The Great Gatsby Identity Analysis

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the theme of outward appearances is evident as the novel progresses through the artificial world created by Jay Gatsby. Driven by his obsessive love for Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby becomes so consumed with the idea of becoming what the narrator Nick describes as Gatsby’s “platonic conception of himself” (104), or the idealistic self-image he has created in his mind, that Gatsby ultimately loses sense of his own true identity. In turn, Daisy aspires to become “a beautiful little fool” (21) and flow through life carefree and indecisive reflecting what she believes to be the epitome of a woman living in the 1920’s. Ultimately, both Gatsby and Daisy aspire to achieve the American dream of elevating or maintaining their economic and social standing through the use of perception and outward appearance to the extent that they disregard
As Nick finds Gatsby floating dead in his pool, he thinks about the world Gatsby may have discovered if only he had realized that his dream of being with Daisy was hopeless. By the end of the novel, Nick concludes that the American identity is the struggle between material wealth and morality, and Tom and Daisy represent it perfectly as they “retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” ( ). This is notion is further evidenced by Henry Gatz’s expression of pride in his son becoming a self-made millionaire with no regard to the price Gatsby had to pay. The American Dream is mirrored through Gatsby and Daisy in different ways. Daisy represents the American dream because she is sought after, yet unattainable. Gatsby chases after the “green light” and desires to repeat the past and reunite with Daisy, but fails to realize the impossibility of it, alike the impossibility of achieving the American