Great Gatsby Essay

Gage Giammarino                                                                           1-4-15

English 11-2                                                                                Great Gatsby Essay 3

        The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, towards the end is an interesting and worth while book. When first reading the book I didn't think it was, by any means, a book I'd be interested in but when all of the stories start unfolding and the truths are revealed it made me want to keep reading. Although time has moved forward since the book was written it has connections to what the world is like now, what we connect it to may seem very different but how the basis of it all is the same. This book should be a required reading because it can be used as an example of most of the important pieces you need to create a decent story. The best part of The Great Gatsby is the extreme symbolism throughout, this can be related to our lives and we can use this to better our own writing.

        All of the characters have a common longing to achieve a certain dream they've had for a long time. Although many changes have been made in the way we think today creating a dream and living your life trying to reach it, is, and always will be a continuity. "He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it." (Fitsgerald, 159) Many people today have dreams that may seem out of their reach and even though the lives of the people in this book may not have turned out the way they expected it shows you can have dreams and no matter how crazy they are you should go for them.

        The most well known symbol through the book is the green light. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is the symbol of Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future. When the light flickers in the movie it shows his faith shaking due to the problems he's facing to try and reach his true love. The message that should be taken from this is that no matter how hard things get if you have faith and keep trying whats supposed to happen will. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." (180) Everyone needs to believe in something and this book represents that, for Gatsby the green light was what he needed and this can be relatable especially to kids in 11th grade because they need to set a goal such as a certain college they want to go to. 11th grade is the perfect time to read this also because they are supposed to think about what they want to do when they get older and people may put down their dreams but they need to follow their dreams no matter what people tell them.