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Examples Of Sacrifice In The Great Gatsby

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Sacrifice Within The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby encompasses the story of a man who achieves the American Dream through sacrificing his own morals and self-identity. Daisy, his childhood sweetheart, is his motivation for working with Wolfshiem, a known mobster.Gatsby is a man in love with the thought of what-could-have-been. He surrenders his own values and principles to obtain the unattainable through means of cheating. Jay Gatsby was formerly known as James Gatz, but he redefines his persona to present himself as a rich, successful person in an ambitious society. In the back cover of a book called “Hopalong Cassidy,” young Gatsby writes a schedule in which he follows religiously to become an aristocratic man. This example of Gatsby’s …show more content…

Meyer Wolfshiem is an allusion to the Faustian Bargain because when Gatsby becomes associated with Wolfshieim, Gatsby loses his genuine desire to fulfill the American Dream. His acquaintanceship with Wolfshiem is an example of getting ahead without morally achieving his goals. In return for his values, he receives power and money. Once achieving power and wealth, Gatsby moves to West Egg, across the bay from Daisy, who lives in East Egg. Gatsby desires to turn back time in order to reach the Daisy who was madly in love with the poor soldier boy, but time cannot be reversed. While Daisy now has a family of her own, Gatsby will not relent with the goal of achieving her. Clocks are a prominent symbol in The Great Gatsby because of Gatsby devotion to the past. Through his obsession, he forgets himself and the boy he once was. Daisy Buchanan transforms from a childhood sweetheart to merely the idea of a childhood sweetheart. Gatsby ceases viewing Daisy as a person and more of an object that he must obtain. He has become so alienated from his old self, he does not understand his own obsession. He sacrifices his values to attain Daisy, but his sacrifices bring him farther from his true goal. In the end, he dies alone without a second thought from

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