Reading The Great Gatsby, #3

Today I finished reading The Great Gatsby. The first time I read it, I remember being told that the meaning of the story was, “middle class can’t become upper class.” However, now I think the meaning of the story is more like “money can’t fix problems of the heart.”

Here’s why: The Great Gatsby is the story of Gatsby’s inability to let go of the past. He doesn’t accept that Daisy chose Tom over him. He thinks money will enable him to reverse time; to change Daisy and restart his life. He spends years becoming Gatsby, the man of his fantasy, the man with the power to win over Daisy. However, Daisy doesn’t change, and still chooses Tom. Gatsby doesn’t realize that money can’t fix problems of the heart, of his heart, of his inability to let go. Would Gatsby actually have been happy if Daisy left Tom?
I think not. He would find himself at the end of his fantasy with no way forward. If he could have let go of the past, he wouldn’t have needed wealth; he wouldn’t have needed to be Gatsby.