{"id":2419666,"date":"2025-04-03T23:16:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T03:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-great-gatsby-at-100-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T23:17:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T03:17:54","slug":"the-great-gatsby-at-100-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-great-gatsby-at-100-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Gatsby at 100 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-great-gatsby-at-100-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2419666&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the enduring importance of F. Scott Fitzgerald&#8217;s &#8220;The Grate Gatsby,&#8221; which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. While often regarded as a quintessential American novel, many students find it boring and uninspiring when studied in school. The article contrasts this perception with the novel\u2019s rich themes, vivid characters, and depiction of an era that, despite its distance, can still resonate with readers.<\/p>\n<p>It recounts the challenges Fitzgerald faced during his life regarding the novel&#8217;s initial reception and its eventual posthumous acclaim. The author explores the idea that, while students may not appreciate its complexities at a young age, the novel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-federalist-notable-books-of-2023\/\" title=\"Top ...s of 2023: The Federalist Edition\">offers profound insights<\/a> about human nature and dream chasing that can be appreciated throughout life.<\/p>\n<p>Though &#8220;The Great Gatsby&#8221; has become clich\u00e9d through over-analysis in educational settings, the article argues that its repetitive themes should not lead to its dismissal. Rather, it encourages a renewed gratitude for the story and its characters, suggesting that former students may come to enjoy it when revisited later in life. The piece emphasizes that the greatness of &#8220;The Great Gatsby&#8221; lies in its continued relevance and ability to captivate readers across generations.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-sacff-txt\">On Culture<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">The Great Gatsby at 100<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2081350\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>In 1816, John Keats wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/poem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">his poem<\/a> &ldquo;On First Looking into Chapman&rsquo;s Homer&rdquo; that when he encountered George Chapman&rsquo;s translation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2640570\/the-latest-greatest-last-word-on-homer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Homer<\/a>&rsquo;s <em>Odyssey, <\/em>it filled him with limitless excitement. As he put it, &ldquo;Then felt I like some watcher of the skies\/When a new planet swims into his ken.&rdquo; It is, unfortunately, more likely that when a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-education-sec-on-womens-school-sports-we-have-a-legal-responsibility-to-include-transgender-athletes\/\" title=\"Biden Education Sec On Women...s ... Sports: We Have a \u2018Legal Responsibility... to Include Transgender Athletes\">high school student<\/a> is presented with a copy of a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">similarly lauded literary masterpiece<\/a>, F. Scott Fitzgerald&rsquo;s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine-life-arts\/2356085\/why-you-should-reread-the-great-gatsby\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">The Great Gatsby<\/a>, <\/em>they will not share Keats&rsquo;s sense of giddy thrill but will instead complain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The Great Gatsby <\/em>is possibly <em>the<\/em> great American novel. And, although blessedly short at a mere 180 pages, it carries the usual imprimatur of classic literature regularly assigned as homework, namely that it&rsquo;s <em>boring<\/em>. Many teenagers have yawned through their studies of Fitzgerald&rsquo;s novel, unimpressed by its jazz age setting, brilliant evocation of romantic and sexual obsession, and the luxurious richness of its prose.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3367694\/mortality-vs-millionaire-devotions-of-bryan-johnson\/\">Mortality vs. millionaire: The devotions of Bryan Johnson<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3368262\/fox-news-ratings-surge-first-quarter-2025\/\">Fox News ratings surge in first quarter of 2025 with help from The Five and Special Report<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3365434\/chappell-roan-call-her-daddy-podcast-parents-not-happy\/\">Chappell Roan says she doesn&#8217;t know a parent &#8216;who is happy&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Although Baz Luhrmann&rsquo;s 2013 movie adaptation of the book briefly made it fashionable again to a younger, hipper audience &mdash; the combination of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1959808\/emails-show-leonardo-dicaprio-awarded-grants-to-dark-money-group-filing-climate-change-lawsuits-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Leonardo DiCaprio<\/a> as Jay Gatsby, Jay-Z as soundtrack producer, and Lana Del Rey&rsquo;s drawling in her customary somnambulant fashion about being young and beautiful was a potent one &mdash;&nbsp;it reaches its centenary this month as a fossilized relic of a long-gone era. It appears to say nothing to today&rsquo;s youth about their experiences or lives. The America of <em>The Great Gatsby <\/em>is long gone, just as distant as the country found in <em>Moby-Dick<\/em>, <em>The Scarlet Letter<\/em>, or <em>Little Women<\/em>. Why should anyone want to bother reading it for pure entertainment?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">F. Scott Fitzgerald (1890-1940). (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>My answer, predictably enough, is that <em><em>The Great Gatsby<\/em> <\/em>is not simply some chore to be endured at a formative point in education, but one of those rare books that can be appreciated, even loved, at every point in its readers&rsquo; lives. Granted, perhaps those in grade school may be a little young to appreciate its linguistic and thematic complexities, but there is nothing in Fitzgerald&rsquo;s prose, which is witty, stiletto-sharp, and clear as a pane of glass &mdash; that is more challenging than might be read in the average Substack. And in its peerless recreation of a world that perhaps never truly existed, even at the time that Fitzgerald was writing, it offers a thrill of discovery that even the most expensive fantasy novels and cinema cannot hope to equal. You can leave your Marvel pictures with their explosions, super-suits, and cheap one-liners. The truer explanation of what drives people to behave as they do was expressed quite brilliantly in 1925.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Stories about <em>The Great Gatsby<\/em>&rsquo;s creation, publication, and afterlife have become legendary. How Fitzgerald based the character of the spoilt, insipid trophy girl Daisy Buchanan on the socialite Ginevra King, who he was not allowed to marry because he lacked prospects. How the novel&rsquo;s original title, <em>Trimalchio in West Egg<\/em>, which the editor, Maxwell Perkins, told Fitzgerald readers would find obscure, was replaced with the teasingly ambiguous name it now enjoys, despite the author&rsquo;s last-ditch attempt to call it <em>Under the Red, White and Blue. <\/em>How Fitzgerald&rsquo;s hopes that it would be a commercial success were dashed, as it sold less than 20,000 copies. How he was frustrated by its critical reception &mdash; he declared, &ldquo;Of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about.&rdquo; How it only became a commercial hit after Fitzgerald&rsquo;s premature death from a heart attack at the age of 44. And, perhaps most cruelly, how today, the self-appointed Fitzgerald cognoscenti scorn it as overrated, ostentatiously preferring <em>Tender Is The Night, <\/em>which they describe as his true masterpiece.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>All these stories are true. However, just as the revelation that the louche millionaire Gatsby is really a bootlegger named Jimmy Gatz says everything and nothing about his character, they cannot wholly explain the enduring appeal of this novel. In a way, it is a shame that the novel was rediscovered relatively swiftly after Fitzgerald&rsquo;s death when it was handed out as a mass-produced armed services edition in early 1942. The doomed Gatsby and his equally ill-fated creator became tied together in the public imagination. Fitzgerald, the bow-tie sporting, epigram-spouting, hard-drinking author <em>par excellence<\/em>,<em> <\/em>came to be posthumously regarded as the alter ego of his character. &ldquo;The Great Fitzgerald&rdquo; had a certain ring to it. That he was dead and could, therefore, be celebrated without embarrassment made the narrative considerably better.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The reason why <em>Tender Is the Night <\/em>is regarded by the snobs (sorry, cognoscenti) as a greater novel is not because it is better written or more psychologically acute, but because it is not being rammed down the throats of reluctant students year in, year out. Aspects of <em>The Great Gatsby <\/em>have become so well-worn as to be clich&eacute;. The final line &mdash; &ldquo;So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past&rdquo; &mdash; and Gatsby&rsquo;s continual, tic-like repetition of the term &ldquo;old sport&rdquo; are particular offenders in this regard. However, the iconography of the green light that dominates the characters&rsquo; hopes and dreams is just as well-worn. I pity any student (or journalist or college grad) who has to write on that most hoary of topics, &ldquo;Was Gatsby truly great?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3320085\/pg-wodehouse-american-dream\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">PG WODEHOUSE&rsquo;S AMERICA DREAM <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Still, just because something is well-known does not mean it should be ignored. After all, no theater has shied away from producing <em>Hamlet <\/em>over the past four centuries. The enduring appeal of <em>The Great Gatsby <\/em>lies in its strange lacunae and darting alleyways. We remember Gatsby and Daisy and the novel&rsquo;s narrator, the likable but ineffectual Nick Carraway, but there are enduring supporting characters, too. We revel in the gangster Meyer Wolfsheim, the white supremacist bully Tom Buchanan, and the sardonic golfer Jordan Baker, all of who come to vibrant life in the few pages that they show up for. It is a book of <em>characters<\/em> &mdash; indelible, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-red-flags-of-ravi-zacharias\/\" title=\"Ravi Zacharias&#039; Warning Signs\">flawed human beings<\/a> who stand out as real people rather than place-holder stereotypes.<\/p>\n<p>There are many novels that have suffered a similar fate of over-exposure to readers at too young an age. <em>The Catcher In The Rye, Of Mice and Men<\/em>, and <em>The Old Men and the Sea <\/em>have all faced the same problem of being associated with Gradgrindian forms of education rather than any genuine edification. Many thousands of students have grown up detesting rather than loving <em>The Great Gatsby<\/em>, having been compelled to read it by rote rather than coming to it of their own accord. However, in its centenary year, these once-averse and reluctant readers should be able to return to the novel once again and view it not as a punishment but as a privilege. It&rsquo;s more likely than not that many of them &mdash; perhaps the ones who complained most vociferously at the time &mdash; will now thrill to a superlative book rather than regard its consumption as an ordeal. And therein lies the true greatness of <em><em>The Great Gatsby<\/em><\/em>, borne ceaselessly into the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Alexander Larman is the author of, most recently, <\/em>The Windsors at War<em> and an editor at <\/em>Spectator World<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2081350\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2081350\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Culture: The Great Gatsby at 100. John Keats expressed immense excitement in 1816 upon discovering George Chapman\u2019s translation of Homer\u2019s Odyssey, likening it to a watcher seeing a new planet. In contrast, high school students often find F. Scott Fitzgerald&#8217;s The Great Gatsby tedious rather than thrilling. Despite being considered the great American novel and relatively short at 180 pages, many teens dismiss its jazz age setting and rich prose as boring. Although Baz Luhrmann&#8217;s 2013 film adaptation briefly revived interest among younger audiences, the novel now feels like an outdated relic that seems irrelevant to today&#8217;s youth.<\/p>\n<p>However, I argue that The Great Gatsby is not merely an educational obligation but a book that can be appreciated throughout life. While younger readers may struggle with its complexities, Fitzgerald&#8217;s clear and sharp prose is accessible compared to contemporary writing. Its unique portrayal of a possibly fictional world offers a sense of discovery unmatched by modern fantasy.<\/p>\n<p>The stories surrounding the novel&#8217;s creation and legacy are well-known: how Fitzgerald based Daisy Buchanan on Ginevra King; how it was initially titled Trimalchio in West Egg; its poor sales during Fitzgerald\u2019s lifetime; and how it gained popularity posthumously after his death at 44. Yet these narratives do not fully capture why the book endures.<\/p>\n<p>The perception that Tender Is the Night is superior stems from its avoidance of overexposure in classrooms\u2014unlike The Great Gatsby, which has become clich\u00e9d through frequent study. However, familiarity does not diminish value; classics like Hamlet remain relevant despite their prevalence.<\/p>\n<p>The true appeal of The Great Gatsby lies in its complex characters\u2014Gatsby himself, Daisy Buchanan, Nick Carraway\u2014and memorable supporting figures like Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker who feel real rather than stereotypical.<\/p>\n<p>Many novels face similar fates due to early exposure in education leading to resentment rather than appreciation among students forced to read them without choice. As we celebrate its centenary this year, former reluctant readers might rediscover it as a privilege rather than punishment\u2014realizing they can enjoy this remarkable work instead of viewing it as an ordeal.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander Larman is the author of *The Windsors at War* and serves as an editor for Spectator World<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2191,"featured_media":2419667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-517324220.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[46862,52809,52810,52808,32076],"class_list":["post-2419666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-american-literature","tag-f-scott-fitzgerald","tag-literary-anniversary","tag-the-great-gatsby","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-517324220.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419666"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2419670,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419666\/revisions\/2419670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2419667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}