The book that will be reviewed is the famous masterpiece of Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby which has been published in 1925 for the first time. The version I will review has been published in 30 September 2004 in paperback by Scribner Publishing House. This novel consists of nine chapters and 180 pages in all. As the spokesman of the American life in 1920s, Fitzgerald has depicted an inevitable tragedy of Gatsby through his reunion with his first love, Daisy in order to reflect the demise of American traditional beliefs. With the corruption of the Jazz Age, the American Dream is shattered.
The main plot of the novel is simple. Through the mouth of Nick who is the character in the novel, it tells a love story of Gatsby, the protagonist of the novel, with a beautiful rich girl, Daisy. When Gatsby was a lieutenant in a military training camp in Kentucky, he fell in love with Daisy at first sight. But a month later, he was sent to France and has been separated from Daisy for five years. As a result, Daisy has married a rich man named Tom Buchanans. After the marriage, Tom enjoys looking for fun with other women though he and Daisy have a daughter. At the same time Gatsby still loves Daisy. In order to see Daisy again, he has bought a mansion opposite to the Daisy’s house. And Gatsby often holds big parties to attract the attention of Daisy.
Through the help of Nick, Gatsby and Daisy have finally met again. When Daisy has driven Gatsby’s car and killed Mrs. Wilson, her husband’s mistress, she does not hesitate to put the blame on Gatsby. Daisy has escaped with her husband. In the end Gatsby has been killed by George Wilson. The symbolic meaning of the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg “brood on over the solemn dumping ground”(Chapter 2) has been through the novel. This symbol is very important because it implies Gatsby is so blind that he cannot see the emptiness and vulgarity of Daisy, but pursues her as the embodiment of beauty. The so-called beauty and goodness has triggered Gatsby’s tragedy. The disillusionment of his dream has been doomed when he has combined his indescribable ideal with Daisy’s life.
In my opinion, this novel is extremely readable because it is easy to be accepted by the majority of readers, especially suitable for the use as a textbook. Therefore I recommend the book to the high school students to read. The book has a lot of strengths. The writing art is superb, for example, at the end of the book, Nick has spoken some monologues which are brilliant and colorful. It can be said that The Great Gatsby is a book full of well-crafted prose with lyrical words. Moreover the readers can get a rare artistic treat, especially from the description of love and Gatsby’s dream because there is a stream of sorrow that faintly infiltrates between the lines which has revealed the author’s disappointment with the American dream.
At the same time the creation of a harmonious unity of objectivity and lyricism, reality and dream, symbols and flashbacks has made the language and structure of this book extremely rich in meaning and connotation. The most important characteristic of The Great Gatsby is the use of double point of view. From the perspective of Nick, the book gives the reader a kind of “within and without” feeling which has increased the vividness and the interesting taste. It is fascinating that it gives enough room to let the readers consider the disillusionment of the American Dream.