Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

15 reviews

lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Jay Gatsby is the man who owns everything. But one thing will still be out of his space. Everybody who is anybody visits at his parties. Day and night, his Long Island estate buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously wealthy - always seems alone in the gathering, overseeing and remaining, though no one comprehends what for. Underneath the shimmering exterior of his life, he is concealing a secret: a quiet yearning that can never be fulfilled. And soon, this deadly fixation will force his world to unravel.

"The Great Gatsby", F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920 Jazz Age fiction regarding the impossibility of recapturing history, was initially a loss. Today, the narrative of Gatsby's doomed devotion for the unreachable Daisy is considered a descriptive novel of the 20th century.

"The Great Gatsby" is a novel about the hindered love between a man and a woman on the surface. However, the book's central theme encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. However, all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922. It is set in a circumnavigated geographical area in Long Island, New York. "The Great Gatsby" is a highly metaphoric reflection on the 1920s United States as a whole, particularly the corruption of the American dream in an age of unparalleled wealth and material luxury.

The author describes the 1920s as an era of degraded sociable and ethical values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, desire, and pointless search for amusement. The wild jubilance that showed to decadent parties and fantastic jazz music—displayed in "The Great Gatsby" by the wealthy gatherings that Gatsby throws every Saturday night. Ultimately, the American dream's corruption resulted in the uninhibited desire for money and fun beat more noble pursuits. When World War I ended, the generation of young Americans who battled the war became extremely disillusioned, as the murderous slaughter they had just faced made the Victorian social righteousness of early-twentieth-century America appear stuffy, without hypocrisy. In the aftermath of the war, the dizzying height of the commodities demand led to a sudden, sustained increase in the federal capital and a newfound materialism, as individuals began to pay and devour at exceptional levels. An individual from any social environment could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly wealthy manufacturers and speculators.

The friction between "old money" and "new money" embodies itself in the novel's vast geography: East Egg means the conventional elite, West Egg the self-made rich. Meyer Wolfsheim and Gatsby's future suggest the rise of organised corruption.

The book's primary plotline reflects this review, as Gatsby's dream of loving Daisy is destroyed by the difference in their sociable statuses, his resorting to crime to make sufficient money to ingrain her, and the rampant materialism that illustrates her lifestyle. Besides, places and objects in "The Great Gatsby" have meaning because characters instil them with purpose: the gazes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best present this idea. In Nick's mind, the power to create significant symbols constitutes a central part of the American dream, as early Americans supported their new country with their ideas and ideals. Nick analogises the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.

One of the main topics studied in "The Great Gatsby" is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the recently coined millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country's wealthiest households. West Egg and its locals represent the newly rich in the book, while East Egg and its residents, particularly Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. The author describes the freshly rich as vulgar, gaudy, flashy, and lacking sociable classiness and preference. Gatsby lives in a monstrously elaborate villa, wears a pink lawsuit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and accomplishes not picking up on minute social movements, such as the hypocrisy of the Sloanes' invitation to lunch. In distinction, the old aristocracy maintains grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, embodied by the Buchanans' classy home and the harmonious white clothes of Daisy and Jordan Baker.

However, what the old elite has in taste appears to lack in spirit, as the East Eggers prove themselves irresponsible, selfish bullies who are so used to money's power to ease their reasons that they never worry about hurting others. The Buchanans present this stereotype when they move to a new house far away at the novel's end rather than condescend to attend Gatsby's funeral.

In the world of "The Great Gatsby", class affects all aspects of life, and especially love. Myrtle mentions this about her husband, George, whom she mistook for better "breeding" and hence more excellent opportunities. Also, Gatsby's dream of Daisy is bound up with the class. Only after amassing a considerable wealth does he feel capable of constructing his move. At the end of the novel, class dynamics dictate which betrothal stays (Tom and Daisy), which one is beaten (George and Myrtle), and which one will never come to exist (Gatsby and Daisy). Just the most wealthy couple pulls via the events that finish the book. It seems that the misfortune may have brought them closer. Because of their privileged class position, Tom and Daisy believe that they are immune to the consequences of their actions.

The American Dream directs to a shared collection of ideals that conduct the nature of the United States. These shared objectives include a picture of space that provides all Americans with the chance of upward colonial mobility, as long as they work for it. Gatsby spends his life accepting that if he earns enough cash and receives enough controls, he can transcend his lower-class birth and evolve equally to Daisy and Tom. Yet, even though Gatsby succeeds in achieving capital, he is never taken by the upper class. Gatsby's loss to attain the American Dream means the dream is both an impossible and unwise purpose.

The dreams of love and marriage are profoundly tested in the novel, which centres on two loveless unions: the union between Tom and Daisy Buchanan and between George and Myrtle Wilson. In both circumstances, the marriages appear to be unions of nicety or advantage than true love. Myrtle presents that she wedded George because she thought he was "a gentleman," meaning she hoped he'd raise her rank. Daisy nearly funded out of her wedding to Tom the day before her marriage, and Tom had an affair within a year of the wedding, but the team is well-suited because of their transferred class and lust for fun and material possessions. Even Gatsby's all-consuming affection for Daisy seems more of a desire to possess something unattainable than true love. Nick, meanwhile, dates Jordan Baker throughout the book, and though their relationship has its points of warmth and kindness, both parties generally seem lukewarm and emotionally far away.

Throughout the fiction, places and locations embody the various aspects of the 1920s American culture that the author depicts. East Egg symbolises the old elite, West Egg the newly rich, the gorge of ashes the moral and colonial decay of America, and New York City the vibrant, amoral investigation for cash and amusement. Additionally, the East is related to the ethical decay and social cynicism of New York. In contrast, the West (including Midwestern and northern areas such as Minnesota) is connected to more traditional social values and ideals.

As in primarily of Shakespeare's work, the temperature in "The Great Gatsby" always matches the emotional and narrative tone of the story. Gatsby and Daisy's reunion begins amid pouring rain, proving awkward and melancholy; their love reawakens just as the sun starts to reach out. Gatsby's critical fight with Tom appears on the hottest day of the summer, beneath the scorching sun. Wilson murders Gatsby on the foremost day of autumn, as Gatsby swims in his pool despite a palpable coolness in the air—a symbolic attempt to control time and restore his relationship with Daisy to how it was five years before, in 1917.

Situated at the back of Daisy's East Egg pier and scarcely observable from Gatsby's West Egg property, the innocent light represents Gatsby's longings and dreams for fortune. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and he goes toward it in the darkness as a guiding lamp to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby's goal for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light indicates that more generalised ideal.

The Valley of Ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a lengthy stretch of lonely land formed by the disposal of industrial ashes. It describes the ethical and colonial decay that results from the unrestrained pursuit of capital, as the rich satisfy themselves with regard for nobody but their pleasure. The Valley of Ashes embodies the dilemma of the needy, like George Wilson, who live among the muddy ashes and lose their vitality as a result.

The visions of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a couple of fading; bespectacled gazes painted on an old advertisement billboard over The Valley of Ashes. Though the novel explicitly makes this point, they may describe God gazing down upon and considering American society as a moral wasteland. Instead, throughout the book, Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only have meaning because characters instil them with purpose.

This work of fiction is an absolute delight to read. I may be a bit biased since I have read it in my A-levels and got a good grade for it; however, I do think it's one of the most outstanding awards that I have read, and I do think that everybody should at least have heard of it/read it I never thought that I would be such a fan of this book. Still, I cannot recommend it enough with all the little details the author has put into it, for example, the metaphors or the symbols and even the motives are just beautiful, and every time I read this book, I find something you which is fantastic.

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pelledorso's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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bookishplantmom's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The last time I read this was many years ago in high school. Reading it again as an adult was a totally different experience. I enjoyed it for different reasons than when I was a teen. It’s beautifully written.

Content Warnings

thelavendermenace's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

foxwoodpress's review against another edition

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challenging sad fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Boo this book kinda sucks.

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