Book Report
August, 2019
Title:
The Great Gatsby
Author:
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher:
Penguin Books
Date of Publication:
1926
Genre:
Novel
Summary:
Readers see the novel’s events through the eyes of its narrator, Nick Carraway. He is a young Yale
graduate, and is, in some ways, separate from the world he lives in.
Nick moves to a quaint neighbourhood outside of New York City called West Egg. His cousin
Daisy Buchanan and her unfaithful husband, Tom, live in the old-money neighbourhood across the
bay called East Egg. As Nick spends more and more time with the wealthy couple, they expose
him to the effect of wealth and materialism: corruption. However, though he attends fashionable,
extravagant parties very often, he does not necessarily have a self-indulgent lifestyle.
A while later, Nick meets his neighbour Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is rather queer, but he is unbelievably
wealthy and constantly hosts magnificent parties. Nick quickly becomes selflessly devoted to
Gatsby. However, Gatsby is in love with Daisy and ensnares Nick in his plan to rekindle a lost love
with her, as she left him five years ago due to his low social status.
Gatsby and Daisy secretly restart their affair, but as Tom finds out and is furious over Daisy’s
unfaithfulness, Daisy’s love for Gatsby fades once more. She chooses to stay with her husband as
she values her social position more than Gatsby’s love. To calm herself, Daisy drives Gatsby’s car
home after this incident. She accidentally hits and kills Myrtle, who happens to be Tom’s mistress.
As Gatsby still loves Daisy, he promises to take the blame for her.
Myrtle’s suspicious husband George approaches Tom about Myrtle’s death, and Tom tells him that
Gatsby was the driver of the car. Thus, George murders Gatsby, then kills himself.
Nick is one of only a few mourners at Gatsby’s funeral. Fed up and disillusioned, he moves back
to the Midwest.
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Commentary:
The Great Gatsby is a universal and timeless literary masterpiece. Fitzgerald masterfully describes
his time and shows the hidden failure of his time. The gist of The Great Gatsby is the lifestyle of
the rich in the 1920s and the many reckless attempts to fulfil its deceptive goals through wealth and
power.
The deterioration of the American Dream is the main theme of the novel, as portrayed by Fitzgerald.
The novel captures the atmosphere of the 1920s era excellently, even though the entire storyline
takes place in less than a month. The American Dream was about discovery, as written in Chapter
IX. The 1920s have obliterated this dream as it is now based on self-indulgence and greed.
Fitzgerald’s description of the Twenties is so vivid. I felt the atmosphere of Gatsby’s parties so
clearly. This book is very relatable even today, even though it displays many qualities of the era it
was written in. Today’s society can still be quite similar to Fitzgerald’s portrait of a materialistic,
self-indulgent and immature society that is reluctant to shoulder any responsibility.
I was not won over by the book the first time I read it, but I enjoyed it much more on my second
reading. Even though I have read this book so many times, I could never grow tired of the storyline.
The depth of the novel makes it interesting, so this is undisputedly a good book.
Vocabulary:
Word
1.
supercilious
Definition + Example
Meaning: Behaving as if you are better than other people, and that
their opinions, beliefs and ideas are not important.
Cambridge
English
Dictionary
Example: He was haughty and supercilious, and always acted as though
he was a cut above everyone else.
2.
divan
Meaning: A long, comfortable seat for more than one person that has
no back or arms.
Example: The girls sprawled across the divan, reclining on the cushions
and gossiping about their neighbours.
3.
pessimist
Meaning: A person who thinks that bad things are more likely to happen
or who emphasizes the bad part of a situation.
Example: Olivia is such a pessimist- she keeps moaning that she will
fail her next Maths quiz.
4.
extemporizing
Meaning: Speaking or performing without any preparation or thought.
Example: Sofie is always extemporizing- she shouted at that boy across
the street and got a good scolding from the boy’s mother.
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5.
rotogravure
Meaning: A printing system using a rotary press with intaglio cylinders,
typically running at high speed and used for long print runs
of magazines and stamps.
(WikiDictionary)
Example: Father took me to his printing company last week and showed
me his rotogravure.
6.
libel
Meaning: A piece of writing that contains bad or false things about a
person.
Example: I read a magazine article about my favourite local singer
getting married- it’s just a worthless libel.
7.
sporadic
Meaning: Happening sometimes; not regular or continuous.
Example: Sudden power cuts are sporadic at my block of flats.
8.
denizen
Meaning: An animal, plant or person that lives in or is often in a
particular place.
Example: Jaguars, orangutans and toucans are denizens of the
rainforest.
9.
slander
Meaning: A false spoken statement about someone that damages their
reputation, or the making of such a statement.
Example: The dentist is suing his ex-employee for slander after she lied
that he did not have a university degree.
10. intermittent
Meaning: Not happening regularly or continuously; stopping or starting
repeatedly or with periods in between.
Example: Jane was a professional singer, but she made intermittent
movie appearances.
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