Great Gatsby Book Review Speech

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- Prepared Speech- – grade 10-O – 10/11 August 2022 -A.

Ahmed- ____ _______________

THE GREAT GATSBY


The Great Gatsby, The book, not the sandwich, is a tragic novella by F.Scott Fitzgerald that was
written and set in the 1920s in New York. Fitzgerald takes the reader to the heart of the post
world war 1 age when America was economically prospering and everyone was in search of
their American dream.

The book is filled with flawed characters which make the story seem a lot more real and
relatable. We experience the novella through the eyes of Nick Caraway, a young man who was
a soldier during World War 1 who moved to New York to work in bonds. He befriends his new
neighbor, Jay Gatsby and helps reunite him with daisy, Gatsby’s one true love and nicks cousin.

Jay Gatsby is the protagonist. He’s an incredibly wealthy and mysterious man. Nobody seems to
know how he made his money or where he’s from. Most people know him from the lavish
parties that he throws every weekend yet most of the guests don’t even know what he looks
like. As the book progresses, we see this mystery of a man unfold and we learn more about
Gatsby. We learn that instead of trying to escape to a better future like most protagonists,
Gatsby tries to recapture the past and reignite the love between him and Daisy Buchanan.

Daisy is Nick’s cousin, a popular and beautiful woman. She is quite shallow and fickle at times
yet she remains Gatsby’s sole love interest throughout the book. Gatsby idolizes her in a way
that prevents him from seeing her flaws. She had a relationship with Gatsby before the war and
she promised to wait for him while he served but because of her desire for love and wealth, she
married the main antagonist, Tom Buchanan.

Tom comes from a wealthy family and provides for daisy but his character is laced with sexism
and racism. He openly has an affair with a woman named Myrtle yet becomes outraged at the
thought of Daisy loving Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby’s whole storyline focused on the possibility or rather impossibility of
recreating the past. In the beginning of the novel, we barely know anything about Jay Gatsby
but as we see the book progress we see Nick become more involved and intrigued by Jay
Gatsby and his love for Daisy. We see Tom Buchanan as the “main antagonist” but we learn
that anything in the way of Gatsby and Daisy’s love could be considered an antagonist.
Classism, society and capitalism could all be seen as antagonists but I believe that the most
prominent antagonist is time itself. Gatsby is in a constant battle with time throughout the
entire book.

The story begins with Nick caraway moving to West Egg in New York to work in bonds. He
meets his neighbor Jay Gatsby, a self-made man who we see admiring a green light across a
dock. We later realize that the light belongs to the Buchanan household and symbolizes hopes
and the American dream. To Gatsby, it represents the love of nicks cousin, Daisy. We learn that
Gatsby and Daisy shared a romantic past years ago but because of Daisy’s desire for wealth and
unwillingness to wait for Gatsby while he served in the world war, she married Tom Buchanan,
a man of old money. Nick meets Myrtle, Tom’s mistress during the rising action of the book.
After being informed of Gatsby’s love for Daisy, Nick arranges a tea party for Daisy, Gatsby and
himself. This is where the two falls in love once again.

Gatsby and Daisy are briefly happy together despite Daisy’s marriage. Nick is drawn into their
romance yet he can see the difference between the idolized version of Daisy that Gatsby had
made up in his head and the real daisy that we read about. This could mean that Gatsby isn’t
just after Daisy but also after what she symbolizes. A dream, an American dream to be precise.
The theme of the American dream is extremely prevalent throughout the entire plot of the
great Gatsby. Gatsby become wealthy and moved to west egg but was it to be close to daisy or
was it to be closer to his ideal life?

During an outing with Tom, Daisy nick and Gatsby, Gatsby confesses his love for Daisy,
convinced that Daisy will do the same and run away with him but to his disappointment, she
cannot. Gatsby is faced with the possibility that his American dream may not be attained yet
chooses to believe that Daisy will ultimately choose him.

The great Gatsby is in my opinion a literary gem. I truly felt as if I was there in the roaring 20s
with Nick and Gatsby. The book is only about 170 pages yet it was one of the most compelling
books I’ve ever read. This was my third time reading the book and I’ve found that I enjoyed the
book more each time I read it. My favorite part of the book has to be the closing paragraph
which I will now share with you.
And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s
wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had
come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that
he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him,
somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of
the republic rolled on under the night. Gatsby believed in the green light, the
orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s
no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one
fine morning—— so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly
into the past.

This paragraph was probably the most meaningful paragraph in the great Gatsby. We’ve
already established that Gatsby was in a constant battle with time which gives the closing line a
whole new meaning. “Boats against the current” could not only be referring to the current of
water but also current as in the present, which in my opinion makes this closing paragraph, the
most well written ending to a book that I’ve ever read.

The great Gatsby is definitely one of a kind although I found that it could be compared to
Romeo and Juliet for more reasons than one. Both books were filled with romance, drama and
especially tragedy. What I found interesting is that both, “the Great Gatsby” and Romeo and
Juliet showcase the impossibility of escaping fate. We see characters in both books try their
best to fight reality but end up with the same outcome. Both books are laced with symbols and
underlying messages with imagery and writing comparable to poetry.

Although the great Gatsby remains one of my favorites I did feel as if the book had a somewhat
bland storyline. The plot read a little like a Bollywood soap opera but what makes the great
Gatsby so great is the way that Fitzgerald portrays his ideas. The way he paints such a unique
and vivid picture is truly like no other. Fitzgerald has a way with words, his portrayal of small
details, the dramatic irony; all of the metaphors are what truly makes his books so marvelous.

So to anyone who’s looking for a new book or even if you just want to get into reading, the
Great Gatsby is a wonderful place to start. The Great Gatsby is an insanely quick read yet the
novella has so much to offer. The book gives us an authentic view of the past that believe it or
not is still relatable to most people today. Would I recommend it? Absolutely in case you
couldn’t already tell, the book is popular for a reason. It’s made its way into my heart and I
believe it could do the same for any one of you.
-Thank you - 

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