Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Tragedy of an Era

Although I saw the movie of the same name starring Leonardo in the cinema a long time ago, I didn't seem to see anything except the gorgeous and extravagant scene and a stubborn love fool. I took it as an ordinary, not excellent vulgar love movie and let it go in a hurry.

Until last week, I finished reading this book (translated by Deng), and I was so impressed that I almost fell in love with this writer-Scott Fitzgerald! I have read more than n reviews about this book and Fitzgerald's life. I watched Leonardo's movie again, and there was a movie 1974. It is said that this novel has been remake five times! What can be seen on domestic video websites are the two versions I mentioned. Comparatively speaking, the actors in the 1974 version seem to be closer to the original work, but the exposition of the theme is very insufficient; Leonardo's version, if you haven't read the book, you will think it is a romantic movie, but it is actually much better than the previous version. If you are careful, you can still see that it uses extremely exaggerated scenes to help reflect the lash of the original work to society. So, I think, if we only compare these two versions, Leonardo version will win. Of course, no matter how good it is, it can't compare with books. For me, movies are just a pastime, just for watching. If you want to get the true meaning, you still have to read books.

(A) the author and creative background

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896- 1940) in 1924, published in the United States in April 1925, until he was 28 years old. Fitzgerald, like Gatsby in the novel, lived a luxurious and upper-class life. His first love, Vaneva King, and his wife, Zeldia, provided continuous inspiration for his creation. Their combination should be the prototype of the heroine Daisy in the book.

Some people say that Fitzgerald is a modern American novelist, second only to Faulkner and Hemingway. Unfortunately, he is far less famous than those two (of course, this only refers to his fame in China, and it seems that he is also very famous in the United States). He has many titles, such as "Jazz Age", "Roaring twenties" and "Lost Generation". This era refers to about 10 years from World War I to the Great Depression, and it is also the most enjoyable and enjoyable era in American history. Fitzgerald, with his genius, showed the sorrow of people in this era to future generations. The Great Gatsby is one of the classic works.

The story is not complicated and tortuous, and it is basically a one-line story. Below, I summarized the transition.

Rise: Gatsby, a poor boy, is bent on progress. After becoming an officer, he fell in love with Daisy, a rich daughter. Gatsby went abroad to fight, and Daisy promised to wait for him to come back, but she failed to withstand the pursuit of millionaire Tom and the pressure of her family and married Tom. Gates was very sad after the game. Later, he became rich through various shady businesses, bought a mansion on the other side of Daisy's new home, and held a huge party every week. In fact, it's just to attract Daisy's attention and look forward to seeing her again.

Cheng: Daisy's cousin Nick happened to rent a room next door to Gatsby. Gatsby invited him to hook up and finally met Daisy. Daisy is addicted to Gatsby and love and his flashy house.

Gatsby laid his cards on the table with Tom and asked Daisy to leave Tom. Tom exposed Gatsby's illegal activities in public, which embarrassed him. Daisy flinched when she realized Gatsby's disgraceful social status. Anxious, Daisy accidentally killed Tom's lover Mertel.

Tom hinted to Mertel's husband George that Gatsby was the murderer. George took revenge on Gatsby, and both of them died. Few people attended Gatsby's funeral except Gatsby's poor father, and even Daisy didn't say anything.

(2) The conception of the novel

This tragic personal story reflects 19 the widespread money worship and moral decay in American society in the 1920s, and the author virtually lashed them.

In fact, I used to be confused about the conception of the novel and the "greatness" in the title of the novel.

Because Gatsby is obviously a sad figure, he can't afford to be great. Although he was self-disciplined and determined to get ahead, his goal of getting ahead is to point to endless money and unreachable upper class after all. There is vanity in his yearning. I don't think faithful love is the only reason for his demise. I think daisy just played a big role in boosting. Even without Daisy, he would still go to that decadent society.

Such people are engaged in unknown underground speculation. Even though he has desperate courage, persistence day after day, and unswerving devotion to love, in the end, he is still a sad person who yearns for the vain world. He has not really seen through the true meaning of equal love, nor has he the spirit of pragmatic accumulation of wealth. Why does the author become a bystander Nick in the story and praise him greatly, saying, "All of them add up to nothing." Even named it The Great Gatsby? What's wrong with him? Is it great to run to your dream purely and firmly, even if it is a stupid mistake?

These problems have been bothering me. Fortunately, I soon figured it out.

In fact, according to the current concept, Gatsby is certainly not great. Modern society and healthier values have also encouraged the birth of many people like Gatsby who have the courage to pursue love, dreams and careers. Therefore, some of his qualities at the moment, although beautiful, can be advocated, but at most it is a 65438+ million+official WeChat account tweet, with many tweets. After one, it is not a person who touched the times. Because after all, the starting point of his pursuit itself is not so glorious. However, back to that society, that materialistic era, that era when everyone worships money, can't see morality and ignores right and wrong, Gatsby is completely a wonderful work. These qualities above him are enough to make Nick ignore any flaws in his original starting point.

This is the first reason to say that he is "great".

Second, he is a poor soul, clean from the inside out. With his strict demands on himself since childhood, innate perseverance and intelligence, no matter what humble career he started from, he should be able to become a better and better person as long as he studied both inside and outside. He has the potential and conditions to become a truly "great" person. But in fact, he didn't do it at all. Even without the tragedy caused by Daisy, he could not have done it. Like others of his contemporaries, he was materialized. He can't see love clearly He doesn't know what a person really wants to pursue. He has no correct values at all! He is worse than you and me now. What a pity! Isn't it a pity? He wasted all his talents and efforts.

So how did this happen?

Isn't this caused by that terrible society and that era? They buried the seedling of an excellent young man alive. So, when I read the topic "The Great Gatsby" again, I felt sad. I realized it was a satire. It means that society has killed a sorrow that could have become a great man.

Only when I realized these two points did I understand the idea of the novel.

(3) Other characters and plots

Of course, the subtlety of this novel is definitely not just because of its title. When I realized the intention of the novel and recalled other characters and plots in the novel, I found that the author certainly didn't just write Gatsby, but other characters and plots in the novel also served this theme.

Nick Daisy's cousin, Gatsby's neighbor.

Nick is an extremely important part of the whole novel layout. He strung together the stories of Gatsby and Daisy. He is Gatsby's only true friend. He is also the narrator of the story and the starting point of the third perspective. He is also the spokesman of the author Fitzgerald, who uses this role carrier to convey the values of the novel.

In addition, the author assigned some other personnel and tasks to Nick.

He was born in a famous wealthy family in a midwestern city. He is the son of a noble family and the descendant of the duke. Nick mentioned incidentally that "he sent a body to body double to participate in the Civil War" when talking about the founder of the family line. This short sentence also satirizes the absurdity and falsehood of the so-called aristocratic family.

Nick went to the east where Daisy and Gatsby were located because he was immersed in the excitement of the counterattack of the world war. When he got home, he couldn't settle down to work. He felt that the midwest seemed to be on the verge of the collapse of the universe, and everyone he knew seemed to be doing the bond business. Therefore, he also wants to go to the East to study bond business. This is written from the side. The whole society is impetuous, and the real economy is no longer attractive. They like the rapidly expanding financial industry. Nick is just one member of this wave that has been pushed to learn finance.

Nick is not a dude, he seems to be in the middle. A traditional dude like Tom Buchanan is willing to take him to have fun because they are college classmates and in a similar class. But at the same time, Nick is willing to live alone in a country house with a monthly rent of only $80, where he studies hard, invests and regains his literature. This compatibility in him is the basis of his later string of Gatsby and Daisy, and it is also the reason why he can become a true friend of Gatsby. Because he was not corroded.

The author also arranged a short-term girlfriend for Nick. She is Daisy's friend-a female golfer with some masculine qualities. For a while, they seemed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but after the car accident in which Mertel was killed, Nick left Jordan voluntarily. In retrospect, I never thought Nick loved Jordan. At best, their affection for each other is just a good feeling, and they even seem to be playing a game in response to Daisy's joke of fixing them up.

I'm not sure why the author made them a pair, but maybe it was to show some contrast. This relationship between them seems to be between Gatsby's infatuation and Tom's pleasure. This once again proves Nick's golden mean. Nick's breakup also symbolizes his ultimate betrayal of that class.

Daisy Gatsby's dream lover

I don't like Daisy. This is not because the story is over. From the moment she appeared, I felt a kind of frivolity. She exaggeratedly described "I'm so happy, I'm going to be paralyzed ..." It was only because she met her distant cousin Nick. She also assured Nick that the person she most wanted to see in this world was Nick. The author also tells readers through Nick's mouth that Daisy likes to whisper just to bring others closer to her.

You see, Daisy looks like this. The author does not directly describe whether her appearance is prosperous and beautiful, but first describes her personal style, which is not popular with readers.

When you read the whole article and think back on this, you will feel that Gatsby is worthless and ruined himself for such a woman. This obviously makes the tragedy even sadder.

Of course, this is inevitable. Gatsby was born in poverty, and Daisy was the first "aristocratic family" he knew. For him, the whole house in Daisy's house "has a fascinating mystery", which, in my opinion, is the mystery of high society. Besides, Daisy is so sentimental, how can Gatsby not fall?

Daisy, on the other hand, seems to have some self-pity and pity for herself and her contemporaries. On the first day I met Nick, when talking about her daughter, she said, "I'm glad to be a girl. I hope she is a fool-this is the best way for a girl to be a beautiful little fool in this world. " Isn't she talking about herself? But this sentence reveals that she has always been unwilling, but has no intention of resisting the old ideas of women in the whole society.

When Tom criticized the Baker family for not letting Baker run around single girls, Daisy coldly ridiculed Tom: "Who shouldn't?" This shows that her thoughts are not old-fashioned, and she can accept and perhaps envy a "new" woman like Baker, but at the same time, she has no courage to make substantive changes to herself who is obviously caught in a painful marriage. The most is to become a dissatisfied housewife and make a few complaints.

So, she is a weak person, a vase.

Daisy is still an unhappy person, and even Gatsby has never brought her real enrichment. She has been lazily enjoying the bubbles floating on it, the flashy world and the flashy love. She doesn't have the courage to really taste the reality below, so she can't get real happiness.

What made such a daisy? Daisy, obviously, was just one of the many rich women of that era. It is the whole society that creates empty women.

Tom-Daisy's husband

He has affairs everywhere, but he still confidently says that he loves Daisy. Because it's normal for these people.

He thinks that he can still love his wife even so. He knows no more about love than Daisy. His definition of love is to take, not to give.

He knows his wife well and knows that exposing Gatsby's past will make her back down.

He despises these upstarts. Before the investigation, he smelled Gatsby's class This shows that he is a born hero.

Shortly after Tom appeared, the author mentioned the book he was reading-The Rise of the Colored Empire and his paranoia about race and color. Obviously, this has defined Tom's representative significance in the book from the beginning. He is the most deep-rooted, staid and traditional upper-class fan of all characters.

When he treated his lover Mertel, he forbade her to mention Daisy's name, and even slapped Mertel on the nose. This plot undoubtedly tells readers that although Tom has a lover, he doesn't take her seriously at all. This is not love, but a game. He looked down on these women in his bones, thinking that their lower background was not worthy of being compared with the wives of the upper class, even though he didn't love Daisy.

Jordan-golfer, Daisy's friend, Nick's girlfriend.

Like Nick, this is another middle-class figure.

There are not many plots dedicated to Jordan. One is the rumor that she moved the ball in the game, and the other is the sophistry after she hit someone with her car. Nick realized the reason behind her arrogance: hopelessly dishonest because of her competitive spirit. Although they are all the golden mean, Jordan's characteristics are in sharp contrast with Nick's. Nick says his own virtue is honesty. The difference between them also implies that the two middle figures will eventually go in two directions. Although Jordan helped Gatsby in this process, she didn't hate him as much as Tom did. She was also a representative of a new woman, but in the end, she chose to stand with Tom and Daisy at the end of the novel.

That is to say, externally, this maverick, professional and trendy female individual is only new on the outside, but she still can't surpass the class in her heart.

This is the difference between her and Nick. Perhaps it is also the reason for the appearance of this role, which forms both contrast and irony.

George-the owner of the garage

He is a good man, a self-reliant man and a poor man.

He wants to run away from home with his cheating wife, and he wants to avenge his dead wife. These ideas are almost as persistent and unshakable as Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy. These ideas are very reasonable, and so is his life, but this society has been destroyed by such reasonable people.

He killed Gatsby, but we don't seem to hate him.

Because his life is also a tragedy, another murderer killed his life.

That murderer is exactly what each of them can't fight-society.

Myrtle-George's wife, Tom's lover

There is a plot in the novel, Myrtle bought a dog, and she was still a bitch. What's the use of this plot except that the dog chain eventually became the fuse for George to find out that his wife was cheating?

I didn't think clearly either. But it seems vague and interesting. Mertel bought a bitch, while Tom bought Mertel. Mertel buys dog food for dogs, while Tom buys clothes for Mertel. Mertel can't understand Tom, nor can the dog in the smoky apartment understand those people.

Mertel is a vain and exaggerated woman. You see, not only the upper class is full of arrogance, hypocrisy and deception, but also the poor. Mertel learned arrogance, hypocrisy and deception without a teacher.

In the novel, these people are the representatives of most people. It seems that they are the normal masses, but Gatsby and George who are single-minded have become wonderful works.

Catherine Myrtle's sister.

This character seems to be as vain and exaggerated as the sister described above.

In the last part of the novel, when the cause of the car accident was almost embellished by the yellow tabloids, she swore that her sister had never seen Gatsby, and that her sister and her husband lived happily and never acted improperly.

She told half the truth and half the lie. Then the case ended with George being "insane" because of her confession.

I'm a little puzzled as to why she answered like this. Maybe it's better for her to protect her sister's good name?

Of course, I think that shaping Catherine's personality is not the author's focus here. The author's point of view is to tell us how absurd the investigation result of this case is!

The world seems to be unable to distinguish between true and false, and it is manipulated by an invisible artificial hand.

Michaelis-George's neighbor

This is a good man and a poor man. Give George company and help when he breaks down. Finally, he gave a true testimony about George's doubts about his wife, although this testimony didn't play any substantive role. Because the testimony of honest people is not as credible as that of acting Catherine.

Here's a little irony.

Owl-eyed man-the only guest who came to the funeral that drunk Nick met in Gatsby's library.

The author doesn't describe him much.

He praised Gatsby's real book and was very surprised that no one came to the funeral.

This shows that he is different from those guests. In his values, everyone should come to the funeral. It seems that he thinks books should not be decorations.

So, this character is a real person, but unfortunately, he is also a hangover.

The author arranged such a minor nobody, but did not miss the opportunity to express irony again.

People like Tom and Daisy who seem to be awake all day will never wake up. But people who are really sober inside can only drink every day.

Black people-witnesses of car accidents

Only one sentence mentioned this pale, well-dressed black man.

But why did the author arrange for a black man to report the accident to the police that it was a yellow car? I always think that the use of colored people here has something to do with the rise of colored empire that Tom said at the beginning.

This black man is a man who stands up and tells the truth.

Several real people in the novel: Gatsby, George, Michaelis, Owl-eyed Man, and Black People, except Gatsby, are all people at the bottom of society, and Gatsby was once a bottom person.

(D) Mysterious narrative structure and metaphor

At the beginning of this article, I summarized the turning point of the story. But the novel does not start from the cause of the story, but from the "inheritance". The author deliberately buried two suspense: first, why Gatsby held a luxurious banquet; Second, who is Gatsby? These two suspense run through the whole story. The first suspense was revealed in the "commitment" stage, that is, Gatsby asked Nick to help arrange a meeting with Daisy; The second suspense, until the end of the story, after the car accident Gatsby revealed everything to Nick.

The whole story reads like a hook, hooking us all the way until we reach the finish line of shock and sigh.

I guess this is the structure formed by the author after careful consideration and fine polishing.

In addition, the author used several symbols repeatedly in the article. They not only increase the mystery of the novel, but also greatly increase the depth of the novel.

Valley of ashes: a symbol of the lower class that is incompatible with the upper class.

Doctor's big eye billboard: in George's words, it is God's eyes, and God is here to see what is happening.

Green light: It's a dream, it's a belief.

(E) Enlightenment of human nature

Teacher Fu Ruchu said that there are three realms of good literary expression: readable, sensible and thoughtful. If we can also inspire readers to think about life from the text, think about life, and even don't understand life, it will be a higher fourth realm.

Although that era has passed, those human natures are not far away. The selfishness of Daisy and Tom, the vanity of Mertel and Catherine, and everyone's indifference still surround us all the time, even ourselves.

Therefore, even if we don't talk about its significance of the times and only talk about human nature, this novel can be handed down across the times. It is still warning us.

(6) Doubt

What I didn't understand in the novel was Mr. McKee's design. I don't understand why he is said to be a little feminine, and I don't understand the purpose of a short plot in which he is wearing underwear and Nick is at the bedside. I read in some book reviews that McKee is gay.

I haven't understood the meaning yet. I'll learn it slowly when I watch it next time.

Another question is that compared with the male characters-Gatsby, Nick, Tom, and the female characters in the novel-Daisy and Jordan's faces are somewhat blurred. They are not as vivid as male characters, just like a real person around them.

As for the heroine, Daisy, who is also an important role in the text, I always feel that she is still a little vague. I don't know whether the author intentionally blurs her or whether the author is better at portraying male characters.

(7) Beautiful language.

There are countless beautiful sentences. I noticed that the author would write a special note and make a short excerpt:

The afterglow dispersed, and every ray of light left her with reluctant sadness, just like a child leaving a street full of joy in the twilight.

There is a few feet of dusk between them.

The lights are flickering, as if the house is flashing at night.

The messy clothes on the floor were soaked by the wet moonlight.

March 9(th), 2022