Like many others, initially, I thought The Great Gatsby was a novel about the rich during the Roaring Twenties where people partied every day and drank like crazy; however over the course of the novel, I began to realize that The Great Gatsby had some deeper meaning that rich, drunk people partying. Although I have not completely understood the meaning of The Great Gatsby, I hope that as we discuss more about the novel in class, I can understand the true meaning of it.
From the three different articles, I have learned a wide range of pre Gatsby history.
The first interesting point made by The Denver Post was that “a group of publishing executives created the Council on Books in Wartime in 1942 to distribute cheap paperbacks to soldiers to boost morale.” and one of the novels distributed was The Great Gatsby. From all the soldiers in the military reading Fitzgerald’s novel “to take their mind off the war”, it helped the novel become a success in the future. Ironically, since The Great Gatsby was unsuccessful during that period, it was cheaper to buy so getting these copies of the novel in bulk was cheaper than getting a popular novel; however, since The Great Gatsby was loved by many of the soldiers, the military “propelled [the novel’s] postwar recognition as a great American novel.” It was interesting to learn that the novel had a great impact on the soldiers’ post war plans. According to The Denver Post, many soldiers went “back to college after the war.” Fitzgerald’s novel was not only a good read, but it also inspired soldiers to pursue an education after war.
Sadly, since Fitzgerald died in 1940, he died thinking that he was a failure and could not write a successful novel; however, in reality, his novel was a great success to individuals all around.
In the other two articles, Maureen Corrigan talks about her personal experiences with the novel and how the meaning of the novel changed over time. My first impression of the novel was similar to Corrigan’s. She thought that The Great Gatsby was “not a plot-driven novel and I also thought..it’s another novel about rich people.” In my opinion, some of the events that occur in the novel are interesting and towards the end of the book I thought the book was interesting and was sorta like a drama with all the different affairs and events that occur throughout the novel between the characters. A point that Corrigan made in her article was that “the message [in the novel is] to be the boat against the current, even though failure and death inevitably await you” which is basically “the doomed beauty of trying.” This stood out to me because the interpretation was one that I have not heard of and was accurate to the novel. Her interpretation took many years and she reread The Great Gatsby approximately 50 times, but as time goes on and as you reread the novel, you will come up with a deeper understanding of the authors intentions.
All in all, the articles broadened my mind over the meaning and history of The Great Gatsby.
Melissa's Blog 