The Great Gatsby - Freewrite!

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was a book mainly focused on characters living in a world in which they didn’t belong. The characters in this novel were always trying and never actually being what they wanted to be. They were so engrossed with being ‘great’ that their lives shaped according to that very definition.

“It is the business of thought to define things, to find the boundaries; thought, indeed, is a ceaseless process of definition. It is the business of Art to give things shape. Anyone who takes no delight in the firm outline of an object, or in its essential character, has no artistic sense. He cannot even be nourished by Art. Like Ephraim, he feeds upon the East wind, which has no boundaries.”

This is a saying that I came across from an Australian author and poet, Vance Palmer. This is a perfect description of what “The Great Gatsby” characters were trying to do. They were trying to define the word great as themselves, when in actuality the individual is the definition of great. It is our actions and achievements that make us great. You cannot want the money, and the popularly known name, because you know that it is great. Working towards this image will get you attention, but won’t suffice in the end.

Jay Gatsby was born on a farm in North Dakota. His life was simple until he was inspired to become wealthy while working for a millionaire. Gatsby’s entire life was based on trying to get approval from Daisy. He was involved in illegal activities all to obtain the power and money that he thought would win her over. Did he achieve his short term goal? Yes, he was extravagantly rich, his Saturday night parties were famous, and everywhere you went, someone knew who Gatsby was, but he didn’t t win the girl of his dreams, wasted his entire life trying hard to impress people and eventually was killed by Wilson. Gatsby’s life may have seemed ‘great’, but it was all an allusion.

Daisy Buchannan was a gorgeous woman who was loved and adored by the people in her hometown. However, she only felt love for one man-Jay Gatsby. She promises to wait for him to marry her once he returns home, but foolishly marries Tom Buchannan instead. She lives a ridiculous life, never concerned about her daughter, who is mentioned once the entire novel, and is only concerned about material things. She always harbors a hidden pain because she knows her husband Tom is cheating on her. Instead of getting a divorce and pursuing a life that would make her happy, she stays, probably because she is too afraid of what others would think of her. She lived an unhappy life because she was to afraid to be who she wanted to be.

We don’t know much about Myrtle Wilson, except that she feels that marrying George Wilson was a huge mistake, and so she tries desperately to change her life. We now have another female character unhappy with her marriage and won’t get a divorce. She decides on having an affair with Tom. In her mind, this will eventually work out in her benefit, but in reality she is only being used. The way she transforms from her introduction at the garage in the Valley of Ashes to the aristocratic townhouse woman at the apartment is truly remarkable, but not in any form of the definition – great. Myrtle could’ve had the life she wanted if she only waited for someone who would treat her right, instead of trying to be this socialite that she never truly became.

Jordan Baker is a liar and a cheat just like Tom Buchannan. There isn’t much more to add to the characters of the two, except both of them are considered beautiful in some way and both of them try to achieve greatness in the wrong ways.

Finally, the narrator of our story is Nick Carraway. He wasn’t exactly rich growing up, but his family was well-off and there didn’t seem to be any financial worries. His father owned and operated a hardware store that dated back generations and was also a graduate of college. Nick seemed to be following in his fathers’ footsteps by attending the same college. Unfortunately, Nick was attracted to the city life of a bondsman and left home to pursue a career in New York City. There he tries to live out the American dream. He associates with the right people, attends the lavish and widely-known parties, and becomes engulfed in this new lifestyle. Thankfully, at the end of the novel he has an epiphany and realizes that he has wasted his time with these outrageous people and living in West Egg and decides to return home.

Like Ephraim in the quote above, these characters “feed upon the East wind, which has no boundaries”. They see the lavish lifestyles and attitudes of the people living in East Egg and aspire to live like that without any problems or limitations. What they do not know is these people have more trouble and sadness in their life, because of the image they uphold. Without the image, they’d probably all be living simple, happy lives with the people they love. Instead, they become wrapped up in a pretentious world and forget what greatness really is.