This quote describes Gatsby’s character arc perfectly, he spends the entire book chasing after his dream girl not knowing that it was too late to rekindle their relationship and he was so focused on the girl that he failed to appreciate how much he already had. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an amazing book because it has great use of symbolism, criticizes the American dream, and discusses the impact of wealth.
The book uses symbolism numerous times, however, my favorite use of symbolism in the book is the green light. When the green light first shows up at the end of Daisy’s dock, Gatsby is reaching towards it. This shows how the author uses symbolism for foreshadowing Gatsby’s attraction to Daisy because later on in the story, it’s revealed that Gatsby wanted to rekindle his relationship with Daisy.
The novel explains how the American dream is the longing for success and a better life but is misunderstood as the accumulation of wealth and a high social status. Gatsby embodies this because he is a self-made millionaire and has climbed his way up to a high social status, but even after all that, he still isn’t satisfied and chose to have an affair with a married woman because of their past relationship. This supports the idea that the American dream is corrupted by greed. The characters in the book who pursue this dream are never satisfied and always want more.
The Great Gatsby also discusses the impact of wealth and how it corrupts. In the story it shows how wealth reveals someone’s most negative qualities. In the story, Daisy only has an affair with Gatsby and leads him on because of his money, Tom’s lover, Myrtle, only has an affair with him because of his money, Gatsby shamelessly shows off his wealth, and Tom is arrogant and prideful. This proves how money easily reveals how shallow and materialistic some people are. Daisy and Myrtle only have an affair because of the riches they get and Gatsby and Tom only have those affairs to use these women.
Critics might argue that the characters are underdeveloped. None of the characters in the story actually become better people or have a better life, not even the narrator Nick. This can make them boring to read about because they make the story seem pointless. However, that is the point of the novel. It’s a satirical take on 1920’s America, it’s meant to be a critique on the social class, the American dream, and society as a whole. The characters don’t get better because of greed and corruption.
To summarize, the great use of symbolism, the critique of the American dream, and the commentary of the impact of wealth makes The Great Gatsby an amazing book. It uses symbolism to foreshadow Gatsby’s love for Daisy, exposes how the American dream is corrupted, and serves as commentary on how wealth corrupts. While the characters may seem underdeveloped, the author does that on purpose to serve as social commentary on 1920’s America.