Looking at Jay Gatsby from the outside, he almost seems to have it all. Gatsby was always throwing parties, that many people attended, most of them if not all were those who weren’t even invited, he had money, was successful, and was good looking.
Yes, from the outside, he really seemed to have it all. But he didn’t. He was in love with Daisy, who lets be honest probably wasn’t really in love with him, or if she was, love definitely wasn’t enough for her to choose him. Also, while yes he threw all these lavish parties and many were in attendance, he never really talked and hung out or engaged with any of them. He was just kind of there, that is until Nick and Daisy started to attend the parties. Gatsby was always talked about and rumors flew about him but no one actually knew the real him. If we look at it this way, his life was kind of sad and lonely.
At the end of his life, he was alone and no one really attended his funeral. This is sad, I think. But it sheds light on what Fitzgerald was saying at the end of the novel, you know the famous, “So we beat on, boats against the current” (Fitzgerald). The take away I took from this line was that, essentially we all fade into the past and life goes on. Which for Gatsby I think is sad, because he tried for most of his life to make it in this high class society life and “get the girl” but ultimately failed.
