Closing Reflections

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Pages 163-180

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther..." (Fitzgerald, 180).

For as much of a lavish and acquaintance filled lifestyle that he led, Gatsby had a relatively pathetic funeral. I use the term 'acquaintance' because the attendance of his ceremony showed the lack of people who actually cared for him. I felt bad for the man. He was constantly used throughout the entirety of his life and has little to show for it in death. At least his father still cared for his son, who, in his eyes, could not be more successful or a bigger source of pride.

As Nick narrates the end of the story, I found a bit of truth in his contrast of the East and the West. He claimed that even though Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and himself liked the East, there was always a little bit of their home within their perceptions of who they were. I felt a very strong connection to this section because entering my senior year, I will be beginning on a new chapter in my life. Moving away from home to continue my education in college, I can only hope to cling to my roots and not let the exciting new surroundings change the person that my home had spent so many careful years shaping.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was easy to read, yet it contained many truths about life symbolically hidden throughout the story. It was far more interesting than The House of Mirth, and the language was much more comprehensible.