The Great Gatsby discussion

[Hel]

Hey,
so do you know good second hand litertature to the Great Gatsby?
And some more questions to discuss about:
What role does entertainment play in the Great Gatsby?
What does Fitzgerald wanna say with his novel? What does he want to reach?
Thank you so much
Helena

[leofab]

For me, the most interesting part of the book was the vision of social classes in the book. Perhaps what Fitzgerald wanted to say was the corruption of the American dream. I felt with the characters development how the life is only appearances and collective approval and the different visions of the American dream that had the characters.
For example the development of Gatsby and his change since he was only a child in a poor family, only for daisy´s love, through materialism and power.

[Jacob Mosiniak]

I found that the most interesting part of the book was how sometimes Nick seems to look down upon Gatsby's decisions, while at the same time Nick looks up to Gatsby. I find this most interesting because it reveals what Nick's character was like. I feel as though it would have been tough for Nick to intervene in some of Gatsby's actions since Gatsby really trusts Nick and shares with him what his life was like. I like how Nick enjoys the nightlife of West Egg but still finds it somewhat destructive to a degree. The last point I want to make is that I like Nick's character as he is an outsider coming to a big city and I feel like his character can relate to a lot of people in the sense of moving from a small city to a big city. I also feel like Nick really adjusted well to the whole atmosphere of a big city like West Egg.

[Megan_Mitchell]

The idea in which Nick looks at Gatsby as if he is God and he is the most important, influential person in his eyes contradicts the idea in which Nick doesn't necessarily disagree with, but then he does seem to go along with the idea in which of Gatsby and Daisy having the affair, so therefore, does he really disagree with all of his actions? I don't think he does disagree with the wrong decisions in which Gatsby makes. There's the idea in which Nick keeps quiet when he knows about Tom's affair with Myrtle and this could then give reasoning for the idea that he would not necessarily say anything, therefore, about Gatsby and Daisy due to the idea in which Nick is very biased towards Tom due to the fact that he is Nick's cousin's wife and the idea that he is having an affair and is not being subtle about it. So therefore, to a certain extent, I can understand why Nick kept quiet about Daisy and Gatsby's affair. In regards to Nick, there is also the idea in which that he can be seen as an outsider due to the idea that he does not have much money, but he is living somewhere in which is surrounded by the rich. This suggests to the rich/poor divide not being as severe as before due to the idea in which they were able to live in the same surrounding areas as the rich.