I still remember what my book club's most quiet member said about 'The Great Gatsby'

We were at Linda's house last March, and this guy Dave who barely talks in group suddenly spoke up. He said 'Gatsby isn't chasing Daisy, he's chasing a version of himself that never existed.' Nobody agreed with him at first. Everyone wanted to talk about the green light and the American Dream. But his take stuck with me for weeks after. Has anyone else had a quiet member drop something that changed how you saw a book?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_anthony1mo ago

Damn, that Dave guy was onto something real. Most people treat Gatsby like some tragic romantic hero but the guy literally built his whole life around a lie he told himself about who he was and who Daisy was. The green light thing is fine for high school essays but Dave's take cuts way deeper because it's about how we all kinda invent these perfect versions of people and then get upset when reality doesn't match up. Nick even says at one point that Gatsby had this "extraordinary gift for hope" but hope can be just as dangerous as despair when its based on nothing real. Makes me wonder how many of us are running after ghosts we made up in our own heads.

felix_williams711mo ago

Doesn't it hit different when you realize most of us do this with exes or friends we lost touch with too? We build up this whole story in our heads about who they were and then get mad when they don't play along with the fantasy we created.