“The Great Gatsby”
My favorite two parts of this movie/book:
The ending: human beings can be ugly; Nick witnessed all of it and Gatsby died from it. Yet at the end, the author writes “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…. And one fine morning– So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” when every reader believes this is a sad story, F. Scott Fitzgerald touches a bit brightness on his palette: after suppressing you through the darkness and heaviness of the story, he tells you the hope never had died. Indeed, it is easy to say “we have hope” when the life is smooth and everything is good. But what really makes *the hope* so precious is that when people get hurt, broken, damaged, they still believe in goodness and the existence of future they long for.
The description of Gatsby’s Love: F. Scott Fitzgerald described himself as: “I’m a romantic; a sentimental person thinks things will last, a romantic person hopes against hope that they won’t”. Once he wrote “I love her, and that’s the beginning and end of everything.” Then it is understandable that he can describe Gatsby’s pristine love so precisely. In contrast to Gatsby’s sophistication and gracefulness in business, he is nervous and humble when facing Daisy. This is one of the very touching moments in the book/movie: Gatsby had planned all the details for meeting Daisy, but when Daisy finally arrived, he had to go out in the rain for a walk, running away. He was uneasy “am I good enough? is this good enough?” he tried to cover his nervousness and then yet showed even more awkwardness.
Speaking of American literature, people easily name Mark Twain, the steam boat and Mississippi, or Ernst Hemingway. This is another representative book that discusses American dreams, poor and rich, lust and mirage of New York City, a very welcomed piece by many Americans.