Pursuitfordreams

　　—afterreadingTheGreatGatsby

　　IhaveheardofthefamousnovelTheGreatGatsbyformanyyears.However,untilrecentlyhaveIgotthetimeandmoodtoreadit.AssoonasIfinishreading,Ifindmypreviousunwarrantedassumptionofittotallywrong.

　　ThisisastoryaboutGatsbyandhispursuitforthe‘Americandreams’.DuringtheWorldWarOne,thepoorsoldierGatsbyfellinlovewithanupperclassgirlnamedDaisy.Butduetothewidegapbetweenthem,DaisydecidedtomarryTom,amanofherclass,insteadofGatsby.BrokenheartedGatsbythenheldtheconvictionthatmoneywasofthegreatestimportance.Hestronglybelievedinthe‘Americandreams’,whichasweallknow,advocatesthatonecanachievewhateverheorshelikesthroughcontinuousefforts.HestrivedforfiveyearstobecomeamillionaireandboughtavillanearDaisystoattracther.HewastooaddictedtohisfantasytorealizethatDaisywasnolongerthelovelygirlsheusedtobe.Eventually,hewaskilledbecauseofhercrime.

　　Afterreadingit,somethingreverberatesinmyheart.IcanthelpthinkingofthethemeFitzgeraldtryingtoconvey.Onethingmaybethelonelyvoidofpeoplesspiritualworld.Iamdeeplyimpressedbychapter3,whereavividdescriptionofapartyisgiven.Therewerebeautifulgirls,drunkmen,andboisterouscrowdsthere,butnoneofthemperceivedthepointlessoftheirlivesandthebarrenoftheirminds.Toseethisphenomenondeeper,thereweretwocircumstancesunderlyingit.Thefirstisthelackofdreams.Somepeople,especiallythepeopleoftheupperclass,livedanaimlesslife.Theywastedtheirtimeandmoneyandtookanindifferentattitudetowardslife.Theychasedfortemporaryecstasybutlosttheiridentityineternity,namelyDaisyandTom.Thesecondisthemisleadingofdreams.SomeotherslikeGatsby,bravelypursuedtheirdreams,yetgoingtoadivergedwayunconsciously.Theymightmixuptheconceptofaricherlifeandahappierlife,viewingahighersocialstateandapeacefulfulfilledlifeasequality.Unfortunately,whentheywerebusychasingtheirdreams,everythingchangedwithtime.Whentheywereanxiousaboutthetogets,theyignoredwhattheyhadalreadyhadandlostthealerttotheconstantchanges.Theexcellentuseofsymbolizationillustratesthisideaperfectly.Theimageryof‘greenlight’isthemostimportantsymblewhichoccurredthreetimesinthenovel.Thegreen-light’sobscureinthemistindicatesthedimofGatsby’sdreams.

　　AsfarasIamconcerned,thisstorycanserveasareminderforus.Toliveameaningfullife,weshouldcarefullychoosesomedreamstopursue.Andintheprocessoffulfillingourdreams,weshouldalwaysbeconciousaboutwhatwereallydesire.Anyhow,onlybypursuingtheproperdreamscanwefinallygettothedeepspringsofhappiness.