Preview of Great Gatsby Essay

• The last line of the book is arguably the most important: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past.”  How does this line embody the thematic conflict that defines The Great Gatsby?

Pretty much every human being have wished to alter or relive the past do to various reasons, and that arguably important last line in the book relates to that. The saying of not being able to start a new chapter in your life if you keep re-reading the last one is somewhat a connection or behind explanation to it.

Finishing The Great Gatsby, us readers know that Jay Gatsby continued to impress the girl he had a “romantic connection” with from the past, when in the present time, she is already married. One more point is the country he is living in is known as the dreamlike place where many can start over, not knowing reality from dreams. Reading on, we find that Gatsby's dream is not surprisingly Daisy.

In the quoted line, “So we beat on,...” this is explaining how Gatsby constantly uses money to capture Daisy for himself once more. “...boats against the current,...” is representing the present time, and “...borne carelessly into the past.” means Gatsby is not being careful of his actions and choices due to having that strong desire to correct the past with a fresh start. The desire of creating a new future from the past.

Now, this quote also relates to the last scene of Nick thinking back at the Dutch sailors that sailed towards the dreamland. Sailors who thought of the “untouched” soil, seeing a chance to start anew and change the past. Like Gatsby, those sailors, or any immigrants in general, have that dream needing to be fulfilled on the dreamland.

Therefore, all were driven with the hope to fix the past by racing towards the dreamed future, but humans cannot avoid in continuously make the same mistakes, as noticed throughout history. Although us readers know that Nick admired Gatsby’s will to keep dreaming, we also know that dreams are merely illusions created from what we desire. Yet, it seems inhuman for us to not dream, and dreams can be used as the fuel to continue moving forward, or should I say, continue beating against the current.