Since the beginning, Gatsby knew that to attain the American Dream he would have to create the persona of Jay Gatsby from James Gatz. Jay Gatsby is a rich, successful man from West Egg in New York while James Gatz is the penniless son of unsuccessful farm people. Evidently, Gatsby grasps that to attain the American Dream he absolutely can not be a lower class laborer and must be born affluent. In addition, Gatsby is revealed as a hard worker when his father presents a schedule that exhibits, “‘Jimmy was bound to get ahead’” (Fitzgerald 173). He refers to the anal schedule of self-improvement Gatsby grinded himself through. However, it is also revealed Gatsby earned his money through illegal activities when Meyer Wolfsheim, a mob leader, tells the narrator, “‘Start him! I made him’” (Fitzgerald 173). This exposes that Gatsby believs that in order to create the American Dream from nothing, integrity is impossible. In the end of the novel, everything is taken away from Gatsby when he is murdered by another victim of the hopeless American Dream, Wilson. Evidently, Daisy and her husband, Tom Buchanan, two people of privilege, can be linked to the intricate events leading to Gatsby’s downfall. Therefore, Fitzgerald reveals that all of Gatsby’s hard work and his own life was obliterated by the elite who were born into the American…
Jay Gatsby is a puzzling character to comprehend. One may wonder how it is possible he has not achieved his dream. He lives the most wealthy lifestyle imaginable and throws parties that are the talk of the town. The reason Gatsby has not achieved his dream is because he is not truly happy. Before he went to war, he was in love with Daisy; however, while he was away he received the news that Daisy was marrying Tom Buchannan. After this, Gatsby’s entire life is…
Gatsby used his wealth to throw parties so he could try to get Daisy’s attention and impress her. He did end up impressing her. However, because Daisy was married to her husband Tom she could not be with Gatsby. Tom found out about Daisy’s affair and confronted Gatsby. Gatsby insisted that Daisy never loved Tom but Daisy could not deny her love for her husband. It showed that Gatsby was extremely naive to believe that Daisy would love him to a certain extent as to say that she never loved her own husband. Gatsby believed that he could easily win her back simply by showing up with his wealth, but he was wrong.…
Throughout works of literature, when a person has to deal with external pressures, forces beyond his or her control, either his true character is revealed, or what already comprises his personality is magnified. In the novel the Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby is defined and clarified by the way that he faces external forces. Gatsby’s goal was to get Daisy at all cost, so he did everything to do so and this corrupted him.…
In the story, Jay Gatsby has a high economic status, and is also high in the social status when it comes to business, but not when it comes to knowing and caring for people. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is concentrated on his one goal, to lure Daisy Buchanan back into his life. Everything in his life is based on her like what he does and what he spends his money on. He stays determined by not drinking and having all of these…
The Great Gatsby is not a story about Jay Gatsby. It is a story about the green light, the American dream. “It is the story that if you work hard enough, you can succeed” (Donahue, “Five reasons ‘Gatsby’ is the great American novel”). Jay Gatsby was once James Gatz, a poor boy of unsuccessful farmers. The United States was founded upon aspiring immigrants who wished to one day enjoy rich livelihoods. Even in…
The mystery behind Jay Gatsby allows for him to become one of the most intriguing members of the upper class. As Gatsby’s background unravels, it becomes clear that Fitzgerald chose Jay Gatsby as the main character because he defies every social normality in the 1920’s. By Fitzgerald’s writing, the reader realizes that Gatsby’s mindset separates him from others. Everything Gatsby has accomplished in the past five years is because of his dedication, ambition, and integrity in following in his dreams which Fitzgerald greatly admires. The social class one is born into is the one they belong to their entire life, unless you are Jay Gatsby. Although Gatsby attempts to convince people that his entire life has consisted of lavish and wealthy things,…
The final for this book will be a written essay using evidence to prove your point. You will also be showing off your abilities to use academic English (vocabulary and sentence structures) and functional grammar. You will be required to use at least one example of parallelism and use both the semi-colon and colon.…
The American Dream is an idea that has been present since American literature’s beginning. Typically, the dreamer aspires to rise from rags to riches, while accumulating such things as love, high status, wealth, and power on his way to the top. The dream has variations throughout different time periods, although it is generally based on ideas of freedom, self-reliance, and a desire for something greater. The American dream has increasingly focused on materialistic items as a sign of attaining success. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a self-made man who started out with no money only planned for achieving his dream. He is so blinded by his luxurious possessions that he does not see that money cannot buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become corrupted by one’s focus on acquiring wealth, power, and expensive things.…
causes Gatsby's demise and disillusionment. Jay Gatsby loved Daisy with all his heart and she…
Through The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald seems to communicate a message about people’s failure to accomplish their dreams—Nick, Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy all have ideas for the perfect life and none of them are able to achieve them. Deeply explore one character—his/her dreams, his/her dreams, his/her attempts to accomplish those dream, his/her reasons for failure, and the message that Fitzgerald might be communicating through this failure.…
The main character of the book is also the inspiration of the title, Jay Gatsby (SparkNotes…). He is a complicated character and we get to know him at many different stages of his life. We meet him as extravagantly rich and successful Gatsby, (Ross). He has the means to have extravagant parties every Saturdays, but he seems to be desperately searching for something. We learn about the history of Gatsby When learn that at one point he was called James Gatz (The Great Gatsby). He was poor and dreamed of the day he would have all the money he wanted. He fell in love with Daisy before leaving to fight in the war, but the pressure of parents and society were so great to marry someone in her ‘class’, she broke and married Tom. When Gatsby returned and realized Daisy had married, he was heartbroken. He worked for Dan Cody; a bootlegger involved with illegal things. Gatsby gets…
Many people claim that The Great Gatsby is the quintessential American novel. This is due to the reoccurring theme of the book of the rise and fall of the American dream. The book is very significant because of its relation to the time period in which it was written and the actual events that were taking place in the world in and around the 1920's. This period was called the "Roaring 20's" because of the economy at the time was through the roof and people were taking advantage of the overall wealth, both independently and as a whole. (Gevaert, 2) New York City was a symbol of what America has become in the 1920's: a place where anything goes, where money is made and bootleggers flourish. In the 1920's money was very abundant, also known as the "Golden Age." (Taylor) People were very materialistic at this time and this is evident in the book for the Gatsby's and the Buchanans were always trying to impress people rather than being themselves. Gatsby's use of the wealth and the way he sees it as being…
In The Great Gatsby, the differences in social status and wealth have a huge impact on what happens to the relationships and how long they last. Jay Gatsby, “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West" and then soon "came into a good deal of money", gradually builds up a persona to impress a girl.…
Jay Gatsby, like many average Americans, has a dream of becoming successful and noble. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby decides to pursue The American Dream as a young adult. Gatsby came from a poor social class, which forced him to work hard even though he would receive no high status in life. Gatsby knew this, but always remained very ambitious and refused to settle for a life of "janitor's work". It wasn't until Jay was 17 years old when he found his real inspiration to become successful. Before World War I, Jay Gatsby met Daisy and fell instantly in love with her. Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy came from a wealthy family, and he knew he had no chance of marrying her with his poor status. Gatsby's love and longing for Daisy then became his motivation to become wealthy, high classed, and successful. Gatsby does reach the element of gaining wealth and success, but his ambition is only half met. It is the full achievement of his goal which will soon lead to the destruction of his life.…