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A Poplular Novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Decent Essays

The Great Gatsby is a very popular novel, and today nearly all critics agree that it is a great one. But what makes it great? What elements set it apart? Many novels are so poorly written that they are never even published, and most that are published do not sell especially well. Of those that have good sales, good reviews, or both, most are soon forgotten. But a few become a permanent part of our literature. In the beginning of this novel, Nick caraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a wealthy but not fashionable area populated by rich people. Nick is unlike all the other people in West Egg, he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg. Nick’s next door neighbor in West Egg is a strange man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a huge Gothic mansion and throws parties every Saturday night.
Great things that make a book great are subtle and complicated. Perhaps some of them are indefinable. But we can at least touch on some of the basic elements that make the Great Gatsby what it is and on some of his meanings it has for perceptive readers. One can read the Great Gatsby easily and enjoyably without careful analysis. His essential story seems simple enough.
Yet readers who stop to ask themselves exactly why they enjoyed the novel, what makes it work, will find themselves looking at a very complex book that means much

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