Personal Review

Blog Topic #5: Personal Review

           The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I loved the language of the book - deceivingly simple, but rich at the same time. I also liked the story of the book, as it incorporated many themes and was relatable to real life topics, such as rags to riches, greed, and wickedness. Symbolism was also an intriguing part of the book for me. I personally liked how the green light represented two things: Gatsby's hope for the future, as explained in chapter 1, and the start of America's nation, where the term, "living the American Dream" was born. On the other hand, I did not like how the story was told from a character of the story. I would have loved the book so much better if the story was being told from a narrator who could overlook all things, instead of it coming from Nick, where things can only be told from his point of view. In addition, I would have liked to have seen Gatsby's reaction to Daisy's rejection. Gatsby's death has saved him from heart wrenching pain resulting from Daisy's decision to stay with Tom, but it would have been very interesting to see how he coped with and reacted to their "life together" not even happening.  The most significant part to the book was the message of what money gets for one in the end. In the novel, Gatsby is living the good life, but it all comes down to nothing, as he is killed as a cause of money. It shows that the American Dream does not gain everlasting prosperity and happiness, as it can be easily shot down, a case which was literally shown in The Great Gatsby. In the end, Nick's dream ends as a nightmare because of his criminal methods and because his new, self-made identity was mostly an act. Overall, I did like the book for its incorporation of so many themes, but I thought that it could have been better.