周思怡

周思怡《了不起的盖茨比》读后感

周思怡

The Great Gatsby is a diaphanous story on the subject of American dream. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby or James Gaze fell in love with Daisy Fay when he was a poor lieutenant. However, the World Warand Gatsby’s poverty at that time both resulted in separation of the lovers. Daisy married Tom Buchanan; Gatsby arduously started a business and became the millionaire. Gatsby’s love for Daisy is even more unforgettable while Gatsby had become an old joy for Daisy, what she love was nothing but money. Thus, Gatsby’s dream finally broke and died of the betrayal of Daisy.

As far as I’m concerned, the author Fitzgerald’s unique writing perspective in this book makes the characters well-developed, especially for Gatsby. The story unfolds from the perspective of one of the main characters, Nick, who is both a spectator and participant in the story. Whether appearing as a witness or as a hero, the first person narrator will always transform his vision from time to time. In one hand, the emotion and action of Gatsby all present in the perspective of Nick that undoubtedly shapes the image of character more vivid and objective. In other hand, the changing vision makes the story more hierarchical, and most importantly, it fits the theme “dream”, that is to say, being told backwards from the point of view of a spectator, the plot seems like an unreal dream.

  The novel was written in the jazz age, when the First World War ended and the great depression did not yet arrive. The economy is booming and hedonism is flourishing. In Fitzgerald's own words, "it was a time of wonder, of art, of money, of satire." He keenly felt the thirst for romance in this age, as well as the emptiness and helplessness behind the luxurious. So his works often focus on the loss of idealism because he thinks it is an American trait and inescapable fate. The Great Gatsby is no exception. Gatsby is also one of the followers of American dream, he firmly believed that as long as the unremitting efforts to struggle will get a better life. However, in the luxury and dissipation life, Gatsby fell into the darkness and obtained money through improper means. He was eager to regain the love of Daisy, but his ideal eventually became an unrealistic dream, like the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, it’s out of reach. The fall of Gatsby’s dream stands for the tumbledown American dream in that age, just as the end of the story, ”So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

 


2018-07-08
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