“He forever wed his unutterable vision to her perishable breath”
-The Great Gatsby
A character who will forever be locked in my memory is The Great Gatsby‘s Jay Gatsby. Gatsby was an everyman who pursued an undeserving woman far beyond his social status. His monomaniacal pursuit of her submerged him into a criminal underworld, embarking on a valiant accruement of wealth in order to create opportunities for them to meet again. Gatsby falls short of his goal, and dies.
It isn’t the excitement of wealth, booze, or romance which draws me so closely to this character. None of these objects were worthy of Gatsby’s magnificent vision and drive. For his error, Gatsby was punished. He dies, but what a life he lived…
Most people will tell you that the end result is not as important as the process. The fact that Gatsby didn’t end up with the woman does not take away from the beauty of Gatsby’s story. It is the man’s optimism, his belief in the “green light,” and his genuine resolve and hustle which commands my respect and admiration. His work ethic created a permanent change in how the man came to operate on a day-to-day basis.
Have you ever thought of how your story would look should it one day be narrated? Whether the end result turns out to be a success or failure, how beautiful would it be to have a genuine belief in the green light and pursue it as painstakingly as Gatsby did? How much more interesting would the retelling of your story be? How good would it feel to dwell in a realm for only the rare?
Or would you rather have your story play out like Daisy’s:
“What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?
