Is Gatsby Great?
Greatness is not only set by ones aspiration, but by actions that one may portray. Jay Gatsby in the novel The Great Gatsby, is an excellent example of a character who's actions and personal goals in life unite. While many people try to do what is the right thing, but sometimes their plans do not work out, Gatsby's actions work exactly how he wants them to.To some readers, Gatsby seems like a very nice man who puts others before himself and cares for his loved ones. However, Gatsby only does things to make himself a happy man and gain the stuff he "worked" for. He thinks that by doing all these works, he will end up in the end of his life a very happy man; ironically, he ends up dying heart broken, and a very unhappy man. Jay Gatsby devious actions make him a not so great man. Gatsby is a very selfish and foolish man.
Jay Gatsby has a love for impressing people for personal attention; he's a very selfish man. Gatsby was known for his extravagant parties, money, and his ginormous house.
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People would come over all the time for one of his parties. The guests would think that the parties were thrown because Gatsby liked to entertain people, when in reality he only threw the parties because he knew that his long lost love, Daisy Buchanan, was a party animal and loved being in that kind of environment. "There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights"(Fitzgerald Chapter 3). Gatsby would personally invite Nick to his parties, because he knew Daisy was his cousin, and thought that maybe she would come along with him. Gatsby did everything in his power to try and win his long lost love over from her husband, Tom. He was just so in love with her, he didn't even ask her if she actually really wanted to be with him. He was just thinking about his own happiness. Daisy wasn't really in love with Gatsby, just his money and fortune. Even though she cheated on her husband with him and spent most of her time with him at his mansion, he still expected a lot more out of her. He wanted her to tell Tom that she never actually loved him or wanted to be with him, and that she only married him because of his money and because Gatsby wasn't around or rich yet. Gatsby didn't care about Daisy's feelings towards the situation, as much as he did his. The way Gatsby treated all situations makes him a not so great, selfish man. Gatsby is a very foolish man for trying live a perfect like as if he were going to achieve the "American Dream". The people of the 1920s believed in the American Dream and the possibility of reaching such success. They all started to think that money was the most important thing, which made them stop caring about family and friends. The way a woman looked a man was almost completely revolved around the wealth he had. Because of this, Gatsby was not able to keep Daisy when he first had met her. She couldn't wait any longer to be married but wouldn't settle with Gatsby in his struggle to make himself rich. Therefore, Daisy left Gatsby for Tom because of his wealth. Gatsby never got over the fact that she married another man. Gatsby tried to convince Daisy and Tom both that she was always in love with him, and never with Tom. "Your wife doesn't love you, she's never loved you... She loves me." (Fitzgerald 130). When Gatsby was laying out in his pool, waiting for his call from his "love", he gets shot and killed. Gatsby died without having what he revolved the past 5-6 years of his life around, having Daisy back and in love with him. Yes, Gatsby had all the money in the world, had a beautiful house and wardrobe, but all he cared about was Daisy. Daisy finds out about this news, and still doesn't attend this funeral, which obviously means she didn't actually love him. Only three people attended his funeral, his father, Nick, and Owl Eyes. The way the 1920's had the "American Dream" sounding so perfect, Gatsby never got to live his life to the fullest, and died a very unhappy man. "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr.
Nobody from nowhere make love to your wife." (Fitzgerald 130). Even thought it was never actually said, the way Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby were all acting, you can definitely suspect that they are having an affair. Gatsby does not approve of Tom and Myrtle Wilson's affair, because he's married and doesn't want Daisy being hurt by it. However, he makes his feelings for Daisy, Tom Buchanan's wife, very obvious. He never seems to think he is doing the wrong thing by seeking her love and affection for her. Jay Gatsby looks down upon Tom for his affair with Myrtle. Technically, Gatsby is doing the same thing with Daisy, and sees no wrong in it. He tries to pursue Daisy with all he has. Gatsby does not care that Daisy has a husband, but only wants her to himself. As the novel carries on, one can start to notice that Gatsby does not necessarily love Daisy, but is simply obsessed with the idea of her wanting
him. Jay Gatsby's foolish actions and selfish moves, make him a not so great man after all. By all the actions shown by Mr. Jay Gatsby himself, the audience can see that he does not want Daisy, money, and all his "fame" to please everyone else, he wants it for his personal pleasure, because he thinks of all of these things as the "American Dream". The 1920's was all about fame and fortune, not about actually loving or caring for each other.
While The Great Gatsby is a highly specific portrait of American society during the Roaring Twenties, its story is also one that has been told hundreds of times, and is perhaps as old as America itself: a man claws his way from rags to riches, only to find that his wealth cannot afford him the privileges enjoyed by those born into the upper class. The central character is Jay Gatsby, a wealthy New Yorker of indeterminate occupation. Gatsby is primarily known for the lavish parties he throws every weekend at his ostentatious Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is suspected of being involved in illegal bootlegging and other underworld activities.
Gatsby is built up to be a big man. He is thought of as extremely wealthy and good looking with lots of confidence.
In conclusion, Jay Gatsby is a magnificence character throughtout the story because of his modest beliefs, genuwine heart, and generous will. A hero is often a man that is usually of divine ancestry. In the story The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s reach to become a hero not only for the wealth, but for the true love. Gatsby is the great hero in this story because of his elegant figure that rule over one person’s life, which is Nick Carroway.
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).
...s drive him to be patient, determined, secretive, and careless with his wealth. He truly was a “great” man, as title suggest, stating from nothing but through hope and inspiration from his one true love he creates a “promising future” for himself (Myer). While at first the traits Gatsby posses may seem in some ways beneficial, they prove themselves to be just the opposite as this story progressed. One reason proving that these qualities were detrimental was the fact that Jay Gatsby possessed and used the qualities for all the wrong reasons. The main reason being that Gatsby did everything for Daisy was one of his greatest assets and sweetest downfalls. Furthermore, Gatsby allowed these traits to consume him and cause him to make poor mistakes, thus leading to his tragic death. And although that is true, his unbending love for her ruined him even before his death.
Jay Gatsby is dishonest to himself to and those around him which ultimately leads to his failure. He lies about his past, his family, and his accomplishments in order to achieve his version of the American dream, which ...
The Value of Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby, who is one of the main characters of the Great Gatsby, is a man with a mysterious background and an unknown personality. He doesn't mention too much about his past except certain fabricated highlights of his life which were designed to impress others. The strange and humorous thing is that he carries articles of evidence that back up most of his lies to prove that he isn't lying. Gatsby is also the kind of man that is used to getting what he wants no matter what the consequences are, causing him to be a very determined man that once has an idea in his mind won't let it go until he accomplishes it. The things that Jay Gatsby values the most is money, to impress others and gain acceptance and most of all, having things his own way.
When looking at Jay Gatsby, one sees many different personalities and ideals. There is the gracious host, the ruthless bootlegger, the hopeless romantic, and beneath it all, there is James Gatz of North Dakota. The many faces of Gatsby make a reader question whether they truly know Gatsby as a person. Many people question what exactly made Jay Gatsby so “great.” These different personas, when viewed separately, are quite unremarkable in their own ways.
Jay Gatsby is a wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg, where the New Money live. He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night and represents the...
The Great Gatsby: Unfaithfulness and Greed. The love described in the novel, The Great Gatsby, contains "violence and egoism not tenderness and affection." The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, writes on wealth, love, and corruption. Two coupes, Tom and Daisy Buchanan and George and Myrtle Wilson, match perfectly with these categories. Both couples are different in the way they choose to live together, but are similar in a few ways. Unfaithfulness and greed are the only similarities the couples shared.
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.
...s described in the book he is obviously nothing short of a gangster. All Gatsby wants is connections, connections to money. He needs people to help achieve his goal of the American Dream, he needs to make money, he needs his perfect rich Daisy, and he needs his perfect rich Daisy’s money.
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.
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.
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. The reader himself learns to appreciate this man who is the classic example of an American hero- someone who has worked his way up the social and economic ladder. He is a man who has completely invented his own, new, inflated image. Throughout the novel, this glorified facade is slowly peeled away. Gatsby eventually gets killed in pursuit of romance with the beautiful, superficial socialite, Daisy Buchanan. Havi...