determine the plot direction.
So, this is doomed.
Not only from the perspective of plot development, we can say that Gatsby's fate is doomed, but also by the writer himself. Technically speaking, Gatsby is not only a fictional character, but also a portrayal of writer Fitzgerald himself. He has a complicated relationship himself. His own experience convinced him that there is a huge gap between the "born" rich and the "new rich".
In his other novel "Rich Boy", he directly expressed his attitude:
Let me tell you about very rich people. They are different from you and me. They owned and enjoyed it very early, which influenced them, making them weak in our tough places and cynical in our trusted places. Unless you were born rich, it is hard to understand.
They think that deep down, they are better than us, because we must find compensation and shelter for ourselves. Even when they go deep into our world or sink under us, they still think they are better than us. They are different.
Because they have experienced poverty and adversity, they always cherish the first attractive thing in life. Some of them even regard it as the highest goal in life, like Gatsby who thinks Daisy is his whole world. When their dreams fade away, they may behave like Gatsby, deceiving themselves to protect the "little green light" in their hearts until their hearts are shattered by reality.
Finally, I want to end with the last sentence of The Great Gatsby, which I think is the most profound ending I have ever read and gives me a lot of inspiration. Gatsby's dream has been behind him since he met Daisy and fell in love with her. So all he did was try to go back to the past against the tide of time, as the ending said:
So we move on, go upstream, and keep going back to the past.