To Have Loved [BxB] Book I ✓

Chapter 28

a/n: Hey, I'm finally back with another chapter. I finished it up tonight, and it's not super profound or anything, but I hope you guys still like it. I know I've been away for a while, but I just wanted to put something up because I promised I would and I'm leaving for a week after this so I wouldn't have time otherwise. If any edits that I missed need to be made, I will make them Friday. Anyways, I hope everyone's doing okay, and remember to take care of yourselves, self-care is important to productivity, so be careful not to push yourself into complete burnout over finals. I love you guys and wish you a good end of the school year. 

Eleven days into the new year, Kayden was finally settling back into the routine of school and constant homework after the break. Despite the slow-burning monotony of it, there were always moments of interest, parts of the day he looked forward to, like English class. It had become one of his favorite classes, mostly because he got to argue and Mr. Adler loved it when he did. 

Today they just so happened to be talking about The Great Gatsby, which, while it might not have been Kayden's favorite book in the world, was a pretty good read in his eyes. He appreciated the intricate and poetic writing style, but he was sure that if it was written by anyone else, he'd be bored by the plot. Really, it was just about a guy who made friends with a rich guy who was in love with his cousin and the cousin just so happened to have a racist rich husband who was cheating on her. The story alone wasn't much, but Fitzgerald made it more, he breathed life into it in a way that Kayden couldn't help but admire. He turned a simple story into a masterpiece, and that was truly amazing, the ability to see beauty in something otherwise dull, to look at a party and call it the inexhaustible variety of life. 

"So, The Great Gatsby. Let's talk about it. Give me some first impressions, or second impressions if you've already read it." Mr. Adler said in his usual peppy tone. Kayden didn't understand how he could be so excited about being alive. "Yes, Alex!" 

"Well, I don't really get what's happening. It just seems like there's Nick, who's not really rich except for his cousin, and then there's Gatsby who's got more money than he knows what to do with. Tom's racist and the villain, obviously, but I don't really see Nick or Gatsby as the hero. Then there's just a lot of partying." 

"It can be a confusing book at times, especially for someone who hasn't read it before, but I like what you said about Nick and Gatsby, let's talk about that for a minute. Nick represents old money, he has a wealthy family going back a couple of generations at least with his connection to Daisy, and Gatsby represents new money, he made it all somewhat recently and was the first in his family to do so." Mr. Adler said. 

"What I don't get is why the story isn't just set from Gatsby's point of view when the entire story is about him and Nick hardly gets a story of his own with his obsession for Gatsby being so prevalent," Kayden said, resting his cheek in his palm. 

"I'd say there's a certain charm about a book from the perspective of a character that focuses so heavily on another character. Also, part of the experience is finding out about Gatsby's life, how he made his money." Elias said with a shrug, tapping a pen against his little leather notebook. Kayden wondered for a moment if he'd been working on any new poems. 

"I guess you're not wrong...anyway, what's the next question?" Kayden asked, looking up at Mr. Adler who quickly looked down to his paper.

"What does the green light represent?"

"Wealth and success, Gatsby will never have enough and thus, it's unreachable. It also represents the class that he will never achieve due to growing up poor, he can't change his past." Elias said simply.

"It obviously represents Daisy," Kayden said simply, "She's the love he'll never reach because she's married and they're separated. Also, he put his house right across from hers."