Fitzgerald’s novels are well-knit with exquisite and fancy writing style. Other famous writers including Thomas Stearns Eliot, Ernest Hemingway and Haruki Murakami gave a high appraisal to his writings. His works include Tales of the Jazz Age (1922), The Beautiful and Damned (1922), All the Sad Young Men (1926), Tender is the Night (1934), etc. The Great Gatsby (1925) is not Fitzgerald’s first novel, but it outweighs any of the others. Its publication in 1925 established Fitzgerald’s position in the history of modern American literature and made him the laureate of the Jazz Age and one of the leading writers of “the lost generation”.
The Great Gatsby tells a story about an American young man who destroys himself in his pursuit of his love, wealth and American Dream. Gatsby is the protagonist of the novel. Under the historical background of the Jazz Age, men and women indulge themselves in fortune and fame, firmly believing that nothing is more important than being invited to parties every night. In such an era, people tend to be perplexed by the illusion of glamour. Gatsby included.
Born in a poor family in the Mid-West, he is ambitious and makes his fortune by bootlegging alcohol. As one of the emerging capitalist class, he owns a great deal of fortune and holds party almost every night in his grand villa, with the intention of capturing the attention of his beloved, Daisy, and regaining her love. With the help of Nick, Gatsby and Daisy fall in love again. Though Daisy has turned into a selfish and vain woman, Gatsby still clings to her, holding an illusion that Daisy would stay with him regardless of anything. Finally, Daisy is involved in a murder case while Gatsby chooses to take the blame for crime. In the end, he is reported by Daisy’s husband, Tom, and is shot by the victim’s husband.
Gatsby’s tragedy exemplifies the corruption of American Dream. Perplexed by his obsession with Daisy and misinterpretation of the American Dream, the young man is doomed to perish. The contradiction in Gatsby’s character prompts him to behave in a way that gradually leads him to nowhere. Without a clear and comprehensive understanding of Gatsby’s character, we may find it hard to fully understand the whole writing.
4. Conclusion
The story of The Great Gatsby is enchanting. Apart from the glamorous depiction of the Jazz Age, the characterization of the protagonist is doubtlessly another highlight of this great novel. Gatsby's image is impressive to all readers. By portraying Gatsby as a man of contradictory personalities, who gradually heads for self-destruction, Fitzgerald aims to illustrate how the Jazz Age impacted people mentally and psychologi
