The art of reinventing oneself is constantly seen throughout pop culture. It is seen in the reinvention of Miley Cyrus straying away from the wholesome good girl image to a provocative trashy controversial girl. Hollywood and celebrities are constantly reinventing themselves; sometimes it is for the better, like wanting to clean up their image after some horrible incident. On the other hand it could be going away from the persona they are seen as, and wanting to be seen as somebody entirely different. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s superb novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby the main character is so fixated on reinventing himself. Going to great lengths to not only reinvent himself, but to obtain the things that he once had in the past- which was a life with Daisy Buchanan, a young girl whom he met before going off to war. The Great Gatsby explores themes such as reinvention and obsession. To begin with, one of the predominant themes seen in the book is the theme of reinventing oneself. Protagonist Jay Gatsby had not always lived a lavish life; in fact, he grew up in pov...
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said this and this quote has greatly influenced the theme statement for this paper. The theme statement for this paper on the Great Gatsby is some people are willing to put up a false façade in order to become something they think is better and they lose their true selves in the long run. This paper will go through three examples of putting up a false façade. First the paper will go through Jay Gatsby, then Nick Carraway and finally the paper will wrap up with the parties that Gatsby throws.
Is living a life a fake life of fame and fortune worth all of the pain of the lies? This is a question that many characters face throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby. They have to make tough decisions deciding if all of it is worth the suffering, or should they continue living a normal life? Throughout the book there are many characters who lie and cheat. Even though each character cheats in his or her own different way they all do it for the same reason, which is to be wealthy and have high social class. The theme for this novel is sometimes it is worse to live a life full of lies and riches than to live a life of normality.
The Great Gatsby is a book filled with dynamic characters, written by a dynamic person. Throughout the book, the themes and situations are on many symbolic levels. The Great Gatsby is such a novel, that the hero is portrayed to the reader by a man who, with seemingly no effort, will not judge a man easily. He perceives him, takes him in, and analyzes him. This man’s name is not, in fact, Gatsby, but Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story. The man who is being perceived, of course, is Jay Gatsby, our hero.
To become something you are not is to reinvent yourself. Reinvention can occur at any time and for any reason. A person can only reinvent themselves as far as they are willing to go. Most of the time, characters in books can reinvent themselves easier than living human beings. That being said, in the novel “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald writes about reinvention by talking about the extent one is willing to go, the cost, and how one Jay Gatsby attempts to reinvent himself.
Throughout the tale of The Great Gatsby the reader is treated to a vivid description of Gatsby's parties and his prolific residence. It would appear that Gatsby had everything a person could want. Loads of money and friends and surrounded by the finer things of life. However, the book takes a turn towards its e...
In the novel “The Great Gatsby,” author F. Scott Fitzgerald writes about a character that goes by the name Jay Gatsby, who captures the attention of those around him by surrounding himself with rich people and materialistic possessions. The title of the book itself is named after the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, who is a well-off man that moves from the west to the east to obtain the one thing in his life that he deeply desires; to be reunited with his one true love, Daisy Buchanan, who he had lost five years prior. Gatsby’s physical appearance, mannerisms and impressions contribute to his pursuit for The American dream drives him from rags to riches, into the arms of the love of his life, and ultimately to his death.
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
Have you ever been in a situation where you have almost met your goal, but something in the way is preventing you from fully accomplishing it? Jay Gatsby, one of the protagonists in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, loses the love of his life, Daisy, due to years of separation and is trying to win her back. Daisy’s husband, Tom, however, won’t let her go that easy. Gatsby fights his way to get back the lover he waits so many years for. Preceding Gatsby’s risky quest, his main goal in life is to obtain a great wealth in order to impress the beautiful Daisy. He only thinks about Daisy and their life together. He will do anything to be reunited, no matter the consequences. Jay’s shadow side is revealed and anima is present throughout his journey. Gatsby appears to be an altruistic, benevolent, stately young man. Upon close scrutiny, it’s unveiled that he is malicious and selfish because he wants Daisy for himself and he is wiling to ruin a family for her. But, his anima shows how caring, romantic, and vulnerable he really is through his devotion and passion for Daisy. Gatsby is unsuccessful in completing a traditional hero’s journey, but he does create his own unique version of the archetype. In this unorthodox interpretation, Gatsby learns the repercussions of wanting what you can’t have and dishonesty throughout the course of his battle for his lover.
People today have many different personalities based on who they are interacting with. Often times people's personas change due to their influences and their ideals. Many high school students experience a change in personality while trying to fit in or mimic a person they look up to. Some people are unaware of their own change in personality however, in the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald Jay decides to invent this false persona of who he wishes to be. Starting in Jay’s teenage years he began to create his new identity. Jay wanted to be successful a one percenter who wanted nothing to do with his childhood. He was embarrassed by where he came from so he choose to create a false persona Jay Gatsby. The author uses character to convey
In the book the main protagonist, Jay Gatsby, originally grew up as James Gatz the son of a poor German American farmer but despite this he turns into a cultural, smart, and rich war hero, all with the help of a rich man that he saves on a yacht named Dan Cody. For some this could be considered the greatest goal or accomplishment of all, the rags to riches tale that so many dream of but few achieve. In the novel, i...
The author illustrates through the characters that the search for wealth, love, or fame or going after the past ideals may not lead to true happiness. Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the story, is one character who longs for the past. Surprisingly, he devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it and, finally, dies in its pursuit. In the past, Jay had a love affair with the affluent Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the difference in their social status, he leaves her to amass wealth to reach her economic standards.
Gatsby encompasses many physiognomies such as ambitious. Ambitious outlines one who is eagerly desirous of achieving or obtaining success, Jay Gatsby. It is evident that Gatsby generates his own fantasy world, a realm where he is not the underprivileged James Gatz, but the fantasized Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald conceives him as, “… 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” (98). This quote expresses how he dreams up a new world to escape the blandness of his own existence. But his imagination and turmoil pays off because he ends up making his dreams reality. He personifies a man who goes from “rags to riches” because he strives to better himself as opposed t...
The idea of recreating yourself seems tempting to all people at some point in their lives. Yet recreating yourself involves lying, like the main character in The Great Gatsby did. Throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there were many times where the characters, especially Jay Gatsby, appear to create a new image for themselves. The way that Jay Gatsby develops through the book is different than other characters because at the end of the book when he dies the consequences to his lies came back to him after recreated himself. Sometimes recreating your image can lead to unwanted consequences like it did for Gatsby. From the beginning of the novel all the way through to the end the reader reads how the narrator, Nick Carraway, portrays Gatsby recreating himself. Nick assumes the position in
In the book , The Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby is developed. The story is set in the 1920’s in the New York area. Gatsby grew up as a poor boy, but aspired to be more. He met a wealthy girl named Daisy. She pushed him to go after his dream more intensely. He worked for a man named Wilshiem as a bootlegger and became very wealthy. Unfortunately, while Gatsby was away, Daisy married Tom. Daisy’s approval of his new, wealthy life was Gatsby’s ultimate dream. Fitzgerald’s presentation of the hero Jay Gatsby illustrates that Gatsby’s dreams should be admired because through his perseverance he achieves the lifestyle he wants.
F. Scott Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s smile, one that matches his persona perfectly: “It was one of those rare smiles…that you may come across four or five times in life” (Fitzgerald 52). Nick Caraway narrates The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. One summer, Nick moves to the West Egg of Long Island only to discover Jay Gatsby, a controversial character, living a lavish lifestyle full of prosperity. Although Gatsby is a mystery, one thing for certain is that he is completely in love with Daisy Fey, Nick’s cousin. The only thing that lies between Gatsby and Daisy besides the bay of Long Island Sound is Daisy’s deceitful, cheating husband: Tom Buchanan. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby reveals