The American Canon

The Great Gatsby became the most assigned novel in American high schools and universities, shaping how generations understand their country. Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film used hip-hop and modern excess to argue its themes have only intensified.

What makes Gatsby inescapable is its compression. At barely 50,000 words, every sentence carries symbolic weight. The billboard eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg — a faded advertisement over the Valley of Ashes — became literature's famous symbol of a godless world where commerce replaces divinity.