The Great Gatsby

Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby is an immortal classic criticizing the corrupted American Dream in the Jazz Age. Narrated by Nick Carraway, the novel centers on Jay Gatsby, a self-made wealthy man who devotes his whole life to recapturing his old lover Daisy. Born a poor farm boy, Gatsby accumulates fortune illegally just to win Daisy back. He holds countless gorgeous parties across the bay from her mansion, staring at the faint green light at her dock every night as his only hope. Yet Daisy, a shallow and cowardly old-money lady, refuses to abandon her comfortable life. After she kills Tom’s mistress by accident, she lets Gatsby take all blame and flees away without mercy. Gatsby is shot dead, and almost no one attends his lonely funeral. With delicate symbolism including the Valley of Ashes and the green light, Fitzgerald sharply exposes class prejudice and material emptiness. The novel’s final line reveals its core: people chase unattainable dreams forever, yet they are always dragged back to the cruel past. It remains a thought-provoking masterpiece reflecting human desire and social hypocrisy.