What Does Time Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Literature, or How to Properly Violate Spacetime Without Any Consequences
Reality is not a question of choice. And no matter how entertaining is the time and the place we are stuck in, imagination always has something more to offer us. It seems that there is always something beyond the horizon, beyond the sunset, beyond our reality and beyond our lives. Something bigger, but at the same time smaller. A whole new world, or age, even. It is greater than us, it is even greater than what we ever dared to think, but perfectly fits in a stack of paper. This is literature. Unlike the common understanding that it is the most agreeable way of ignoring life, however, this essay will illustrate just the opposite. Because we write not to forget, but to
Thus, literature helps us remember the events and the people that have made the difference tangible. The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway’s memorial to Jay Gatsby. The character dedicates this book to the extravagant millionaire not only because Gatsby used to be his friend, but because he wants to make sure the memory of that “extraordinary gift for hope” (Fitzgerald 2), which he is not likely to “ever find again” (Fitzgerald 2), never dies out despite the transience of existence. James Gatz is an exceptional person. An unbalanced character with a surprisingly balancing power, he is worth to remember not only because he had managed to surpass his social rank and financial status, but because of his unconceivable mental strength. Gatsby never lost his “sensibility to the promises of life”(2) despite the hardships on his way to success. Through the use of characters like this one, literature reminds us that nothing is really fixed forever and that we have the power to change the circumstances. Instead of neglecting the reality, we are motivated to incorporate in it what we had read, so that we have a better chance in life. By reading about characters like Jay Gatsby, we are able to get a clearer image of our
Through it, we explore realities that would otherwise be unavailable to us. Unless someone finally managed to invent a time machine, without books, we would never have been able to get a full image of the life in the 1920s, or to get to know early Medieval practices such as sorcery and witchcraft. Exploring those realities, we look through the eyes of the characters and gain their experience. We enter their “spinning world / of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas” (Duffy 1-2), where we “dive for pearls” (Duffy 3), but end up with a handful of pure love instead. We learn to appreciate each day we spend with the people most dear to us no matter the circumstances. And when they are already long gone, we strive to preserve the memory of them in “the casket of our widow’s head” (Duffy 13).That is, instead of seeking an escape from our life, we find more and more evidence of what makes it priceless. We also gain an understanding of our reality and ourselves. We learn to distinguish between love in its sincere form, which is like a beautiful work of art, and the mere hobby of people such as Tom Buchanan to possess human-sized trophies. Thus, literature suggests that the “second best bed” (14) is actually the best one because it is equally shared between the couple without any concealed expectations for social, or financial benefits. This way, by constantly