How Is Jay Gatsby Selfish

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” A certain literary character did just that, making himself into one of the greatest and most tragic men ever created. This man was set in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, wherein F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby portrays a wild era in the upper class, infected with money, drinking, carelessness, and adultery. The story is soon filled by the mystery of the man named Gatsby, and rightly so. As the protagonist, he provides a significant contrast to the society in which he immerses himself, both in how he got there and his actions within. Differing from many of his upper class peers of inherited …show more content…

Firstly, one Jay’s most conspicuous aspects is his innocence. He staked every part of his life on his dream, and imbued Daisy with an unrealistic perfection. His dream can be seen as blurring reality, “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can’” (Fitzgerald 110)! Furthermore, he blinded himself to the corruption the wealth caused in the Buchanan’s and even himself. He was steadfast in his naïve “extraordinary gift for hope” (Fitzgerald 2), countering the cynical nature of men like Tom. Secondly, Gatsby was relentless, never letting any setback get in the way of his dream. He never let anything stop him, from his background to his illegitimacy, as he lived to fulfill his dream. Even after he lost Daisy, he still clung to that dream by waiting outside in the driveway. Gatsby “ceaselessly” (Fitzgerald 180) pursued the fleeting unrealities that he had drawn up in his teenage mind. Lastly, Gatsby’s carefulness for his situation and Daisy proves him to be the antithesis of the wealthy people around him, who go through life without much care or any realization of consequences. Nick described the Buchanans as, “careless people… [they] let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 179). Furthermore, a party guest is recorded saying, “I never care what I do, so I always have a

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