S Self-Invention And Self Sacrifices In The Great Gatsby

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Gatsby’s Self-Invention and Self-Sacrifices
Glamour, fame, fortune: The American Dream dominated the 1920’s and was the goal everyone desired. This time period is through The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout the novel, readers most closely follow the two most well-known parts of Long Island: West Egg and East Egg. These two eggs were the home of the rich and famous, leaving the poor to the Valley of Ashes. West Egg is home to new money, and is described by Nick Carraway, the narrator, as the “less fashionable of the two” (Fitzgerald 5). The other, East Egg, is home of old money, meaning the residents inherited their fortune. The significance of the contrast of these three areas lies in the character Jay Gatsby, formerly known …show more content…

Gatz, an impoverished farmer. From an early age, James loathed this hardship his family faced and longed for nothing less than great fortune. Fahimeh Keshmiri brings to light this hatred young James had for his financial situation in “The Disillusionment of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Dreams and Ideals in The Great Gatsby,” an article published in Theory and Practice in Language Studies – “At his youth, Gatsby detested poverty and yearned for prosperity and superiority” (1296). Keshmiri then continues to prove this claim by mentioning the fact that Gatsby could not complete his college studies because he could not handle working as a janitor to pay his tuition. Upon Gatsby’s death, his father shows Nick Carraway one of James’ old books with a daily schedule and general resolutions inscribed on the back cover. The agenda and list were written on September 12, 1906 when he was just 16 years old, and included goals such as “Read one improving book or magazine per week” (Fitzgerald 174). Mr. Gatz beams and expresses his admiration of James to Carraway: “It just shows you. Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had resolves like this or something” (Fitzgerald 175). In Bob Ritzema’s post, “The Great Gatsby and Self-Invention,” the following connection is drawn between Gatsby’s determination and the resulting opportunities: “Following such routines left the teen-aged James Gatz well-prepared to turn a chance encounter …show more content…

He traveled to a young girl named Daisy Fay’s home with Camp Taylor officers as Jay Gatsby. He was clothed in military uniform, and thus was able to disguise his lack of wealth he so incredulously hated. Gatsby chose to keep his ugly past concealed from Daisy, “he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself – that he was fully able to take care of her” (Fitzgerald 149). No matter how many times he visited Daisy that summer and no matter how in love the couple was, Jay knew she could never marry him in his current monetary state. As a result, Jay’s drive to improve himself and erase all history of poverty increased even more. He left Daisy for five years in order to earn the fortune he desired. Gatsby was crushed to leave the love of his life behind, but he knew all of his work would be worth it in the end, so that he could give Daisy the life she wanted and deserved. During these five years Gatsby was absent from Daisy’s life, he went to war and became a Major. While he was very successful in the military, this occupation could not last forever and would not allow him to obtain a fortune. Upon his return, he moved to New York and entered corrupt business deals with Meyer Wolfsheim. This business allowed Gatsby to profit off of the prohibition by selling “grain alcohol over the counter” in drug stores (Fitzgerald 134).

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