Great Gatsby: An American Story of Aspiration

I absolutely love the Great Gatsby novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s a classic American novel that takes place in the 1920s, the Jazz Age. It’s a story about love, ambition and how a man can recreate himself. To incredible ranging heights. The things a man will do to win the love of a woman. In this case, building a massive fortune, building a massive palace, owning all the adult toys one can have like expensive cars, a hydroplane and throwing crazy parties in the hope that his true love eventually shows up. 

“Young men don’t just drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island.”

I also have enjoyed all the movie remakes, especially the Robert Redford version. But I really did like the one in 2013 by Baz Luhrmann starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I am happy to watch it on all my flights. It’s grand and glamorous, especially the big party scenes. New York is evocative, with the grand skyscrapers, of the alcohol soaked speakeasy parties. It’s indicative of the times. 

“The tempo of the city approached hysteria. Stocks reached record peaks & Wall Street boomed in steady golden roar. The parties were bigger, the shows were broader and the buildings were higher. The morals were looser and the ban on alcohol backfired, making the liquor cheaper. Wall Street was luring the young and the ambitious.” Doesn’t seem like much has changed here has it?

But the drama and dialogue. And the lessons. It’s a tragedy at the end of the day. 

Too much too fast ruins you as it did rich cousin Daisy. She says: “Well, I just think everything’s terrible anyhow. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything. I’ve had a very bad time. I’m pretty cynical about everything. All the bright precious things fade so fast and they don’t come back.”

But at the same time, I love the optimism, the ambition that Gatsby exemplifies. He was: “The single most hopeful person I have ever met and will ever meet.” You can be whoever you want to be. Only in America. True Rizz also known as charisma for you older folks. Using his magnificent imagination and manifesting it into real life. 

I need to be more like this, like when I was younger. More open to the possibilities. It’s so easy to be angry and cynical, considering everything I’ve seen and learned. All the roads I’ve literally traveled and all the terrible people I’ve encountered. 

But this is the trap. This is what ages you. You have to reframe everything. You have to also remember all the wonderful people and things you’ve seen. The happy moments and experiences. You have to believe anything is possible, even now. And then put in the work to improve yourself and the situation. Otherwise what’s the point? 

So the point: be more like Gatsby. Chase the grand dream. “Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge, I thought. Anything at all.”