F. Scott Fitzgerald - opposition print

The final line of The Great Gatsby, the Fitzgerald novel that defined the jazz age. It was the era that ushered in modernity, a time of material excess, liberation, and intoxication. But even in the midst of the party, Fitzgerald could sense the toll such decadence takes on the human soul.
It’s a beautiful sentence, isn’t it? It’s a beautiful sentence to end a beautiful novel, but it may not be a very hopeful one.

Let’s look at the literal meaning of the sentence and then see if we can extract a theme from it. To “beat” is to attempt to make linear progress, against the prevailing wind, in a sail-powered craft. This cannot be done by heading directly in the direction from which the wind is coming. It must be done by tacking back and forth in a zigzag pattern; it is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and unsure.

Fitzgerald compounds the implicit challenge by putting an opposing current under the boat to go with the presumed headwind. Finally, it seems that this vessel cannot progress against the cumulative force of the wind and current and is, in fact, going backwards or opposite of the direction intended. This seems to me to be the literal meaning of this sentence.

Make a statement in any room with this framed poster, printed on thick matte paper. The matte black frame that's made from wood from renewable forests adds an extra touch of class.

• Ayous wood .75″ (1.9 cm) thick frame from renewable forests
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil (0.26 mm)
• Paper weight: 5.57 oz/y² (189 g/m²)
• Lightweight
• Acrylite front protector
• Hanging hardware included
• Blank product components in the US sourced from Japan and the US
• Blank product components in the EU sourced from Japan and Latvia

This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!