APEL DLR

Day 1: What did you like about Gatsby and why?

I liked how "The Great Gatsby" was written from the point of view of Nick rather than an outsider. This gave the reader the feeling of looking in from the outside but also being a part of the story. Nick is the most honest and trustworthy character of the entire group of characters, so the fact that the book is written from his perspective rather than Daisy's or Tom's point of view makes the book much more enjoyable. It is hard to know at first whether the characters in the Great Gatsby mean well, but by the end it was clear that Nick was the only character that wasn't superficial and obsessed with money.
 I found the love triangles to be very cleverly set up throughout the "Gatsby" because it gave the book more depth and mystery. Everyone in the group of characters was connected in some way, which interested me the most when reading. I found it humorous that Tom Buchanan, while having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, also expected Daisy to love him. Daisy and Tom Buchanan were the most interesting characters in my opinion because they basically defined the Jazz Age and how the people who lived in the East Egg acted.
 In my opinion, "The Great Gatsby" was very well written and the characters were well developed but varied from one another, which made for an interesting read.

Overall, I did not like "The Great Gatsby." While it is considered an American masterpiece, I found the book to be rather boring. Not much important happens until about halfway through the book, so I was already bored of the book and had a negative attitude toward it before anything really happened. I literally fell asleep several times while reading the first few chapters of "Gatsby," which is usually a sign that I am not enjoying a book. To add to the boring introduction of the book, none of the characters seemed very intriguing to me; they all just seemed rather superficial. Tom and Daisy are obnoxious rich people, Jordan is a pretentious rich person, Gatsby is a lovestruck rich person, and Nick is a boring, slightly-less-than-rich person. A lot of the book is just chit-chat during teatime or at parties, which in my opinion does not make for an interesting novel. The basic plot seemed to be Gatsby trying to take Daisy away from Tom in a rather overt, not very well thought out way: yelling to Tom that Daisy never loved him, which ultimately fails. Then people die, which is always fun, but I did not feel attached enough to Myrtle, George, or even Gatsby to even care about their dying. None of the characters were interesting or likable enough for me to care about him or her, which usually results in my not caring for the book. Overall, "The Great Gatsby" had a rather simple plot with boring characters, and I really did not enjoy the novel at all.

Though at first I did not like "The Great Gatsby", as soon as more characters were introduced to the book I started really enjoying it. Most, if not all, of the characters had many layers to their personalities and it was interesting to see how they were all connected to each other. I found it odd yet funny how most characters were deceitful in some way yet they judged others for doing similar things, like how Tom was so upset about Daisy's relationship with Gatsby yet he was seeing Myrtle. Although I enjoyed the book, it did feel rushed and I think it would have been more entertaining if it had been longer and we had been able to learn more about each individual character. I felt like there was a lot of reading before getting to the main plot and that a lot of the information was not very important to the book. Overall, the plot was short and simple but it was still comical and interesting, though I would have enjoyed more detail about the character's personal lives.

One of my favorite aspects of "The Great Gatsby" was the suspense around Gatsby's name. During the book, Gatsby's past became a recurring plot point that confuses the characters and causes them to spread untrue rumors about him. As the reader, I also was very curious about who Gatsby really was, and how he had acquired his vast wealth. Furthermore, I also enjoyed the romance in the novel, as both romances (Daisy and Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom) involved infidelity. This added to the secrecy and depth of the novel. The final thing I enjoyed about the novel were the symbols. The most intriguing symbol to me were the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg in the Valley of Ashes. These eyes, to me, represented a higher being looking down on all events that occur in the Valley.

I found it intriguing that Nick is the narrator rather than Gatsby. The situation reminds me of how Dr. Watson narrates throughout his adventures with Sherlock Holmes. The outside view towards the character of focus, which in this case is Gatsby, provides different insights into the characters. Nick, claiming to be the most honest of everyone around him, provides what could be viewed as the most valid observations and criticisms. I felt that having Nick as the narrator is much better than having Gatsby. Imagine what biased thoughts Gatsby would have conveyed during his possible rants about his ideal relationship with Daisy. While reading the book, I was a bit uninterested in the characters. Most of them seem to be various personalities of the wealthy upper class, and Nick's criticisms seem a bit too obvious at times (derpy, if you will). I don't have any specific examples in mind, but perhaps that just shows my dislike towards most of the characters. I did, however, find Gatsby to be quite a fascinating character. To me, Gatsby seems like a character devoted to his dreams/goals and works tirelessly to achieve them, and this is what makes Gatsby "great." Through sheer hard work and unerring determination, Gatsby reinvents himself completely. Daisy is also a huge influence in Gatsby's life. Seeing her as a women who emanates an aura of wealth and luxury, Gatsby strives to become a wealthy man so that one day, Daisy will see his wealth and fall in love with him. What makes Gatsby so interesting to me is his devotion to Daisy, whom he views as the perfect woman. Gatsby saw Daisy's wealthy and aristocratic lifestyle in the past, and because he desires to have such luxuries, Daisy becomes his is else woman, especially since he fails to see Daisy's fickle and shallow personality. Her true colors shine when she admits to loving Tom and when she lets Gatsby take the blame for killing Myrtle. Ultimately, Daisy simply cannot rise to Gatsby's expectations, and this hurts Gatsby. The final crushing blow is Tom and Daisy's sudden departure before Gatsby's funeral. Overall, I think that the book deserves its status as a classic. Although some characters weren't particularly well-developed in my opinion, there were certain aspects that piqued my interest. The story supposedly reflects some of Scott Fitgerald's opinions of the Roaring Twenties, and that's important to keep in mind when reading the book. The plot was a tad bland to me, but the underlying significance of everything that happens is quite profound.

In considering all of the strong and weak points of "the Great Gatsby", I did overall enjoy this decorated novel. I truly liked this novel because despite my contempt for many of the characters, each person within the novel piqued my interest in a different way. I loved to hate Tom's bold, racist, and arrogant personality from the moment Nick introduced him at the dinner in Toms massive East Egg home. Tom was not the greatest and most honest of guys, but his controversial ways made him an interesting addition and a perfect display of the corruption and wealth within the highest class in the nation during the 1920s. I absolutely despised Daisy after her selfish abandon of Gatsby, but her flimsy and careless ways made me question her depiction of the society as a whole and long for her to grow up and take responsibility for her actions. I despised the Buchanan family from beginning to end of "The Great Gatsby," yet they truly contributed to the intrigue and appeal of the novel as a whole. Every novel needs a crook and the title of villain, and it was refreshing that in this novel, the villain was not Gasby or Meyer Wolfsheim, two relatively shady individuals, but two of the most high-class, unsuspecting people in not only Long Island, but the nation as a whole. While I mostly hated the Buchanans, I loved Gatsby and my ability to look past his shady past, avoiding judgement, and loved him for his naive outlook on life and endless devotion to a dream that included Daisy. Gatsby emulated the American dream despite his obtaining this dream by questionable means. The contrasting characters within "The Great Gatsby" made it one of my favorite books of all time.

I really enjoyed "The Great Gatsby" mainly because of the way F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s through his use of language and style of writing. The wonderful and twisted fictitious plot of the story kept me intrigued while I saw Fitzgerald's view of the '20s from the perspective of the narrator, Nick. Nick's role in the novel was crucial in gaining the reader's perspective of Gatsby as an eccentric, glorified, wealthy man who had a mysterious past. The novel almost seemed like a mystery story at times, pulling me into the story as if I was a first person observer, then taking a dramatic turn, like Gatsby's death. With this mysterious appeal of the novel, I was able to enjoy the characters and watch them grow emotionally and intellectually as the web of characters grew larger and more intertwined. Finally, the symbols in the book created an intense reading experience for me. The affect they had on the novel was helpful to say the least, understanding what characters were feeling when certain symbols would arise like the color green, or the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. Overall the novel was an excellent one, easy a new favorite to add to my pile of classics.

"The Great Gatsby" took awhile to grow on me; however, once I got deeper into the book, I started to enjoy it. I found that the characters in the book had similar attributes to people that I interact with in my own life. The characters in the book were incredibly superficial and self-centered. Many of the guests that came to Gatsby's parties had no relationship with him, but were rather there for their own enjoyment. These people act as if they know him, but do not care about his well being. In my own life, I find that people act as if they care about you, but are more focused on what one owns or whom one knows. Tom acted incredibly self-centered when he decided to have an affair with Mrs. Wilson. He was thinking about his own satisfaction rather than the people he was hurting. In reality, I interact with people similar to these characters on a regular basis. This book became more enjoyable as I was able to relate to the situations that were occurring in "The Great Gatsby."

As I gradually got further in The Great Gatsby, I kept searching for the plot, for the meaning of the story, for some profound piece of advice that would connect the meaningless affairs and the raucous parties. I never found it. Of course, there were some messages in the book: do not obsess about someone for years when the affection is not returned and affairs often end in disaster. However, many people know these messages intuitively or at least are taught them since birth, except apparently the characters in this novel. The mark of a fantastic story is when the reader finishes the book and spends hours contemplating what he or she has read. The truly remarkable story will make the reader come out of these hours of contemplation with some new insight, some new idea that he or she learned from the book. I found that The Great Gatsby lacked this interest for me. It did not change my view on the world or help me grow in some small way. It merely confirmed my preexisting beliefs on affairs and obsessive love. Some may have enjoyed the frivolity of it, the way the whole book was concerned primarily with superficial matters. However I find that I prefer to read books that help me to grow.

In general I did not like The Great Gatsby. I found the writing to be extremely creative and descriptive which I liked. Despite the writing I was unable to care about the characters who I found extremely superficial. Tom Buchanan is a former football big shot who somehow manages to attract a wife despite his fidelity issues and a mistress despite his abusiveness. The reason is clear, he came from wealth and he’d gone to a good school. Though Daisy falls in and out of love with her husband she stays because of the financial security and the respect his money earns her. While she would be perfectly well off with Gatsby she would rather be a somebody by association than an unknown, which was unclear to me. Her family was also wealthy, a good family, she could have gone with Gatsby or stayed single and supported herself yet she felt the need to attach herself to Tom. Myrtle is obviously in love with Tom’s money. She hates her husband because he can’t buy her expensive things and she hates Daisy because she believes that she is the only thing standing between her and all of Tom’s money. Nick, true to his word is honest but he also kind of fades into the background when telling the story. He hangs around with snobs and frauds and never asserts himself. Before he can come to the obvious conclusion that these people aren’t worth his time, he has to watch the goings on of two affairs and plan the funeral of an acquaintance. When he mentioned not criticizing people in the beginning he seems to mean forming no opinion at all. He says at the beginning of the book that he doesn’t know his friends well and throughout the book he gets to know them very well, and even when he doesn’t like what he sees, he does nothing. Gatsby’s life is a series of little schemes designed to win Daisy’s affection. He remembers a few meetings in the past where puppy love undoubtedly grew between them and sets out to regain that feeling, though as the narrator kindly pointed out, “You can’t change the past.” Gatsby stridently insists that you can and attempts to do so, convincing himself that Daisy never loved her husband. All his efforts get him is dead. For my part I don’t understand the fascination with Daisy. Even Nick, who’s her second cousin, is incredibly interested in everything she says and the way she says it. I was disappointed at first to learn that Gatsby wasn’t some amazing mystery man, merely a fraud, but then I was irritated when I found that the object of his affection was Daisy. She’s obviously too superficial to know that what she felt for him wasn’t love. She was content to sit back and let him take the blame for killing Myrtle. If I loved someone I wouldn’t let them take the fall for a crime I committed. Jordan was a manipulative liar, and last but not least, George for some reason loved his wife. I didn’t understand why, she seemed horrid to me, but he loved her, so much so that he killed Gatsby and himself, as if he had nothing to live for without her, when in all honesty he had everything to live for without her. To add insult to injury, he shot the wrong person. The saddest part of the book is obviously the funeral, not because Jay Gatsby is dead, but because no one attends his funeral. He socialized like it was his job, had many “friends”, but in the end, no one comes to his funeral, not even Daisy.