For my presentation, I made a Canva slideshow of Gatsby’s life if he were alive today.
My first slide is talking about where he would live. I chose that Gatsby would live in Paris. Gatsby’s life was very boujee in the 1920s, and Gatsby would still want to live that way. Paris is known for luxury. I was able to go to Paris this summer, and everyone wore extremely fancy clothes, unlike how in America, we all go out in sweatpants. You would get stares over in Paris for doing that, and they automatically knew you were a tourist. Paris is also known as “The City of Love,” which we all know Gatsby is a hopeless romantic.
My next slide is the house I chose for Gatsby. I think if Gatsby were to live in Paris today, he would downsize. He would realize he only needs enough room for his parties, so I chose a penthouse with a massive terrace with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Gatsby would still be able to wow his guests, but he would be able to do it without owning a huge mansion for one person.
The next few slides are designs that I chose for rooms in his penthouse. I incorporated a lot of the Art Deco style that was prominent in the 1920s like patterns, dark colors, and gold accents. I also chose a lot of green because it reminds Gatsby of Daisy. For his bathroom, I kept it more modern Art Deco by using white on the walls and brighter art.
The next slide is about what Gatsby would wear. I chose a simple black tuxedo with a green tie to remind him of his love for Daisy again. I also chose a green watch to match the tie. Then, for his shoes, I just kept it simple with some brown dress shoes.
The next slide is Gatsby’s car. I chose a Mercedes AMG GT S for the low price of 150,000 dollars. I chose the car in yellow to match the classic car that he drove in the book. I chose Mercedes because they are known as luxury cars. I do not think Gatsby would drive a flashy car like a Lambo or a Bugatti, but he would still want to be able to show off in a classy way.
My last slide is about what job I think he would have, and that is being a Mafia mob boss. That may be a bit controversial, but I can totally see Gatsby being in the Mafia. That might be a little bit different than him selling alcohol during prohibition, but just imagine Gatsby being in the French Mafia with his yellow Mercedes in his nice tux.
While we will never know how Fitzgerald would have wrote Gatsby’s character today, I think that my interpretation would not be far off.
I’m arguing that Gatsby would have grown to become associated with the modern times, but still have some connection to the past. This is seen when I have him updating his mansion to a penthouse, but he has a connection to the past through his use of Art Deco.