Why is 'The Great Gatsby' considered fiction?

I'm an educator now, but I spent much of my adult life working in bookstores and libraries. One thing I learned through that experience is that the term "fiction" is misunderstood by a lot of people. read more

Great works of fiction often contain profound truths. By contrast, everything Rush Limbaugh writes is non-fiction, but you'd get a big argument from me as to whether any of it is "true". To answer your question, "Gatsby" is a work of fiction because the characters and situations in the novel are the product of Fitzgerald's imagination. read more

To answer your original question though, yes, the great gatsby is an excellent book because of all the symbolism and meaningful details but you will not think it is a good book if you fail to comprehend the meaning of all these details throughout the novel. everything that happens and all the details are critical to making meaning of the story and recognizing its many themes. read more

USA TODAY's Deirdre Donahue gives five reasons why F. Scott Fitzgerald's Roaring Twenties classic makes the cut. 'The Great Gatsby' is an enduring classic. read more