The Great Gatsby remains so popular, even in the last ninety years because of its ambiguity, and still current issues (Batchelor 121). Bob Batchelor eloquently expresses why he thinks The Great Gatsby has remained so popular.
“Gatsby stays elusive and adaptable because its real concern is ideas and concepts as cogent now as they were in 1925. Fitzgerald’s themes range from the fulfillment of the American Dream, to the decadence of the wealthy, to economic inequality, to hero worship” (Batchelor 121).
Because the topics found in the novel are so applicable today, the book remains very relevant. Batchelor argues that the stories ambiguity allows readers to use the novel as a reference to measure their own lives and culture (121). With this in mind, Gatsby is still relevant tool in looking at class relations in the past, and even in contemporary society. The Great Gatsby …show more content…
Race and class are undoubtedly referenced in the novel, with whiteness being associated with high-class. The ways, in which a person expresses himself or herself, particularly using language and speech also has the ability to set them apart from those in the lower rungs of society. Education can play a role in developing this type of speech, but appearances are the key to achieving a higher status, or at least that is how the novel seems to portray this. It is not important how a person achieves ‘The American Dream’ as long as others believe they have. Although this is the message, Gatsby’s death seems to be a warning or critic of this dream. Nick concludes that Gatsby “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald 128), perhaps this is a message for the reader to also accept. The motivations that drive people to do what they do need to be questioned, in order to attain a greater understanding as to how class relations integrate in a
“Gatsby stays elusive and adaptable because its real concern is ideas and concepts as cogent now as they were in 1925. Fitzgerald’s themes range from the fulfillment of the American Dream, to the decadence of the wealthy, to economic inequality, to hero worship” (Batchelor 121).
Because the topics found in the novel are so applicable today, the book remains very relevant. Batchelor argues that the stories ambiguity allows readers to use the novel as a reference to measure their own lives and culture (121). With this in mind, Gatsby is still relevant tool in looking at class relations in the past, and even in contemporary society. The Great Gatsby …show more content…
Race and class are undoubtedly referenced in the novel, with whiteness being associated with high-class. The ways, in which a person expresses himself or herself, particularly using language and speech also has the ability to set them apart from those in the lower rungs of society. Education can play a role in developing this type of speech, but appearances are the key to achieving a higher status, or at least that is how the novel seems to portray this. It is not important how a person achieves ‘The American Dream’ as long as others believe they have. Although this is the message, Gatsby’s death seems to be a warning or critic of this dream. Nick concludes that Gatsby “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald 128), perhaps this is a message for the reader to also accept. The motivations that drive people to do what they do need to be questioned, in order to attain a greater understanding as to how class relations integrate in a