“…It was an extraordinary gift for hope,
a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.”
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Gatsby–a man of hope? I walked out of the theater feeling anything but hopeful. A verse of scripture kept rolling around in my head like one of those games where you guide a marble through a maze:
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun;
all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 1:14.
I remember devouring Fitzgerald’s novel in high school literature class. His writing was gorgeous, his dialogue snappy, his imagery unique. The movie version didn’t disappoint. The costumes, music, acting, cinematography–everything was a feast to the senses. Kind of like Gatsby’s parties.
But it still leaves the same question. Was Jay Gatsby a man of hope? Yes. But his hope was misguided. Fitzgerald masterfully showed how Gatsby pursued money, image, reputation, all in a crazy attempt to obtain the one thing he couldn’t possess–the woman he loved. The people surrounding him placed their hope in sheer pleasure–possessions, style, parties, drunkenness. (Ecclesiastes discusses the pursuit of pleasure in the second chapter, if you want to read further).
I suppose Fitzerald’s theme is a good lesson for us all. The pursuit of pleasure, possessions, even love–it can lead to despair and ruin.
So, where do we place our hope?
I suppose Fitzerald’s theme is a good lesson for us all. The pursuit of pleasure, possessions, even love–it can lead to despair and ruin.
So, where do we place our hope?
“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.
But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.” (Psalm 39: 6-7).
As the Psalmist declares, there is no better place to rest your hope than in the Lord. We haven’t changed much from Fitzgerald’s era. Our culture still seeks pleasure, style, fame, money, beauty, and love. But most of these pursuits do not deliver true joy.
When I began working my 1920s novel, the memories of The Great Gatsby tickled the edges of my imagination. I hadn’t picked up the book since high school and made a conscious decision not to go back and re-read it so as not to influence my own writing. Mistaken, though set in the same time period, is a very different story. Rather than moving in the circles of the rich and famous, my characters (like most folks in the 20s) were mostly scraping through life trying to make ends meet. After Prohibition makes criminals of the men in her life, Laurie goes in search of one man who will not disappoint her.
It’s tempting, when writing romance, to make the love story the center of everyone’s hope for happiness. I walked a fine line between delivering a satisfying romance and still pointing my readers toward the true source of hope.
I think the story delivers.
Mistaken releases July 2. Let the party begin…
…but hopefully, a party of a different sort.
