I just finished “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I didnt have to read it in high school or college, but was always told it was a twentieth century masterpiece. I finally gave in to the “masterpiece” belief to see what I was missing.
The story takes place in New York State and Chicago, Illinois told by a young man named Nick in the 1920s. Nick is a bondsman who lives beside a man who has lavish parties every weekend. All he knows of the man at first is that he is called Gatsby. After some time, Nick is invited to one of these parties with his second cousin Daisy.
After the party, we are thrown into a world of extremities, from drinking and partying  to tales of brutality and hostility. We find that what is good for one character is not good for his wife as they both cheat on each other, marrying for money or power, not love.
I really am not sure why Jay Gatsby is known as the “Great Gatsby”, as the title suggests. Is it because of his lavish spending? Is it because he made himself great when he came from nothing? Is it because that is how he wants others to perceive him because of his own insecurities? Whatever the answer, I shall leave it up to the reader to decide.