As of April 10th, 2025 “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald turned 100 years old. “The Great Gatsby” has been credited as one of the best representations of its time, the roaring twenties. The story is set in 1925, as narrator Nick Carraway navigates through the new money vs. old money debate in New York. Carraway moves next door to Jay Gatsby who has an undying love, or obsession, for Daisy Buchanan, Carraway’s cousin.
One of the best parts of “The Great Gatsby” isn’t just its accuracy to its time period but its relevance now. One thing in particular that sticks out to current times is how Gatsby spends the whole book blinded by nostalgia. Many people go through their whole lives feeling nostalgic of a place they miss or a place they could have seen. Fitzgerald shows this feeling by having Gatsby do everything in his power to get the nostalgic love of his life back but this ultimately causes more issues for him and others.
While Gatsby is doing any and everything for Daisy, a married woman, Nick is getting friendly with Daisy’s friend Jordan. Daisy’s husband Tom is unfaithful and pretty much everyone who knows the couple knows this. The scandals between these two couples and their friends and mistresses causes two very permanent solutions to a temporary problem.
In honor of its centennial there have been many new additions to the world of “The Great Gatsby”. Exhibitions opened in New York, Minnesota, New Jersey and South Carolina honoring the book, its legacy, Fitzgerald, and his history.
“The Great Gatsby” musical opened on Broadway in 2024, but at a gala the actors honored the 100th anniversary of the book’s publication. Jeremy Jordan passed down the torch to Ryan Mccartan to play Jay Gatsby and Eva Noblezada passed down Daisy Buchanan to Sarah Hyland. The group of four toasted to the centennial at a gatsby-like large party.
In March the 100th anniversary edition of the book was released. This version is annotated by James L. W. West as he provides context to the story and explains the literary devices used. The book goes for about $20 on Amazon and also includes an introduction by Amor Towles.
Other than celebrating the book’s achievement, people have also been wondering and explaining why “The Great Gatsby” holds up so well. Junior Will Davis said, “The Great Gatsby shows powerful figures (like world leaders) chasing power and looking to heighten their image, responding to societal pressure. This kind of selfish motivation, though, often leads them to make bad decisions and lead to a lack of fulfillment.” This is seen constantly throughout history and currently in America.
The Green Light, The Valley of Ashes, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard, the symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” is like no other book and leaves highschool students who read it changed. Mr. Medina said, “100 years later, the message of “The Great Gatsby” still rings true—with no clear vision for our future, we can become enamored with the dreams of our past, and no matter how hard we chase, they will always remain just out of reach. Fitzgerald also hits at the heart of another lesson we must constantly relearn: not everything is as it seems, nor is everyone as we perceive.”
“The Great Gatsby” became a trending topic on social media platform TikTok because of the growing popularity of the Charli xcx song, “Party 4 U”. Though the song has no actual relation to the book, movie, or musical, people have identified that the song reminds them of the Gatsby story. User @joeylynchluver posted a video to the Charli xcx song with the caption, “when my teacher asks me to summarize the plot of the great gatsby so i pull out this banger.”
They aren’t the only one to see this correlation though, many users on the app have been posting countless videos about how “Party 4 U” sounds like a song written by Gatsby for Daisy. “I only threw this party for you” tends to be a fan-made thought of Gatsby’s.
As “The Great Gatsby” turns 100 many readers have come to understand its cultural significance and impact.
