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Greatness In The Great Gatsby

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Greatness is defined as doing something profound which brings upon eminence and distinction. Sir Isaac Newton is renowned as one of the greatest minds who contributed to the world with his knowledge of mathematics and physics. Newton once said, “Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” However, Gatsby doesn’t understand this concept due to the fact he is perceived in different lights because of the illegal activities he’s a part of and his countless attempts on defending his name. In Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is relentless in the goals he set for himself and will work until he accomplishes them. He has the determination to earn the respect among the wealthy in the …show more content…

It’s apparent that this character, Gatsby, lives a life of affluence and to earn so much money to afford such a house may be obtained by a few options; he inherited money, he worked hard to make his money, or he’s done some illegal activities. It’s stated later in Gatsby, that he’s a bootlegger that had an affiliation with activities in the infamous city of Chicago and worked alongside Meyer Wolfsheim, “He and this Wolfsheim brought up a lot of side- street drug stores here in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter”, “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong” (133). After these few statements by Tom, Gatsby is dumbfounded and Nick describes his expression as if “he had ‘“killed a man”’ (134). But Gatsby quickly falls back on denying all that was said and even denied accusations that weren’t brought up within the conversation. It’s ironic because a few ladies at one of Gatsby’s normal party says, “’He’s a bootlegger,”’ said the young ladies…, “’One time he killed a man who found out that he was a nephew to Von Hindenburg an second cousin to the devil”’ (61). Gatsby is an unethical person and has so many accusations against him, it’s difficult to …show more content…

However, this lie is apparent because after his unfortunate death, his father Henry C. Gatz comes about to attend the funeral that a lot of people did not come to. Mr. Klipspringer, one of Gatsby’s friends who was invited to the funeral, tells Nick that he’ll be in Greenwich with a few people for a picnic, and actually called to get a pair of shoes that he left. “’What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there. I wonder if it’d be too much trouble to have the butler send them on”’ (169). It’s unscrupulous on Mr. Klipspringer’s part, but it ties in to the fact that Gatsby’s greatness doesn’t hold too much weight because at the end, he didn’t have a lot of people who cared enough to be

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