Preview

Why Is The Great Gatsby Great

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1244 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is The Great Gatsby Great
In his novel the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates Gatsby as a character who becomes great. His life being as just an ordinary, lower-class, citizen, yet Gatsby still has a dream of becoming wealthy man. After meeting Daisy, he has a reason to strive to become prominent. Throughout his life, Gatsby gains the title of truly being great.

Even before Gatsby is introduced, he is hinted at being out of the ordinary. The first evidence of this is when Nick says, "Gatsby turned out alright at the end." (2) Nothing was known about Gatsby at the time and Nick is already saying that Gatsby was okay. There's an air of mysteriousness surrounding Gatsby. Everyone knows of him, but no one knows who he really is or where he comes from. Even at our
…show more content…
It takes a great man to have that kind of love for one person. Even though Daisy didn't deserve Gatsby's love, he was loyal to her to the end. Daisy was both the main cause of Gatsby's greatness, and also the only cause of foolishness in his life. His absolute love and devotion for her is what destroyed him, even before his death. Gatsby and Nick both served as officers in the war and he told Nick "Then the war came ... it was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die ... " (66) Gatsby knew he wasn't good enough for Daisy and death would've been an easy way out. However, Gatsby survived the war, and with honors as well. Even during war times Gatsby demonstrated his greatness in being a superb soldier. Upon his return to America, he concentrated on winning Daisy back. Gatsby's life between the war and when he's introduced in the book is quite vague. It is known later that he at some point went into business with a man named Meyer Wolfsheim. Wolfsheim was a man with a shady past and possible connections with the Mafia. Gatsby, however, hides his connections quite well even if the stories do fly. Wolfsheim claims to have made Gatsby the man that he was. Throughout the book Gatsby is a gracious host and yet a mysterious one. He is rarely seen at his extravagant parties but doesn't really seem to mind that he misses them. It is found out later that he only held the parties to see if Daisy would …show more content…
She'd loved Gatsby but didn't have the patience to wait for him. She was content to have an affair with Gatsby but still be married to Tom. She didn't want to make a decision. She was forced to make one and her choice devastated Gatsby. He never actually admitted that he'd lost but deep down he knew. He expected Daisy to choose him and couldn't accept any other response. He'd worked too hard and too long to win. Towards the end Gatsby wouldn't give up on Daisy. After the accident in which Daisy killed Mrs. Wilson, it was the end for her and Gatsby. And yet "He couldn't possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope ... " (148) Daisy couldn't possibly face the fact that she might go to jail and she knew Gatsby would take her blame. Taking her blame would be the last great thing Gatsby would do for Daisy. "He felt married to her, that was all." (149) Gatsby might have been able to avoid being killed by Mr. Wilson but he really didn't have any more reason to live. Daisy was back with Tom, he'd lost most of his so called friends who used to party at his house, and he really didn't have any real friends, except for maybe Nick. Nick saw the greatness in Gatsby. He even said to Gatsby, "They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." (154) That would be the last time he spoke to Gatsby. It was sad after

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Mr. Gatsby was a mysterious man Nick had thought meeting him for the first time. “ I would have accepted without questions the information that Gatsby sprang. " (page…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald, the audience comes to the realization that Gatsby isn't who he says he is. The way he is portrayed, is that he lives a perfect life in his huge mansion, Gatsby has rounded up a fortune so that he can win over Daisy Buchanan, but his cloudy past is a road block in the way.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The thing that I find so unique about Gatsby “love” for Daisy is that he never gives it up. In the end of the book it's clear that Daisy is not going to run away with Gatsby. He never gives up hope. And for what it seems Daisy is literally that most important thing is his life. Gatsby took the blame for Daisy. This is when Gatsby is telling Nick what had happened “was daisy driving?” “Yes,” he said after a moment but of course i'll say I was” (Fitzgerald 150).…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby’s entire life revolves around Daisy. He says after meeting her and falling in love that he “felt married to her”. Therefore, he made it his life’s mission to become worthy of her and be able to take care of her. Despite Gatsby’s…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this novel the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates Gatsby as a character who becomes great. He begins life as just an ordinary, lower-class, citizen. But Gatsby has a dream of becoming wealthy. After meeting Daisy, he has a reason to strive to become prominent. Throughout his life, Gatsby gains the title of truly being great.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many attributes that take part in Gatsby’s greatness. However, some of Gatsby’s actions and wants tarnish his overall greatness. Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby” is a great man in that his desires and passion are unparallel to other rich men similar to him, but his greatness is also questionable because of the crimes that he has aligned himself with. According to the book, Gatsby gained most of his wealth from participating in illegal activities.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby’s greatness came from his never ending positivity and stubbornness as he tries to recapture the past. He will always positively and stubbornly keep his dream to go to her. What contributes to his greatness was gatsby’s mysterious attributes that intrigued all the other people. Until Gatsby’s positivity blindly guide him to other’s destructive behavior to contribute to his murder. In many people’s eyes they don’t see Gatsby as great they see him very badly and a murder but I see him as ‘great’ because what he had done throughout his whole life and how he will keep his positivity until the very…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most controversial parts of the book The Great Gatsby is whether Gatsby was really great after all. He really isn't great at all but he works hard to try to me others believe he really truly is great. He live is a world of fairy tales, over romanticized details, and surrounds him self with people who puss up his over sized ego. Being a great, good honest person was not at all Gatsby. I think Gatsby was great to the people that got to know him, but to most Gatsby was just a GREAT mystery.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jay Gatsby, he represents everything that Nick Carraway adores and hates in the world, half-way through the book the readers learn that gatsby is not who he says he is, and even with that he comes off as someone that should be adored,but, if the reality of Gatsby is so hollow, then is Gatsby all that great?…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby begins to reevaluate all of his belongings on the basis of how they could further his relationship with Daisy. When she comes over to his house, Gatsby “revalue[s] everything in his house according to the measure of response it [draws] from her well-loved eyes” (91). Objects that he had previously neglected suddenly had value and others became worthless simply because of Daisy’s response. Further, he spends excessive amounts of time pining after Daisy, instead of focusing on his own well-being. Prior to their reunion, Gatsby “read[s] a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name” (79). Even though Daisy is married and has her own family, the vitality of Gatsby’s vision makes it impossible for him to accept the inevitability of their separation. When they are apart, he obsesses over her, looking for any sign that she may still love him. His so-called love blinds him, preventing him from realizing that their relationship is failing simply because it is based on false hopes and unrealistic expectations. Nick puts it best when he laments, “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired” (79). Gatsby is pursuing Daisy endlessly, even though she will never belong to him. He believes that Daisy will be the one thing that finally makes his life complete, an…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    While Gatsby had been waiting for Daisy after the war, Daisy had moved on. When Gatsby’s name was brought back up to Daisy she hesitated and said, “in the strangest voice that it must be the man she used to know”(Fitzgerald 77). This line is crucial because of how much it says about how Daisy really felt about Gatsby. It is now shown that she nearly forgot about him and was practically careless about Gatsby and what he had to offer. But, he was so stuck in the thought that what happened once can happen again that he did not care whether she still cared about him or not. He said, “Can’t repeat the past?...Why of course you can!”(Fitzgerald 110). He was stuck in the past and was not going to let it go until he got Daisy back. This leads him to being responsible for his own death because he once again could not see that this was never going to come true and the past can not always be repeated.It is also mentioned that “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity. Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an overwound clock” (Fitzgerald 92). What went wrong for Gatsby is he was focused on the people making a negative impact on his life. Daisy did not nearly as much care about Gatsby as he did for her and if Gatsby had recognized that, he could had realized that he deserved someone better and could have avoided his death and all the events leading up to it. As Gatsby continues to fantasize over Daisy, he creates an illusion and it is said of him that, “ Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”(Fitzgerald 180). Staying positive, he puts all of his energy into getting back what he and Daisy used to have. He is again trying to take what is a fantasy and make it real which he can not do. Towards the end of the…

    • 1681 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the beginning of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nick doesn’t care too much for Gatsby. Nick thinks that Gatsby is kind of odd, and mysterious. For example, on page 20, Nick says “he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone”. That is kind of weird because if he wanted to be alone, why does he throw huge parties. Also Gatsby was just standing there with his arm extended looking at a light, if that isn’t weird than what is. This one encounter does not drive Nick away from getting to know Gatsby.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gatsby is not great. He has a fake life almost. The only reason he lives where he lives is for a woman that lives across the bay. He has a fake life because he throws party's that he doesn't even enjoy. Yes his greatness evolves over time. At the beginning he is great and kind, but by the end of the novel he becomes petty and that lowers his greatness. In the novel Gatsby has perceived greatness. He pretends to be great but he actually isn't. Actual greatness is when they are genuinely great.…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    the great gatsby

    • 678 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gatsby’s obsessive attachment for his dream to come true is his downfall and ultimately leads to his death. The Great Gatsby is book that explores a man who wants to make his unrealistic dream a reality. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses drama and imagination to draw the readers in. Gatsby’s dream is very unrealistic because it depends on other peoples actions, daisy’s love for tom, and because his dream would only work in a perfect world.…

    • 678 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On page 40, it talks about Gatsby’s ammenities such as his Rolls Royce, and how he uses objects to get Daisy’s love, however Daisy just doesn’t feel the way Gatsby does about her, and this tears Gatsby apart. He tries anything he can to make her love him. However it is useless, for Daisy will never find the love that Gatsby so incredibly feels for her. Gatsby is a sitting duck when it comes to love. He may have money, and an extravagant life, but it will be one without love, especially the love of Daisy. Nick and Daisy leave Gatsby. Leaving Gatsby in the dark horror of life without…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays