The Great Gatsby

     Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book.  Fitzgerald's style of writing was very straightforward and relaxed, which made it a lot easier to read than "Heart of Darkness".  I also found the plot never dull or boring.
     A quick summary of the book is Nick moves to New York for the summer and there he meets his neighbor, Jay Gatsby.  Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchanan, lives in East Egg with her husband, Tom.  East Egg is where people with "old money" lives, and West Egg is for people with "new money".  Through Daisy, Nick meets Jordan Baker and they develop a relationship.  Tom is having an affair on Daisy with Myrtle Wilson.  Gatsby tells Nick that he is deeply in love with Daisy.  It's kinda one big soap opera, but with a deeper meaning behind it all.  Upon Gatsby's request, Nick sets up a reunion for Gatsby and Daisy, but that didn't turn out as anticipated.  After awhile, Tom realizes Gatsby's love for Daisy, and is furious.  He then tells Daisy that Gatsby is a criminal.  Tom then confronts Gatsby in a hotel room with Daisy there and Daisy realizes she is stuck with Tom.  Tom sends Gatsby and Daisy back to East Egg from the city to prove Gatsby can't hurt him.  On the way back, with Daisy driving the car, she hits and kills Myrtle.  Myrtle's husband, who thinks it was Gatsby that killed his wife, hunts him down and kills him.  Nick has a funeral for Gatsby, breaks up with Jordan, and leaves New York.  Pretty crazy stuff, but it kept me entertained for the most part. 
     The most interesting character to me would have to be Jay Gatsby.  I choose him because he's so mysterious and very crucial to the story.  Gatsby is the protagonist and one of the main characters in "The Great Gatsby".  Gatsby had a "false pursuit of happiness".  What I mean by that is he was throwing the parties and lived such a lavish lifestyles for all the wrong reasons.  He was only trying to win Daisy's love, and he believed if he did that then he would be happy.  I personally would disagree with him because you should find happiness within yourself, not others. 
     One of the themes that I found very interesting was the hollowness in the upper class.  I can relate this to my time period, with the moral less celebrities.  In "The Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald portrays West Egg as having gaudy taste, being vulgar, and lacking morals.