The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the great American classics. Most people think of it as a beautiful love story set in the lavish world of the top 1% in the swinging 1920s. I’ve heard women swoon over the thought of Gatsby and Daisy’s love, expressing a desire to have such a love story of their own. But the reality is that The Great Gatsby is a sad, cautionary tale in which Fitzgerald condemns both love and money.
[Warning: My review of The Great Gatsby contains some spoilers!]
Love or obsession in The Great Gatsby?
The Great Gatsby is the story of one summer in the 1920s, told through the eyes of Nick. Nick is the neighbor of the great Gatsby himself and the cousin of Daisy, Gatsby’s love interest. Nick himself, while not exactly poor, isn’t in quite the same social strata as Daisy. But thanks to his familial relations and his proximity that summer, he starts to visit with his cousin and her husband, Tom. The thing that strikes him most about his cousin is how unhappy she and her husband are in their lives despite all their money.
At the same time, Nick finds out that he has a neighbor who is quite the enigma. Jay Gatsby suddenly bursts onto the social scene in Long Island from out of nowhere. He has more money than he knows what to do with and a past that is pretty much all speculation and stories told by the elite. No one knows who he really is or where he comes from, but they’re more than happy to come party at his house every weekend.
When Nick finally meets Gatsby, he isn’t sure what to make of him. He doesn’t really like him, but he doesn’t exactly not like him either. Regardless, he finds himself pulled closer and closer to this mysterious man. Then Gatsby reveals the reason he needs Nick so bad: He’s desperately in love with Daisy and needs Nick to arrange a meeting.
It turns out that years ago, Gatsby courted Daisy. But he had no money at the time, and then the war pulled them apart. But Gatsby never forgot Daisy, and he did everything he could to make himself worthy of her. Now he finally feels like it’s time. The fact that Daisy is married and has a child doesn’t seem to matter to him. He is caught up in a fantasy of running away with Daisy, no matter the cost. And the cost turns out to be very high indeed as people and lives are left broken and discarded in the wake of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom’s affairs.
The Great Gatsby is a reflection of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s real life
What many people don’t know is that The Great Gatsby takes a lot of inspiration from Fitzgerald’s real life. Fitzgerald was a midwestern boy (like Gatsby), his wife, Zelda, was a rich southern belle (like Daisy). They met before the war and kept in contact through letters while he was off fighting. Her mother didn’t think he was good enough for Zelda, writers don’t make money (just like Gatsby wasn’t good enough for Daisy).
Unlike Gatsby and Daisy, Zelda waits for Fitzgerald and the two get married, but it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for them. They join the hard partying world of the rich and famous in the 1920s that Daisy and Gatsby would have felt right at home in. By all accounts, they loved each other, but love wasn’t enough. They cheated on each other and their relationship ends rather sadly, although not quite as dramatically as Daisy and Gatsby.
This classic novel is a tragedy, not a love story
After reading The Great Gatsby and learning about Fitzgerald’s personal life, I’m pretty confident that he loved his wife desperately but didn’t actually believe in love at the same time. I don’t think Fitzgerald knew the difference between love and obsession. Based on most people’s feelings about The Great Gatsby, I don’t think that most people do either. Real love is being happy for the person you love, even if they aren’t with you. Blowing up their life to try and make a fantasy of your own come true isn’t love. And that’s exactly what Gatsby and Daisy do.
Admittedly, Daisy isn’t exactly happy in her life before he shows up. She doesn’t have a connection to her daughter and her husband is a cheating jerk. Both these things were very common in her social class at that time though so (and I’m not saying that makes it okay, far from it) she shouldn’t be surprised by them. Before we pity Daisy too much, let’s remember that she is a grown woman who chose her life. She could have waited for Gatsby, she could make an effort to spend time with her daughter instead of pawning her off on a nanny, and she could try to have a relationship with her husband. She chooses to have an affair of her own and blow everything up in a very dramatic and devastating way.
And Gatsby isn’t better with his choices. Rather than cast himself as a white knight sweeping in to save Daisy, he should have let her go and found a new princess to love. Instead, he aggressively pursues Daisy, right in front of her volatile husband. Even when it becomes obvious that things aren’t going to end well, Gatsby continues to push for the fantasy that he’s built for himself all these years. He never considers anything other than what he wants.
Honestly, he doesn’t even really consider Daisy. He just assumes that she feels the same way. In reality, I think she was bored and wanted a diversion. As soon as she realizes the repercussions of her choices, she seems less than enthusiastic to continue. Only Gatsby continues to push for the ending he’s already crafted in his mind. He never does get what he wants and when the story comes to its sad and messy conclusion, Daisy and Tom slip away like nothing ever happened and everyone else is left to pick up the pieces.
A condemnation of money as well as love
Most people think of The Great Gatsby as a love story, we’ve already mentioned that. The next thing that comes to mind is the glamour of the 1920s before the crash of the Great Depression. The interesting thing is that most people think of The Great Gatsby as celebrating this glamour, but the truth is very different. What Fitzgerald’s story does best is highlight the selfishness and emptiness of the upper class.
Gatsby throws giant parties every week, but no one really knows who he is or what he wants. He doesn’t have any actual friends. Even Nick, who reluctantly becomes his closest friend, doesn’t really like him all that much. Daisy and Tom have a perfect marriage from the outside, but they can’t actually stand each other. Both are having affairs and their daughter is a forgotten accessory.
The rich characters in Fitzgerald’s tale don’t seem to actually care about anything other than having a good time. Ironically, they never seem to actually be enjoying themselves. Even when they do the most awful things under the guise of self-indulgence, they never seem to actually be happy. Fitzgerald’s message seems to be that neither love nor money will make you happy, and chasing either will end in tragedy.
But even the poorer characters in The Great Gatsby don’t seem happy. Tom’s mistress is from the working class, and she enjoys spending his money, but she isn’t really happy at their parties. It feels more like she’s trying to convince everyone that she’s happy. And Tom’s refusal to leave Daisy and elevate his mistress to wife ends up destroying her.
Nick isn’t exactly poor, but he is compared to Gatsby or Daisy, and he too spends his days in perpetual boredom and discomfort. Honestly, Fitzgerald takes a really bleak outlook on life and wraps it in a sparkly package for readers. It seems like most readers don’t bother to go deeper than the wrapper and walk away with a rosy view of glitzy parties and true love. But I walked away shaking my head at the selfishness of people.
The Great Gatsby is a quick read that can make you think… or not
The Great Gatsby is an American classic that everyone should read, if for no other reason than to be able to relate to an important cultural touchstone. It’s a short book that can be easily read in a day or two, so it won’t take much time. What you get out of it, though, that’s up to you. You can focus on the parties and the love story and leave it at that. Or you can look deeper and find more meaning.
Fitzgerald didn’t believe love or money would bring you happiness. In fact, I don’t think he thought that happiness was something you could ever reach. He thought that happiness was nostalgia. By looking backwards, we found happiness and no matter how hard we tried we’d never get there again. It’s a pretty bleak outlook and not one I agree with, but in Gatsby’s world, it was true.
Rating: 7/10
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is available wherever books are sold. This book has been adapted to film and as a musical. For more information on this Broadway show and how to get tickets, visit the official website.
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