Psychological Reasons We Find Gatsby Attractive In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the man we want to know. There are plenty of obvious reasons we find him attractive, like his money, and fancy objects. Some other reasons aren’t quite as obvious. A lot of it relies on the human mind and how it works. Our brains rely on facts, when we don’t have those facts we assume things that will make us happy, which will lead us to find certain attributes more appealing. We tend to be attracted to mysterious, physically attractive, and narcissistic people. Gatsby is an alluring character because he puts off a narcissistic, mysterious, and attractive vibe. Gatsby’s house and fancy parties make him seem narcissistic. He constantly …show more content…
wants to show off his money and success to try to show Daisy what he has made for her. A narcissist is someone that has an inflated sense of importance and a deep need for admiration. Gatsby shows examples of each of these, especially the need for admiration. He has done everything in his life to try and get Daisy. “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before...She’ll see” (117). No matter how screwed up everything got, he always gave his all just to get the love he wanted. He mysteriously made money which he uses to buy large flashy objects and throw huge parties hoping that Daisy will fall in love with his success. As human beings, we are obviously attracted to success. It gives us a sort of safety net to fall back on. We are also attracted to confident people because they are more noticeable. “People perceived the narcissists as more likeable and found that they had flashier appearances, more confident body language, and more attractive facial expressions.” (Psychology Uncovers Sex Appeal of Dark Personalities). Gatsby definitely has a flashy appearance with his ginormous house for his parties which “At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden.” (44). Just hearing about the setup of his parties makes you want to get to know him. Ultimately Gatsby is a mild narcissist and he does everything he does to get the attention of one lady. Another reason we find Gatsby attractive is because he is mysterious.
Gatsby does not reveal anything about himself until he knows the person well. He keeps to himself and lets everybody make up rumors about him. Even at his parties he did not meet the majority of the guests. “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all…” (45). Gatsby gives off a mysterious persona, it makes people talk about him. Being mysterious, gives him the ability to make him seem better than he is. Hence the irony of the title, everybody thinks he is The Great Gatsby because they don’t know him. If nobody knows things about him, they can believe all the good things they hear which gives him a better reputation. If you give off a few good traits then back off, their brain will automatically fill in blank spaces with good things (Why Being Mysterious Works). Gatsby would show good traits, like his fancy house and parties, then he would disappear and let everybody wonder. They would make up with things that made them happy like “...he was a German spy during the war” (48). Even though we know this is not true because he fought on the American side during the war, they made it up because it satisfied them. People made up all sorts of things about Gatsby, good and bad. Because the brain wants to be happy, people believe the good things rather than the bad. Gatsby’s mysteriousness gives him the ability to seem great because of the human mind’s
distortions. We also find Gatsby alluring because he is physically attractive. Everybody assumes if you’re physically attractive you will also have an attractive personality. Because everybody assumes this Gatsby has the upper hand. Since Gatsby is an attractive man, he has “the halo effect... When we perceive someone as physically attractive, we automatically assume they are also kinder, smarter, and more confident.” (Psychology Uncovers Sex Appeal of Dark Personalities). We do the same thing with the objects they own. If you compare a man with a rusty old station wagon to a man with a brand new Chevrolet Silverado, at first glance you will pick the man with the Silverado. Gatsby does the same thing, not just with his Rolls-Royce, but even with his house before tea. Even though his house was already immaculate he had to spruce it up even more before Daisy saw it. “We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers…” (96). Gatsby had his servants do extra cleaning and get new flowers in every room, all for Daisy. he wants the rooms to look as good as possible to make him seem better. Before meeting Gatsby people believed he was a powerful man that could do bad things just by spreading a rumor about you, all because he had money. Even Mr. McKee’s sister Catherine said “I’d hate to have him get anything on me.” (37). With Gatsby’s money and looks, he made things look as nice as he could to make himself give a good impression on others. The human brain has many flaws, although our emotions are just the reactions of different chemicals we still crave certain emotions. Everybody wants to be happy, which is why our brain attracts us to different characteristics. We are drawn to narcissistic people because they seem happy and confident. We’re attracted to mysterious people because our brain fills in information it feels would make us happy. We are pulled towards attractive people because we assume their personalities will also be attractive. The mistakes made by our brain are what makes the world interesting, and entertaining. If we all had the same brain, we would be boring, unattractive, and a useless race. We find Jay Gatsby so appealing because he is a complex man. He leaves many if our brain’s questions unanswered, leaving us with the urge to know more.
“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it … It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” (Fitzgerald 48). In chapter 4, Gatsby was riding into town with Nick, and then a police came, all Gatsby did was raised a little white paper and the cop apologized for stopping him. This isn’t only about corruption in 1920’s, but how he was above the law. He has the reputation of the president. He can get away with anything he wanted, he loves the power and the respect. When people say Gatsby it’s like he’s an imperial. The spreading rumors of Gatsby are horrific by the sense that, they were so out of this world you don’t know how people really believed them. Everybody had different point of views of Gatsby, he loves each one if the rumor didn’t contain the truth, or him being poor. His actions seem that all he wants people to do is think of him as an opulent man. Gatsby loves recognition. This makes him lose the idea of his past life which he hated. He strived to forget how he grew up, and where he came
Gatsby is great because of his ability to dream in a time of deception. He is corrupt but the 1920's were a corrupt time, thus making it justifiable. But this corruptness has nothing to do with his dream; it has to do with the misconceptions of so many others that lived in the period. Gatsby's dream is originally, solely materialistic until he brings Daisy into the dream. Consequently Gatsby would never fully realize his dream, as Daisy is not a material object. Gatsby "had committed himself to the following of a grail," (156, Fitzgerald) a possession. As a result, he and his dream are destined to fail.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby many characters are not as they seem. The one character that intrigues me the most is James Gatsby. In the story Gatsby is always thought of as rich, confident, and very popular. However, when I paint a picture of him in my mind I see someone very different. In fact, I see the opposite of what everyone portrays him to be. I see someone who has very little confidence and who tries to fit in the best he can. There are several scenes in which this observation is very obvious to me. It is clear that Gatsby is not the man that everyone claims he is.
Jay Gatsby’s appearance seems to be very clean cut and young looking man. As described by Nick he has “tanned skin [which was] drawn attractively tight on his face and [has] short hair looked as though it were trimmed every day.” (54). Gatsby also seems to dress in very expensive clothing and has “two hulking patent cabinets which held his masses suits and dressing gowns and ties, and his shirts piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high”(97).
F. Scott Fitzgerald is well known for being an excellent writer, for expertly describing the Jazz Age, and for having a drinking problem. However, he is not so well known for creating deep and intriguing characters. In The Great Gatsby, the majority of the characters remain one-dimensional and unchanging throughout the novel. They are simply known from the viewpoint of Nick Carraway, the participating narrator. Some insight is given into characters in the form of their dialogue with Nick, however, they never really become deep characters that are 'known' and can be identified with. While all of the participants in the novel aren't completely flat, most of the main characters are simply stereotypes of 1920's people from the southern, western, and eastern parts of America.
When you take them together, however, you discover the complicated and unique individual that is Jay Gatsby. 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.
Unlike those cheesy romantic heroes from soap operas and films, Gatsby believes that by attempting to be someone he is not and by faking his identity, he will be able to win Daisy`s heart . Nick Caraway, the narrator of the novel, informs readers about Gatsby`s past and his first reaction to Daisy. He tells readers, “…he let her believe that he was a person from the same stratum as herself…that he was fully capable to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities…” (Fitzgerald 149). Gatsby basically lies about his social status to win Daisy`s heart, which shows how his relationship is based on dishonesty and lies rather than trust. Gatsby changes himself in order to make room for Daisy in his life. A romantic hero never lies beca...
The world is filled with cheapskates, phonies, and two-faced people. Many use others for their own benefits. In The Great Gatsby, through the motif of superficiality, Fitzgerald critiques the theme that displaying materialism and superficiality can ruin true love and a chance at true love. Objects cannot define a relationship; it should be the feelings developed that defines the relationship of two people. The characteristic of materialism is a barrier for true love between two people. Nick Carraway has just moved to a West Egg, and his mysterious neighbor is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s long living dream is to rekindle his love and relationship with Daisy Buchanan, who is currently married to Tom Buchanan. He attempts to pursue his relationship with Daisy through his unexplained wealth. However, their love couldn’t be true because of their focus on “things” rather than each other.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a tragic tale of love distorted by obsession. Finding himself in the city of New York, Jay Gatsby is a loyal and devoted man who is willing to cross oceans and build mansions for his one true love. His belief in realistic ideals and his perseverance greatly influence all the decisions he makes and ultimately direct the course of his life. Gatsby has made a total commitment to a dream, and he does not realize that his dream is hollow. Although his intentions are true, he sometimes has a crude way of getting his point across. When he makes his ideals heard, his actions are wasted on a thoughtless and shallow society. Jay Gatsby effectively embodies a romantic idealism that is sustained and destroyed by the intensity of his own dream. It is also Gatsby’s ideals that blind him to reality.
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...
To have a strong American Dream, there must be a fear of failure. In both works, failure is defined as losing manhood, and success is equated with being the “ideal male”. The American Dream becomes an extension of masculinity attained through material possessions, work ethic, and status. Manhood is represented by the determination, achievement, and accomplishment, which makes failure more threatening as it equates to the destruction of the individual rather than his goals. Fear is another motivation which turns the struggles for greatness very personal for the cast. The theme of the film is based on antiquated concept that males are supposed to protect and provide for women; therefore, failing to succeed becomes a threat to the male’s domestic
Throughout the novel, it explains what kind of person Jay Gatsby is. It is evident that he is an attractive male with magnetism and charisma.
From the start of the book we can see that women in the book are
However, this perception of Gatsby is eventually completely transformed as Fitzgerald continuously divulges the flaws within Gatsby and his way of life. Having given his book the title, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald has created a level of irony that enhances Gatsby's character and serves as a basis of contrast between how Gatsby appears to an outsider and what he really is. F. Scott Fitzgerald was very clever in choosing the word "great" in describing such a complex character as Jay Gatsby. It is clear that this word is being used facetiously as Fitzgerald continuously reveals more and more weakness within Gatsby. At first glance, Gatsby is portrayed as glamorous and magnificent.
His ability to come up with such lies, makes people wonder if they should believe it or not. In F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Gatsby isn't considered great because his lack of moral virtues and unreliable personality. Caught up in his emotions, he does the unthinkable for the sake of love which he never received back. Only if he had been born wealthy with the same ambitions he could have had the chance for true happiness. In the end, he turns into a man who no one recognizes and faces off society as if he never