New York in the roaring 20’s
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald[1]
New York in the twenties, need I say more? The flapper parties, the endless fun, the culture and the romance, it has it all. This culture is the one Fitzgerald lived and thrived in, together with his wife Zelda. This is also the culture in which the story is situated. The story is all written from Nick Caraway’s point of view.
He is a young man, attempting to make his way in the new society of New York. He moves into a small house next to a giant mansion. This mansion is not just any mansion, it is a party hot ground as it would seem. There are giant parties every week, always hosted by the mysterious mister Gatsby. He only ever invites a few people to his parties, and the rest always finds a way into the party anyways. Eventually Nick also gets an invitation, which is when he actually meets his mysterious neighbor, who is not entirely what he seems.
Jay Gatsby seems to have everything he wants: money, wealth, parties, booze and plenty of activities to see him through the day. However, there is one thing missing in his life: a woman. And Jay Gatsby does not just want any other woman, there is only one woman he is interested in. Daisy Fay Buchanan is the second cousin of Nick Caraway, Jay Gatsby’s neighbor.
Daisy and Jay met years ago, before the war and had a short but vivid romance. However, Jay had no money and Daisy was a wealthy debutante. After a while, she got tired of waiting and married another man, Tom Buchanan.
Jay gets Nick to arrange a meeting between him and Daisy, where they meet again for the first time in many years. Jay has always been dreaming of Daisy, imagined every aspect of their life together and in doing so, the real Daisy is almost a disappointment. Yet, they find a way to be together, despite Daisy’s marriage to Tom. The story evolves in such an interesting way and ends, well quite literally, with a bang.
The ending shows us that real friends are a rarity, impossible to find and that in the end, all we have are our friends. Money, wealth, parties, it all does not matter in the end. Like so many other books, the Great Gatsby not only shows the lifestyle in the roaring twenties, it also begs you to consider more. Take the story with you, allow it to consume your mind for a while, and come out with new and quite refreshing idea’s. This is what makes classical books so strong: they beg you to consider more than what they have told you. While the story of Jay and Daisy might have ended as tragic as the end of that of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, is that any reason not to enjoy the book. You know the song is going to end, yet you enjoy the music, don’t you?