Was Gatsby Great? The Great Gatsby Part 2: Crash Course English Literature #5

SPOILER ALERT: This video assumes you've read the book.

In which John Green continues to explore F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. In this installment, John looks into the titular Gatsby's purported Greatness. Gatsby's single-minded pursuit of Daisy, his checkered past, and his checkered present all play a role in determining whether he was, in fact, great. Here's a hint: you don't have to be good to be great. It turns out greatness doesn't have much to do with whether you're a good person. Along the way, John explores the relentless forward march of time, the use of poetic language, and ironic titling of novels.

Don't forget to click the Closed Caption button to follow along with the text of the episode. We think you'll enjoy Danica's subtitle handiwork. Pause, rewatch, repeat as necessary.

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[VDchacon]

I think Gatsby was great because even though his love for Daisy was misplaced, undeserved by her if you ask me, he was willing to do whatever it took to be with her. He was also willing to sacrifice for her and take the blame. It's easy to see from an outside perspective it was foolish for him to go after a materialistic woman who couldn't really love him back. Unlike Daisy he gave himself completely and without reservation. He loved greatly. How many people love that way? Not many.

[Adz B]

IGCSE English tomorrow anyone?

[Keyla Falcon]

Would you try that hard to try to impress the woman you love to try to win her back, and knowing that all of his hard work could mean nothing if she does not want him back? He is driven by ambition like no other person in the novel or in real life is, he takes the fall for something that he did not do to protect the woman he loved so much even if she did not, and in the end dies a cruel, sudden, painful death for no reason at all. That is what makes him The Great Gatsby.

[Pete Hamby]

Another good author for curse word substation would be Dumas! I have been waiting ever since the premise was introduced.

[AliNaseer15]

And yet, on his quest for Daisy, he was consumed by the pursuit of wealth- wealth that was originally supposed to be a means to an end (the end being to win over Daisy). In the end, he dies confined to his own pool, the little bit of luxury he made for himself, literally and completely separated, even in death, from the natural body of water just a few meters away, in which lay the green light he spent his whole life trying to achieve. His is a tale meant to show the perversion of the US dream.

[cakerella]

But...he didn't love Daisy, he wanted her life and to regain his innonence from before the war. He used Daisy as a part of his dream, not the full extent of it, but he convinced himself that he only wanted her.

[pk4510]

i think the thing about greatness is that it is ambiguous. but people will only ever ascribe to the positive view of greatness, and append a different word for the negative view.

one can be great at being terrible, but they would be refused the term "great".

Gatsby is great in this regard, because he is great for his extraordinary capacity for hope, but at the same time, he is also great because of his willingness to be underhanded to achieve what he is hoping for.

[baltoy3]

OH by the way who was that you were quoting Bricoly?

[baltoy3]

I could never view Gatsby as great instead I would describe him as ignorantly hopeful. I find it an endless source of irony in the novel how Nick who believes others to be so immoral never once comments on the morality of Gatsby even though Gatsby himself was being immoral. All romanticism aside Gatsby was involved in illegal acts and was having an affair with a married mans wife. So what if he thought they were in love?

[GeluTavi]

"This machine kills fascists" lol

[Socoolgirl94]

(cont) To me, that is why Gatsby falls and the "idle rich" survive. They never claimed to be something they weren't and their badness, great as it might be, doesn't wound our sense of dreams. Gatsby tried to straddle the line, and ultimately failed. His focus on self and his own ideas for his destiny trap him and lead him to his death. So, Gatsby is great in the sense that he left an impression on us, albeit a very painful and disillusioning one.

[Jared V]

How about all that, "beautiful fool" tripe? That seems decidedly unfeminist to me. I don't disagree with you that Daisy is a wonderful character, but she is not a great person.