Grasping like Gatsby * The American Dream

“Absolutely real — have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they’re absolutely real.”

I leaned on an opulent bookcase and glanced at the books. None of the books looked as if they were selected with careful care, but they were real. In fact. the whole Gatsby inspired Oheka Castle is real! I wandered the sprawling gardens and sat by the fountain. I even sat where F. Scott Fitzgerald had a drink. In a time where everyone is starting to wander out of lockdown, are we all now grasping like Gatsby? Are we starved for connections and are our sore locked down eyes in need of feeling the need to live again? I sat outside on the restaurant terrace in an isolated corner. I slowly slipped down my mask and allowed myself a bite of something I didn’t cook myself. Is this real?! Am I really here at Gatsby’s fictional mansion? Sipping his tea? Standing in Jay’s library? It’s been a little more than two years since I have stepped out of my house and allowed myself to be human, in the hopes of gathering information for my English project and grasping a better sense of the novel, The Great Gatsby. However, I still need to tread cautiously when leaving my home. My brother, Mitchell, is now in remission from his battle with cancer. He is still immunocompromised. The Covid vaccine is not as effective for him as it is for a healthy person. So, for those of us who still can’t get out much due to Covid, it almost doesn’t feel real when we do get out.

Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby is fiction, for those of us who are lucky enough to live in the Tristate area and lucky enough to venture out, Jay Gatsby can feel less like a fictional character and more like a real person. The book was recently assigned to me by my English teacher. It is the perfect antidote for me after sitting in my house for two years since the pandemic. But can I do this? Can I mentally and physically leave my home? Can I grasp life again? Is the American Dream real, especially after Covid? Or are we all just figuratively grasping at the end of a long pier like Jay Gatsby?

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

I have decided to safely beat against the current of Covid. I left the raging Covid 2020s and transported myself into the Roaring Twenties, only to discover that not much has changed. So, despite Covid, high gas prices, and the crumbling economy, most of us are all still willing to gamble on the American Dream.

My first stop was Oheka Castle. The first owner, Otto Hermann Kahn, a wealthy German-born investment banker, was also known as “King of New York.” Despite his wealth and charisma, he was not allowed to enter the golf courses near his property because he was Jewish, but like Gatsby, Mr. Kahn could not buy everyone’s love. The prejudices of other people are as real today as they were in the past. Mr. Kahn still wasn’t allowing any of that to prevent him from building the second largest American home. Like Gatsby, Mr. Kahn spared no expense and he threw lavish parties, where guests like Charlie Chaplin were invited. Like Gatsby, he was a collector of the arts and the finer things. Even though none of those things exist at Oheka Castle today, one can certainly envision the lavish lifestyle of years gone by.

To further my journey through Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, I felt that I must visit the Fitzgerald Suite at the Plaza Hotel. Fortunately, the Plaza Hotel was extremely kind. They generously offered me a tour of their exquisite Fitzgerald Suite. The Suite is inspired by the Great American novel, but also by the 2013 movie. The door is ornate and replicates the Art Deco theme repeatedly used in the movie. Once I entered the room, I immediately felt transported into Fitzgerald’s novel. Tom’s world at the Plaza Hotel is real! His wife’s photo, Daisy (played by English Actress, Carey Hannah Mulligan, from the 2013 The Great Gatsby movie) is front and center. The wallpaper and drapes, carefully selected with the Art Deco warm golds and cool grays, made me feel like I’m in the room of a very prominent and privileged gentleman. The Plaza Hotel’s attention to detail is evident throughout the room. My favorite is the article about Tom winning all the football trophies. Above that article were his leather helmet, silver trophies, and gold medals. I am sure that Tom Buchanan would be pleased that the Plaza Hotel has spared no expense in decorating his room. I assure you that the grand chandelier above the bed is real. I am pleased that no brawls over Daisy nor the excessive usage of “Old Sport” have taken place in this room because the room is truly exquisite. I am extremely thankful that the Plaza Hotel has allowed me a peek into Tom’s World. If you would like to immerse yourself in the book and be a guest of Tom Buchanan, the price of this suite is $2,800 per night. Or perhaps, you can just meet Tom for High Tea downstairs in Palm Court.

My next stop was The Yale Club of New York. In the book, Nick Carraway dined at the Yale Club and he met socially with Tom Buchanan. Nick and Tom attended Yale together, graduated in the same year, and they were part of a secret society. Tom was a star footballer. Here is a real interesting fact that I learned on my trip to the Yale Club. If you are a member of the Harvard Club of Boston, which my brother is, then you have access to the Yale Club. This gave me insight into the privileged world Tom was granted just being born into a wealthy family. Access to elite institutions such as Yale and the Plaza Hotel are as real today as when the book was written 97 years ago in 1925. The Yale Club is much larger in size than many comparable university clubs around the world. I really appreciate the Yale Club allowing me to tour its private club, including the dining and social gathering areas, as well as its hotel rooms.

I did not limit myself to the wealthy parts of the novel. I also traveled to the Valley of Ashes in Queens at Willets Point, Flushing and Corona. This is not a place to wander aimlessly. You have to be like Tom Buchanan, confident and deliberate in where you are going, and it would be helpful to know someone there, just like Tom. If you visit the real Valley of Ashes, you may feel a little like Nick Carraway, doubtful and a tad fearful. However, the real Valley of Ashes is a tight community, and if you visit, be sure to visit the Louis Armstrong House Museum. This museum is a beautiful Time Capsule of memories from the Jazz Era. The tight community of Corona shines through at this museum. Mr. Armstrong’s house proves that “What A Wonderful World” can be achieved even in the Valley of Ashes.

Finally, I drove down Northern Boulevard, just like Jay and Tom, right onto the upper roadway of the Queensboro Bridge, which crosses the East River, linking Queens to Manhattan. The real panoramic view of Manhattan that Jay, Daisy, Tom and Jordan saw is still spectacular, despite the bridge perpetually being under construction and the really bad traffic. The exit ramp of the Queensboro Bridge leads to East 59th Street, exactly three Avenues from the Plaza Hotel.

I did visit a few other places, but I will end here at the figurative Pier, because this is a blog and not the next great American novel. My quest for a better understanding of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has arrived at this conclusion: despite where a person comes from, despite Covid, the economy, and other obstacles one encounters along the way, one can still grasp at things that may be beyond one’s reach, even though the Green Light beyond the Pier seems dim and far away.

Please view my website, Guided by Gatsby. Just click on the link below:

https://sites.google.com/fairfieldschools.net/mason-yeoh/home