Significant Passage- The Great Gatsby

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (Fitzgerald 189)

This quote is one of the most well known quotes of all time because it is one of the greatest. This is the last line of the book and at this point Nick is reminiscing on Gatsby’s life and his own life. Fitzgerald uses this quote to sum up Jay Gatsby’s journey throughout the book. Gatsby spends a great deal of time trying to maintain his past, so he tries to ‘beat on’ and live his life to the fullest even though he is a ‘boat against the current’ because his past is all but gone. Gatsby’s past involved Daisy, so he tried to rekindle a past relationship. Gatsby tries to ‘beat on’ and show Daisy that he is rich and he wants to win her back by showing her this new wealth he has acquired over the years. Gatsby thinks that Daisy loves her throughout much of the book, but he is only being borne back ceaselessly into the past as Daisy doesn’t actually love Gatsby, she is just sticking with him for his wealth. This is similar to Gatsby’s past as Daisy left Gatsby saying that rich girls do not marry poor boys, and Gatsby is now a rich boy, but is not receiving true love from Daisy. Due to this, Gatsby is beating on against the current, and is recreating his past instead of creating his future. This really speaks to one of the main themes of the book which is appearance vs. reality. Daisy appears to want to rekindle her relationship with Gatsby but is only out for his wealth. Gatsby appears to be creating his future but is really just recreating his past.