Are Classics Relevant?

Short answer is yes.

But unfortunately, I recently saw yet another video bashing classics as irrelevant- sooo… I guess this is going to be another obligatory post defending classics 😉 In this video, someone was saying that Gatsby was “not relevant” today and that it shouldn’t be given to young children, as it will stop them becoming lifelong readers. Now this is daft on a number of levels- not least that no one (and I mean no one) is teaching Fitzgerald to little ones (I can say on good authority that Gatsby is only ever found on A Level syllabuses, ergo for people that have decided they want to study English, making it kind of irrelevant in the “I want to get kids into reading” debate).

That aside, as much as I’ve always been fair about how not everyone has to like Gatsby (perhaps I should stop trying to make fetch happen and not mention my theory about the Hemmingway-Fitzgerald divide… but oops did it again 😉), I do think it’s good to see its value regardless. Because, to me, Gatsby is fundamentally relevant. It is a study of human desire and a discussion of the American Dream (or any dream really). It explores the Faustian fall, the tragedy of human endeavour, the knowledge that an aristeia must lead to destruction (or to go super classics geek: hubris => kleos => atē). It is about the struggle of man, through suffering, to find meaning. These are themes as old as time. And the story of Gatsby does them justice, not giving comfortable answers. All of this Fitzgerald achieves with an exquisite command of the English language. Like I said, you don’t have to like it, but to call it irrelevant is to deny the human condition.

Still, let’s say you couldn’t find any relevance to your own life in all that- does that matter? I’m not convinced. Because not everything is supposed to be #relatable. Unrelatable content has a purpose. Art exists to transport us, to make us feel differently, to take us beyond ourselves. Its job isn’t always to make us comfortable in our own skin- sometimes it has to make us feel out of sorts. We often read to experience other people’s experience. That’s how we learn. Not everything should be viewed through the prism of “what can *I* get out of this?” Or, to put it in less fluffy terms, it’s not all about MEMEMEMEME!

Ultimately, even if classics aren’t relevant to you, that doesn’t negate their worth. Classics can open up worlds of understanding; they can be the bridge to some of the greatest human thoughts. And they are #relatable to many people across history. If they’re not for you, that’s okay, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worthy of study.

Also, next time you shit talk Gatsby, you’d better make damn sure you can back it up, or this ape’s coming for you 😉

What do you think? Are classics irrelevant? Or are they still worthy of study? Let me know in the comments!