Gatsby Essay

Prompt: 1. Describe and analyze the significance of the last line of The Great Gatsby.

The novel The Great Gatsby has many references to the past and Gatsby’s battle with time. As you read the book, you see that he is stuck in the past, and it is almost always on his mind. At the end of the book you are left with, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” The last line of the book has a lot of significance and is almost a reflection of Gatsby’s life. It leaves you with a metaphorical thought in your mind that connects directly back to many parts of the book.

This quote is comparing the lives of Gatsby and even Nick to boats, rowing hard against the current trying to get back to the past. It is a constant struggle, and even “beating on” never gets them there. Throughout the book, although we all understand you cannot get back to the past, Gatsby is always thinking he can get there. It is an uphill battle, being “boats against the current” never shows that getting there is simple. On top of working hard you have many other obstacles. Ocean currents are powerful and can sweep you away, just like the forward progression of time and you end up even further away from your goal, and for Gatsby that goal was the past.

The placement of this line shows how significant it is to the whole novel. Since it was the last line, not only does it leave you with something to think about, but it shows how Nick feels because he says “we” as he wraps up a reflection of his life on West Egg and Gatsby’s funeral. I also think that the placement of this line shows that if Gatsby was still alive at the end of the book, he would still be beating on against the current and even in death; he might still be doing so. Being wrapped up in the past, or something else could be what ends your life. Even if we don’t know it, we all are beating against the current for something. Gatsby’s whole purpose in his adult life was to get Daisy and as soon as he gets close everything falls apart, showing that maybe no one is ever meant to prosper that much and get the girl or what they want the most.

Throughout the book, there are many places where Gatsby struggles against the current of time continuing on and they connect to the last line. Right before Gatsby dies on page 161, one of his servants lets him know that he was going to drain the pool since “Leaves’ll start falling pretty soon.” And Gatsby says “Don’t do it today. . .You know, old sport, I’ve never used that pool all summer?” This whole story is set in the summer, where lavish parties are going on and he even gets to be with Daisy again. Everything starts looking up for Gatsby towards the end of this seemingly endless summer. When it comes time to wind down and do something as simple as drain the pool, you can tell he is holding on to the season through the pool, he doesn’t want to move into the unknowns of fall, or move into the future. He was content living in the past, and now maybe even the present with Daisy by his side, but even this summer would eventually become a part of the past. This directly connects to the significant line at the end of the book, even when Gatsby has what he had been waiting for, he would’ve continued going back to the past over and over again.

One of my favorite lines from a summer camp song is “the seasons they go round and round. . .we’re captured on a carousel of time, we can’t return we can only look behind from where we came” I think this song is a perfect way to describe how time and the past effects most of us, and Nick for the most part. Even the present eventually becomes the past, so Gatsby, even with Daisy, still would always be trying to get back. The last line leaves you thinking about what could have been, and how the story would have continued, but it has a clear message that shows things would have stayed the same. This last line had a perfect connection to Gatsby’s situation throughout the book and his struggle against the current of time. As soon as you read the line, the significance stands out immensely; it leaves you thinking about all of the different times where Gatsby had been beating on, a boat “against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”