Published over a century ago on April 10, 1925, The Great Gatsby has been taught as a classic in high schools internationally, and the trend continues on campus. Despite possible controversy and questions about the book’s relevance in a modern age, the book continues to be a popular choice in high school classrooms.
“I think the value of reading The Great Gatsby today is that there’s still really relevant themes and characteristics that students and adults alike can take away from—and still talk about—the book,” AP Lang teacher Katherine Allen said. “Today, there’s the issue of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, the billionaires as opposed to those who are struggling to make ends meet. And so I think that this book really helps to show that this is something that’s been happening generation after generation.”
One of the central themes in The Great Gatsby is the American dream, giving students the opportunity to analyze how the concept has changed over time.
“I feel like The Great Gatsby is a great representation of the American dream and the current society, as well as past society,” junior Panvi Patel said. “We can see its changes and continuities with the ideals of the American Dream as it progresses. I feel like that’s important; it’s one of those books that you should read—like The Catcher in the Rye—because it shows how society has progressed and helps you make personal connections with how people pursue their dreams and how they face different challenges.”
Its ability to highlight societal separation and differences remains one of the biggest reasons for the book’s longevity and why it continues to be taught today.
“The American Dream is still kind of similar to how it was when The Great Gatsby was written,” Patel said. “There are still certain similarities between them and different motifs for how people separate themselves. [In The Great Gatsby] can see that like with the old money and new money concept, we can still see that [separation] right now, kind of, not with just money but with how people view things like political and economic ideals.”
Students going into AP Lit could also benefit, as the book will be analyzed from a rhetorical and literary perspective, allowing future AP Lit students to get some experience to prepare them for the class.
“We’re looking at how Gatsby is able to kind of convey the aspects of society and how oftentimes, we kind of lift people up that have more money without really realizing that money doesn’t mean happiness or that money is being used as a facade,” Allen said. “So we’re going to look into that and how it applies to us and our society and this is like a bridge between AP Lang and AP Lit, so we’ll look at both the rhetorical aspect of it and the literary aspect of it.”
