The Great Gatsby
is F. Scott Fitzgerald's most popular novel, but he was a prolific
writer with a fascinating biography. His life, in fact, was
probably more interesting than the books he wrote. Few realize how wild
and tumultuous his marriage to Zelda was or how much they partied when
they were together. Their marriage, in fact, inspired his novels, and he
even used her private journals as research in his books. If you really want to be
entertained, research Scott and Zelda's lives.
The novel, The Great Gatsby,
is about lovers -- in a way. On the surface it seems to be about
Jay Gatsby and his deep love for Daisy, a woman he can't forget and
refuses to live without. She's a woman he will do anything to get
back. Tom, Daisy's husband, is caught up in a romance, too, and it's not
with his wife. This is all observed by Nick, the narrator for our story,
who observes this spectacle from the edge of the fray as he tells us the
story.
So this seems more like a soap opera akin to
The Young and the Restless
on daytime television instead of an analysis of the people that lived
their lives to excess during the notorious Jazz Age. What do you
think will happen?
The story should end with Jay holding the
beautiful Daisy and Tom clasping Myrtle. Yes? Nick should end up
with the golfer, Jordan Baker, right? Does it matter
that she's a liar and a cheater? Does it matter that Daisy and Tom
are married? Does it matter that Myrtle is married? That is what this
book questions -- morals.
Set in the Jazz Age of the 1920s,
F. Scott Fitzgerald was disturbed by the debauchery that he witnessed
and that he participated in, even if he enjoyed the joys of the wild
parties he attended. He realized that immoral people would eventually
have the "moral emptiness" harm themselves or those around them. F.
Scott Fitzgerald suffered from this plight himself. Nick, the narrator
of The Great Gatsby, survives the experience. Not
all
of the other characters, however, are as fortunate. Are you
surprised?
Written & Designed by Melissa W. Noel
