The Great Gatsby Tragic Hero Quotes

The Great Tragic Hero

A tragic hero can be defined as literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. A well known novel in American Literature is The Great Gatsby which displays an example of a tragic hero. The author of the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed an example of a tragic hero through the main character of the novel named Jay Gatsby. In the book Gatsby tries to accomplish the American Dream by gaining wealth and doing everything in his power to be with the love his life Daisy Buchanan. His whimsical ways granted him wealth and allowed him to be in the arms of his lover Daisy but, it also leads him to death. Jay Gatsby can be considered a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw and because his misfortune was not wholly deserved.

As can be seen in the novel Gatsby has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall and his death.

In the book Gatsby says, “Can’t repeat the past? He cried incredulously. Why of course you can!” (110). This quote explains one of mistakes leading to his downfall by stating that he does believe that you can repeat the pass when you can’t. In the book Gatsby tries his hardest to repeat his past relationship with Daisy and it leads him to trouble. He tries different tactics to gain her attention, like throwing the extravagant parties at his house. He hoped one night that Daisy would wonder in so he could see her again. The scene in the book where Gatsby, Nick, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan were in the apartment you can see how Gatsby’s actions had a toll on the other characters. Daisy specifically showed this when she said, “Oh, you want too much! She cried to Gatsby” (132). When Daisy said this it clarified that Gatsby was asking too much of her and that ultimately lead to his

downfall.
Unfortunately in the novel the outcome of Gatsby's tragic flaw lead to his death. Even though Gatsby made many mistakes, his misfortune was not wholly deserved. When Gatsby passed away everyone that attended his colossal extravagant parties did not even show up to his funeral. This showed that even though Gatsby was caring to most people, he did not get that same respect back. The person that was expected to show the most sympathy towards Gatsby’s death didn't and that was his very own lover Daisy. In the book Nick said, “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (164). When Gatsby was alive he tried to do everything to get Daisy back and sadly she did not even show that she cared when he passed away. Gatsby only had one dream and that was to spend the rest of his life happy with Daisy. In the book Nick said, “If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (161). This quote shows how Nick pictures how Gatsby must have felt because he didn't do anything wrong to deserve death. Nick is the only one that knows and understand that Gatsby was an innocent man and it is hard for him to see such a innocent man die for the wrong doing of others.
In conclusion, the American Dream Gatsby had planned for his life did not come true. Unfortunately a tragic hero like Gatsby can not complete his American Dream because of the tragics flaws he had. His death was not deserved but it did put it in perspective that a tragic hero can be a great person that just makes some bad decisions. Gatsby will forever be remembered as one of American Literature's greatest tragic heroes.

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