Reading Response                Juliette Daignault 802

During the summer I read the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This book describes the life of a young man named Nick, who moves from Minnesota to Long Island where his cousin and fiancé are living. While there he discovers he is a neighbor to the well-known Jay Gatsby. As the story progresses you become aware of the romantic history between Gatsby and Nick’s cousin Daisy. Throughout the book I believe the author does a great job with character development by creating the sensitive but mysterious character, Jay Gatsby.

In the beginning of the book, you don’t have a clear idea of who Gatsby is and he is made to seem very mysterious. There isn’t much description of Gatsby except for the rumors the people have on him. For example some say the Gatsby killed a man, while others say he was part of World War I. This creates a space for the readers to begin imagining things about Gatsby. The things the people have said make you think that Gatsby is not the best of a person and that he has a reputation for doing something. I believe the author does a great job of setting up the character this way. You are fed little bits and pieces of what is known about the character. Personally, I believed the character Gatsby wasn’t a very reliable person in the beginning of the book. But then the author changes perspectives a little and you begin to see the more caring and sensitive side of Gatsby.

As the story progresses and the character Nick and Gatsby become better acquaintances and you realize that Gatsby is different then you thought. Fro example the author says, “He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come four or five times in life.” This shows that the character Gatsby is a very sincere person. You can also tell that the character, Nick was surprised by Gatsby’s response. I think he assumed that Gatsby would live up to the rumors about him. I believe that even the readers were surprised by his kind reaction. This is very good writing craft and character development.

In conclusion, the author did an amazing job with developing the character. This book made my feel passionate towards finding out more about the character and engaging in the change of the character. I know that people in the real world can sometimes be more complicated and hard to understand then the fictional characters of a book. But, in this case the author brought out all the parts of the character Gatsby and made him seem real and relatable.