Jay Gatsby Resolves

328 Words1 Page

Jay Gatsby’s insignificant upbringing gave him reasons to make himself better and constantly look for ways to improve as a person and contribute to society. When Gatsby’s father arrives at his son’s house, he meets Nick. Mr. Gatz shows Nick a page from an old book of Gatsby’s. On the page was a outline of a young James Gatz’s day, including a list of general resolves and very organized schedule. Some of his resolves included: “no wasting time at Shafters or, no more smoking or chewing, and be better to parents” (173). These resolves indicate that Gatsby was trying to get rid of bad habits and be a better person. Raised by poor and unsuccessful farmers, Gatsby always had a vision that he was destined to be the “Jay Gatsby of West Egg” (98).

Show More
Related

  • Moral Ambiguity In The Great Gatsby

    206 Words  | 1 Pages

    The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides the reader with a character that possesses qualities both challenging to understand and difficult to endorse. These characteristics show themselves through the character’s desire and passion to pursue his dream. Jay Gatsby, an elusive, persuasive, and sometimes deceptive man displays such contrast in his moral foundation that leaves the reader questioning his true motives at nearly every action. There is an argument to be made that Gatsby is both great and not so great, making him the epitome of moral ambiguity. For example, Nick, another major character, who happens to be the narrator of the story, first describes Gatsby in the opening chapter of the novel as someone who he both

    Read More

  • Sacrifices in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1770 Words  | 4 Pages

    The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God-- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-- and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end (99). James Gatz was already "about his father"s business" when he carefully sketched out a schedule for self-improvement on the back of his "Hopalong Cassidy" book.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby's Obsession in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a fine line between love and lust. If love is only a will to possess, it is not love. To love someone is to hold them dear to one's heart. In The Great Gatsby, the characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are said to be in love, but in reality, this seems to be a misconception. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the themes of love, lust and obsession, through the character of Jay Gatsby, who confuses lust and obsession with love.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby as Tragic Hero of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jay Gatsby is an enormously rich man, and in the flashy years of the jazz age, wealth defined importance. Gatsby has endless wealth, power and influence but never uses material objects selfishly. Everything he owns exists only to attain his vision. Nick feels "inclined to reserve all judgements" (1), but despite his disapproval of Gatsby's vulgarity, Nick respects him for the strength and unselfishness of his idealism. Gatsby is a romantic dreamer who wishes to fulfill his ideal by gaining wealth in hopes of impressing and eventually winning the heart of the materialistic, superficial Daisy. She is, however, completely undeserving of his worship.   "Then it had been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor" (79). Nick realizes Gatsby's estate, parties, shirts and other seemingly "purposeless" possessions are not purposeless. Everything Gatsby does, every move he makes and every decision he conceives is for a reason. He wants to achieve his ideal, Daisy. Gatsby's "purposeless splendor" is all for the woman he loves and wishes to represent his ideal. Furthermore, Gatsby believes he can win his woman with riches, and that his woman can achieve the ideal she sta...

    Read More

  • Sula versus The Great Gatsby

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    From a young age, James Gatz has plans to change his social status; he plans his days hour by hour; forfeits his given name for a new one; deserts his home, family and friends; and most importantly picks up a job as a bootlegger to make his desired sum of money. The schedule taken from an old book of James' shows his plan for an entire day and includes a list of "GENERAL RESOLVES (Fitzgerald, 173)," both of which show a general urge for success. James' resolve to, ‘save $3.00 per week (Fitzgerald, 173), displays an early understanding of the American dream and the necessity of money. His further understanding of the way life works is expressed through the action of changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, a name that seems to flow easier and deserve a greater deal of respect than his previous, harsh name of James Gatz. His new name, in essence, opens up a new life for Gatsby, and allows him to start over the way he wants to. Gatsby's next choice, to abandon his home, family, and friends in order to sail aboard a yacht for years with a near stranger, displays Gatsby's belief that living a fanciful life aboard a yacht will enable him to lead a fantastic lifestyle in all aspects of his living. Finally, it is at this point where Gatsby makes the biggest decision of his life, solely on the belief that a high income will bring him happiness, and ultimately the love of his life; Gatsby chooses to accept partnership with a man working as a bootlegger of grain alcohol.

    Read More

  • The Traits of Jay Gatsby

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the traits of Gatsby that makes him truly great is his remarkable capacity for hope. He has faith that what he desires will come to him if he works hard enough. He does not comprehend the cruelty and danger that is the rest of the world. Gatsby, while a man of questionable morals, is as wide-eyed and innocent as a small child in his views of the world. These ideals are evident in Nick’s narration and in the words spoken by the other characters, including Gatsby himself.

    Read More

  • How The Great Gatsby Relates to the American Dream

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby spent his whole life striving for one thing. The American Dream, which for him is mainly dominated by Daisy. In chapter nine of the book you can see that Gatsby started striving to meet the American Dream at young age. The reader learns of a book of Gatsby's. He has his everyday routine planned out in this book. Things like "Read one improving book or magazine per week." Show That Gatsby wants to improve himself to a point where he can succeed. That isn't all Gatsby did to improve his chances of success though. He even went to the extent of changing his name from James Gatz, to Jay Gatsby in an attempt to create a new, successful man that people could admire.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    In life, we ask ourselves the question what we are? In addition, we also ask ourselves how our perspectives allow us to see this world? These questions are an opening idea’s, which requires the person answering it, to be fully aware of his or her life, and then have the ability to judge it without any personal bias. This is why, in the book that was and is in a sense is still talked about in class, The Great Gatsby, which is a book that follows a plethora of charters all being narrated by, Nick Caraway, a character of the book The Great Gatsby. Nick Caraway is the character in the book which judges and describes his and other character’s actions and virtues. Now we speak of a character whose name is Jay Gatsby or other whys known as James Gatz, which is one of the characters that Mr. Caraway, seems to be infatuated with from the start of the book. This character Jay Gatsby develops a perspective, which in his view seems to justify his actions by the way that he saw the world that he was living in. In this essay, I will explain why the ambitions of a person, can lead them to do things that are beyond there normal character.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, The Great Gatsby focuses on one of the focal characters, James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. He grew up in North Dakota to a family of poor farm people and as he matured, eventually worked for a wealthy man named Dan Cody. As Gatsby is taken under Cody’s wing, he gains more than even he bargained for. He comes across a large sum of money, however ends up getting tricked out of ‘inheriting’ it. After these obstacles, he finds a new way to earn his money, even though it means bending the law to obtain it. Some people will go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve things at all costs. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, conveys the numerous traits of Jay Gatsby through the incidents he faces, how he voices himself and the alterations he undergoes through the progression of the novel. Gatsby possesses many traits that help him develop as a key character in the novel: ambitious, kind-hearted and deceitful all of which is proven through various incidents that arise in the novel.

    Read More

  • Is Gatsby Good Or Bad

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby is not so great because he is a liar. From the very start Gatsby is said to be an alumnus from Oxford, who fought in WWI, hunted big game, and had parents from the Midwest. He even justifies himself when Nicks asks and Gatsby pulls out a picture of him at Oxford and a WWI medal that he carried around in his pocket. He even changed his name, James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, but why? “James Gatz – that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career” (6). Gatsby is mysterious and mystifying, known for his large parties yet no one knows why he has them. Keep in mind this is the prohibition era, but at Gatsby’s parties there is always plenty of alcohol to go around and no one knows where it comes from or how he acquires so much, one of the many mysteries. In attendance at these parties there are people like Meyer Wolfshiem “the man who really did fix the 1919 World Series” (118), to the mayors and governors. More questions arise in this company as to how Gatsby is associated with gangsters and why they attend these large parties. It is completely ironic how so many attend these parties but none ...

    Read More

  • Money Can't Buy Happiness in F.Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    No one can be perfect in everything; it is good to make mistakes as long as we learn from them. Jay Gatsby was a man of secrets; he leaves an insightful mark on every person he talks to. Gatsby’s neighbor, Nick, says “it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”(Fitzgerald 6-7). Nick was simply appalled by Gatsby and wanted to know about him and any secrets he may have, Nick felt Gatsby was a great man of mystery and was extremely interesting. Gatsby told Nick “I don’t want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear” (69), then opened himself up to Nick and told him “My family all died and I came into

    Read More

  • Outlandishly daft

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    The least important point is made by Jay Gatsby dad, Henry Gatz. In life we do things or say things that can not be taken back, Mr. Gatz is a great example of this. Jay’s dad speaks of Jay’s childhood and how he never really said he right things to Jay. Jay’s parents couldn’t afford things or live an extravagant life so he worked to give himself that great life....

    Read More

  • gatjay Failure of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    A society naturally breaks up into various social groups over time. Members of lower statuses constantly suppose that their problems will be resolved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Many interpret the American Dream as being this passage to high social status and, once reaching that point, not having to concern about money at all. Though, the American Dream involves more than the social and economic standings of an individual. The dream involves attaining a balance between the spiritual strength and the physical strength of an individual. Jay Gatsby, of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, fails to reach his ultimate dream of love for Daisy in that he chooses to pursue it by engaging in a lifestyle of high class.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby: The Tragic Hero in The Great Gatsby

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Aristotle, a tragic hero character can be defined to be of noble status, but not necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance but it is this that becomes his tragic flaw and leads to his ultimate demise. However, his tragic ending should not simply sadden the reader, but teach him or her a life lesson. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the tragic hero who portrays the corruption of the American dream through his tragic flaw. His devastating death at the end of the novel portrays the dangers of centering one’s life on money and other materialistic things and warns the reader not to follow his foolish steps. Jay Gatsby is the epitome of a tragic hero; his greatest attribute of enterprise and ambition contributes to his ultimate demise but his tragic story inspires fear amongst the audience and showcases the dangers of allowing money to consume one’s life.

    Read More

  • What Is The Reality Of Reality In The Great Gatsby

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    Starting at a young age Gatsby strives to become someone of wealth and power, leading him to create a façade of success built by lies in order to reach his unrealistic dream. The way Gatsby’s perceives himself is made clear as Nick explains: “The truth was Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God… he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty” (Fitzgerald 98). From the beginning Gatsby puts himself beside God, believing he is capable of achieving the impossible and being what he sees as great. Gatsby blinds himself of reality by idolizing this valueless way of life, ultimately guiding him to a corrupt lifestyle. While driving, Nick observes Gatsby curiously: “He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford,’ or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces…” (Fitzgerald 65). To fulfill his aspirations Gatsby desires to be seen an admirable and affluent man in society wh...

    Read More

More about Jay Gatsby Resolves

Open Document