1.Summary
The
Great Gatsby, written as a first-person point of view by a narrator Nick
Carraway, was published in 1925 by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
It's a tragic love story of Gatsby, who ought to
make a fortune to gain love.
Here's the plot.
The background of the novel is America of the
1920s, called the "Jazz Age." After World War I's victory, Americans enjoyed
abundance and luxury, like jazz's sweet melody.
Born as a poor farmer's son, Gatsby craved to
get out of poverty by all means. Gatsby is the symbol of the American dream
achieving something from nothing.
Being a soldier, he met Daisy at a party and
fell in love. Their love contained a tragedy due to the social status gap of
the two.
As Gatsby participated in the war, the two lost
touch, and Daisy got married to Tom. Both Tom and Daisy came from wealthy
upper-class families.
Gatsby, who returned from the war, earned
enormous amounts of money from alcohol smuggling during the U.S. Prohibition
era. Gatsby tried to get Daisy back.
Gatsby bought a mansion in West Egg in the Long
Island Strait near New York City. He threw a grand party every weekend, waiting
for the party-loving Daisy to show up one day.
Gatsby finally met Daisy. He wanted Daisy to
divorce Tom and return to him. Gatsby's love was blind. He could do anything to
win the heart of Daisy.
One night, a woman named Myrtle was killed by a
car, which belonged to Gatsby, but was driven by Daisy at the time of the
accident; Gatsby hid this fact for Daisy's sake.
However, Tom told a lie to Wilson, the deceased
Myrtle's husband, that Gatsby drove the car. Wilson got fury and shot Gatsby to
death.
Daisy traveled with Tom without knowing the
death of Gatsby.
Gatsby threw many parties for hundreds of
guests, but Gatsby's funeral was too lonely.
There was only one mourner at the funeral, an
owl-eyed man who'd been one of Gatsby's party guests.
2.Lessons
In this novel, all messages are focused on the scene of Gatsby's funeral.
In a way, we can say that this novel was written to show the background of
Gatsby's funeral.
Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your minds on
things above, not on earthly things."
What makes Gatsby great? Some would say that his
achievement in the American dream was outstanding, and others would say that
his love was great. But either way, the essence is earthly.
The funeral scene shows the vain ending of their
love that would be gone like fog.
Gatsby, who had devoted everything to Daisy,
ironically lost Daisy and destroyed even himself.
Many of the people who enjoyed Gatsby's party
also disappeared as soon as he passed away.
It reminds us of Ecclesiastes 1:2,
"Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is
meaningless."
Let's ask ourselves: What kind of death do I
want to face? Then how should I live?
The novel ends up with a monologue of Nick, who
is the narrator.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne
back ceaselessly into the past."
If, as Nick said, we can continue rowing against
the current, that'll be great. However, if it is only that, we cannot avoid
another meaningless death like Gatsby.
Wholly and urgently, we must change the
direction. Which way? Towards the Gospel!
