Looking past the words

In the past hour, I've been sifting through the pages of Great Gatsby in search of the passage that strikes that chord with me, resonating in synchrony with all my accumulated beliefs. I looked desperately, seeking for that thread of words that seems to tug at the heart and pull a gaping hole through my chest in which all that builds my character is poured out. Then as I carefully dissect those words and see if they match with those pieces, I can finally rest, satisfied that the words on the page are correctly adjusted in amplifying my own beliefs.

Then, as the minutes one by one flocked past me, I might've realized that I was really not progressing at all. Perhaps with this, we can truly realize why The Great Gatsby is considered such a spectacular conception. The time I spent seeking for that static passage revealed to me the many underlying layers of Fitzgerald's work. I realized that The Great Gatsby hardly contains any direct passages at all.

Fitzgerald has successfully tied together a novel, a personal expression, and a hopeful offering of his personal views all in a single piece. The structure of the words in The Great Gatsby are crafted in a way that the words live even as Fitzgerald has died. They thrive timelessly, adapting to the decades, and thread together in a way that allows for endless interpretations. Thus my search for this passage ended upon the novel's ending.

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic 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.”

With his final lines, Fitzgerald offers his final thoughts with this timeless advice. As I sat churning the words in my mouth and attempting to swallow it in a way that makes sense to me, I decided that I can only decipher it personally, not universally.

Fitzgerald hopes for us to avoid the pitfall of an illusory future. As Gatsby loses himself in an endless chase after an enticing dream, Fitzgerald warns us to avoid the entrapment by our falsified dreams. Furthermore, he hopes that we will respect the past and allow the past to stay there. Gatsby has driven himself so deeply into the past, reminiscing over the memories of his happier days, that he has foolishly blinded himself into thinking that the past will be the future.

When we catch ourselves getting swallowed by the memories of the past, we must remind ourselves to turn around and look towards the future so that we can keep moving in the right direction.