The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Milan Castro 

808

            In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many themes in this book that you can recognize while you are reading. One theme that I recognized was that you don’t know a person until you know their past. I noticed that this theme shows up three times in the story, in the beginning, middle, and ending.

            The first example was on page 49. When Nick Carraway is at Gatsby’s party, he starts talking to Gatsby. After Gatsby has to talk to some other people, some of the other party guests were talking to Nick about Gatsby. “I think he killed a man” said a woman at the party. This reflects back to my theme because since Nick had just met Gatsby, he didn’t really know his past. So hearing a comment like this makes someone feel like they might know more about the person.

            My second example was on page 86. Nick has just invited Gatsby and Daisy over for tea. “We’ve met before.” Gatsby muttered. This is another example of my theme because since he has collected even more of Gatsby’s past, thus meaning he is starting to know Gatsby as a person and as a friend.

            My third and last example is on 100. In this scene, Gatsby is telling Nick about his old friend Dan Cody. He told him the story of his friend and how he died on the boat inhospitably. This also connects to my theme because Gatsby is showing Nick inside his past and personal life. This proves that Nick know knows Gatsby as a person and as a friend because he shows him something he wouldn’t normally tell others unless they were close friends.

            In conclusion, you can’t completely know a person until they let you in on their past.