The Truly Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

The Truly Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

Hopes and dreams are needed to give man's efforts a meaning, or a purpose. Pushing towards some ideal is how man can feel a sense of his own identity. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a man with tremendous and "infinite hope" (Fitzgerald, 6). To be able to accomplish a life long dream, one must have strong determination that can in no way be weakened by any obstacles one might face. It is the hope of achieving your dream that keeps you from wandering away from it and guides you to the right path. In order to achieve his dream, Gatsby was motivated, optimistic and brave. Whether or not he eventually was able to accomplish this dream, having these qualities in a person certainly indicate that this person, or Gatsby, is a hopeful person who has "some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life" (Fitzgerald, 6).

Gatsby was a motivated person because he had a purpose and goal for his life. The Buchanans are a great contrast to Gatsby's character. Their sheltered lives, filled with material possessions and luxuries, yet empty of purpose, proved how people with all the material needs tend to lose sight of their ultimate purpose in life. Daisy's complaining was very significant, "What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years?" (Fitzgerald, 125.) In contrast, Gatsby was different from the Buchanans. Gatsby, with his "extraordinary gift of hope" (Fitzgerald, 6) placed in comparison to the aimlessness of Tom and Daisy, reaches heroic nobility. Although Gatsby's quest to bring back the love of his life, Daisy, was marked by obsession, it played an important role in motivating him by establishing a purpose for his life. When he was in...

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..., 151). Even though Gatsby knew what would be the consequences of this statement, his devoted love to Daisy, alongside with his bravery, was enough to make him state this dangerous statement.

In the end, one can clearly see the true man behind Gatsby, the man with the promising hope and inspiring dream. Gatsby was, indeed, a great man who did not live only for himself, but for another being whom he truly and faithfully loved. He devoted his entire life in order to satisfy this being, and gave it up while trying to protect it. He was not ashamed of his past, nor was he ashamed to say the truth. He was an optimistic and motivated man who did not believe in the impossibility of anything. Finally, he was a man who was born, lived, and died for an ultimate purpose: Daisy.

Works Cited:

Fitzgerald, Scott F. The Great Gatsby. Simon and Schuster, New York. 1925.