The protagonist James Gates, who was born in poverty, rose through the ranks after some hard work and changed his name to Jay Gatsby. While in the army, he fell in love with Daisy, a great lady from the South. However, when he returned from overseas with a military medal, Daisy had married the rich but rude Tom Buchanan. Gatsby bought a luxurious villa on the west end of Long Island, across the bay from the Buchannons who lived on the east end. After reuniting with Daisy, he thought he could relive his old dream, but the reality was not as expected. Nick, the narrator, sees through the cruelty and sinister intentions of the rich in the upper class, leaves New York and returns to his hometown in the Midwest.
Reader comments
Even though he had a fortune of hundreds of millions, Gatsby persisted in the rotten and ruined dreams of the past, and ultimately paid the price with his life. Before he died, Gatsby might still be thinking about Daisy, whom he had kissed on her fair cheek five years ago.
What Gatsby really pursues is not Daisy's love, but a pure and perfect ideal world that transcends the current noisy, impetuous, and empty society. It is the promise that individuals can realize their dreams through hard work. But on the verge of his epiphany, he externalized it into the image of Daisy, the image of love, making that ideal pursuit more concrete and pursueable. To him, that ideal world is the nectar of life, the magical milk, which nourishes him as pure and as perfect as a newborn. However, because it is too ideal and immature (it is an infant state after all), and because the pursuit of self can only be a pilgrimage of one person, it cannot be completed with Daisy or anyone else, so it is doomed to tragedy.
Our pursuit of love and the other half may be the pursuit of a complete self. The other half is none other than our own puzzle piece. We will not be complete because of anyone, we will only invite each other to appreciate each other after we are complete.
I once saw in an excellent essay that the author commented on Gatsby that he was "dazzled by material fame and wealth and ultimately paid his life for it"... Damn it, after reading it, I felt that this was not the case at all. Everything Gatsby did was just for the girl in his original dream. No matter what means he used, no matter how rich he was, he only thought about Daisy... What I saw was an innocent country boy who reached the top with his own efforts. His death was ironic because of the disgusting behavior of the so-called upper class...
Even though he had a fortune of hundreds of millions, Gatsby persisted in the rotten and ruined dreams of the past, and ultimately paid the price with his life. Before he died, Gatsby might still be thinking about Daisy, whom he had kissed on her fair cheek five years ago.
What Gatsby really pursues is not Daisy's love, but a pure and perfect ideal world that transcends the current noisy, impetuous, and empty society. It is the promise that individuals can realize their dreams through hard work. But on the verge of his epiphany, he externalized it into the image of Daisy, the image of love, making that ideal pursuit more concrete and pursueable. To him, that ideal world is the nectar of life, the magical milk, which nourishes him as pure and as perfect as a newborn. However, because it is too ideal and immature (it is an infant state after all), and because the pursuit of self can only be a pilgrimage of one person, it cannot be completed with Daisy or anyone else, so it is doomed to tragedy. Our pursuit of love and the other half may be the pursuit of a complete self. The other half is none other than our own puzzle piece. We will not be complete because of anyone, we will only invite each other to appreciate each other after we are complete.
I once saw in an excellent essay that the author commented on Gatsby that he was "dazzled by material fame and wealth and ultimately paid his life for it"... Damn it, after reading it, I felt that this was not the case at all. Everything Gatsby did was just for the girl in his original dream. No matter what means he used, no matter how rich he was, he only thought about Daisy... What I saw was an innocent country boy who reached the top with his own efforts. His death was ironic because of the disgusting behavior of the so-called upper class...
What a dramatic story [face covering]