The Great Gatsby was my favorite piece of literature. First of all, I thank thee God that we read The Great Gatsby in class, as I probably would not have read it on my own. I truly appreciated this literary piece for many reasons. One reason as to why I found the piece enjoyable was that it specified the idea of the American Dream, that if one works hard enough, he/she will succeed. Another reason as to why I liked the piece was because it depicted the harsh reality of the world, that one needs to pay a great price to achieve his/her American Dream. I took great pleasure in reading about Gatsby's smile, one that had a "quality of eternal reassurance" and that "[we] may [only] come across four or five times in life." I liked the thought of Gatsby's smile "concentrated on [me] with an irresistible prejudice in [my] favor [and that] it understood [me] just as far as [I] wanted to be understood, believed in [me] as [I] would like to believe in [my]self, and assured [me] that it had precisely the impression of [me] that, at [my] best, [I] hoped to convey." This illustration of Gatsby's reassuring smile grasped me and my rather uncontrollable emotions to immediately have a soft spot for Gatsby as it seemed all to unbelievable for one to smile and provide a feeling of reassurance in the world of corruption, misunderstanding, betrayal, and confusion. This novel accurately captured money's power to corrupt, destroy, and allow the rich to escape from their consequences. Fitzgerald's depiction of Tom and Daisy proves how the rich were such cold-hearted and materialistic beings - “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” The way Fitzgerald depicts the characters of the book and the way he expressed his thoughts so beautifully on paper mesmerizes me, as I do not have the capability of gathering all of my thoughts and organizing them clearly and forming some sort of or some type of necessary conclusion on my own. Another reason as to why I liked The Great Gatsby was because it introduced me to a new era - the 1920s - with the flappers, the cars, the wildest parties, the stock market businesses, etc. An additional reason as to why I loved this literary piece was Gatsby's profound love for Daisy. I liked the idea of Gatsby's motivation and his quest to reclaim Daisy's heart, but what made me fall in love with the book was not the crazy romance, no, what made me fall for the book was the idea of being so attached to the past, so attached to objects and memories and people you once knew were to be so true, but change as they encounter and accept reality. And lastly, I adore this God made literary piece because of its last two lines - "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 then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," - as it portrays the struggle of trying to transform dreams into reality and when the individual drains all his/her energy and it feels as if the he/she is close to conquering that struggle, the struggles proves that it is unconquerable as it moves farther away and mockingly awaits the individual's next attempt of failure. I find the last two lines so memorable as like the last sentence of an introductory paragraph - the thesis statement- it is what the reader most likely clasps on to. As of now, I consider Scott Fitzgerald to be my favorite author and during the summer, I plan to read more of his books.
