The Great Gatsby is a Classic as it Can be Read Time and Again

Even though it has an unhappy ending, The Great Gatsby (published in 1925) is an insightful read. It certainly leaves a mark on one’s impression about the opulent past.Therefore, without a doubt, The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite literary novels. It’s one of those books that’s required reading in high school; however, it's also a book that can be savored anytime in life. Whether you're a high school senior or a grandmother, you'll enjoy the book.

The narrator of the story is a bond salesman by the name of Nick Carraway, who is the “Great Gatsby’s” (Jay Gatsby’s) neighbor and who becomes his best friend. Nick’s small bungalow is nestled between two mansions (one of which is Gatsby’s) in West Egg, Long Island. The story takes place in 1922, a time when America was enjoying a great deal of prosperity. Although Carraway idolizes the rich lifestyle of Gatsby, he shuns the limelight that goes along with it. Nick, who was in the First World War and is a Yale graduate, is the second cousin, once removed, of Daisy Buchanan, who lives in East Egg, Long Island with her husband Tom. Tom, a former football player, went to school with Nick. One day, Nick travels across the sound to visit the couple in their palatial estate.There, he is introduced to a professional golfer by the name of Jordan Baker.
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After the visit, Nick’s neighbor, Gatsby, invites him to one of his weekly parties where people come uninvited as they can always gain admittance to the events. At the party, Nick again runs into Jordan. From that point, he sees more of the golfer while, at the same time, cultivating a friendship with Jay Gatsby. Nick discovers that the idyllic lifestyle that Gatsby lives is funded by organized crime. He learns of this fact when he journeys with Gatsby into the city and meets one of Gatsby’s associates, Meyer Wolfsheim,  an organized crime figure. Nick also discovers that Gatsby is in love with his cousin, Daisy, having met her when she was just 17 and he was in the army. He hosts his gala parties in hopes of running into her at one of them.

Shortly thereafter, Daisy and Gatsby begin a love affair. Nick and Jordan also see each other, although Nick feels, and correctly so, that their relationship will be short-lived.. Unfortunately, Daisy’s husband, Tom, eventually learns that Gatsby loves Daisy and a series of events transpire to bring the novel to a conclusive and tragic ending. Gatsby is shot by the husband of Tom’s mistress, Myrtle, when it’s discovered that she was killed by a hit-and-run vehicle - Gatsby’s yellow roadster.
 
However, Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was driving the car and that’s why they took off at the time of the accident. He didn’t want her to be held responsible for the mishap. Unfortunately, Myrtle Wilson’s husband, George (a mechanic and gas station attendant), believes Gatsby is to blame. It's later revealed that Tom Buchanan tells George that the yellow roadster is Gatsby's vehicle. In response, George obtains a firearm and shoots and kills Gatsby in his pool while he is awaiting a call from Daisy. The gunman then shoots and kills himself. The story ends with Nick leaving this idealized place and reflecting on it in retrospect with a certain amount of regret and sadness.

The theme for the book is one of a limited point of view, represented by the telling of the story by Nick Carraway. With respect to comparison, you can see similarities of this story in the book, The Heart of Darkness, both with respect to the symbolism. At the end of Chapter one, in The Great Gatsby, a green light flashes on Daisy Buchanan's pier seemingly giving Gatsby the hope and encouragement he needs to pursue his one and true love. Adaptations of movies have been made from the book, including an older film starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan.

When he wrote the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald, based many of the characters on people he knew. He obtained his characterization of  Daisy from a woman he had fallen in love with but had never married and Jordan's character from one of her friends. He felt he had failed in the telling of his story at the time although his literary friends hailed the piece of writing. The book never achieved commercial fame until after World War II and after F. Scott Fitzgerald's death in 1940.