Is The Great Gatsby Really Great

The Great Gatsby is an interesting metaphor and reflection on the Gilded Age of America’s history. The novel stands as a foundation of American literature and as one of, if not the best of, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works. It is a complicated weave of relationships with additional ones created within the story. The story shows a lack of care for humans and their emotions in the 1920’s, a huge statement on the attitude of the time towards wealth and fortune growth.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famed novel The Great Gatsby incorporates many dynamic characters and situations into the world of the Roaring Twenties. Given the title, many readers will argue over whether the main character, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man who throws elaborate parties, was truly great or not. The true definition of great is one who is selfless, pure of any illegal actions, and who doesn’t lie. Gatsby rebelled against all of these characteristics. Gatsby was selfish, committed illegal actions and lied about his overall past. Using these three reasons, one can prove that Jay Gatsby was not as great as some believed him to be.

Gatsby creates an identity for himself as a wealthy man, who lives a glamorous life by throwing huge parties, and is known by the most prestigious figures in New York. What the partygoers don’t realize is that the parties and his wealth is all in the hopes of rekindling with his love from the past, Daisy. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of a young man named Jay Gatsby, who came from nothing, and built up to be everything that he had hoped and dreamed of being. However, his one dream did not become a reality due to misfortunate events. All the money in the world couldn’t make Gatsby happy, as he died as his true self, not the identity he created for himself.

“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so,” once said Charles de Gaulle. This valiant quote by a former president of France accentuates my opinion of the Great Jay Gatsby. From humble beginnings rises our main focus of F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ The Great Gatsby. Young Jimmy Gatz is brought to West Egg from his heavily impoverished North Dakota family. His desire to be something greater than a farmer drove him to fortune and love through any means necessary; his life long obsession, Daisy Fay, infatuates Jay in his own insatiable thirst for her affection. James follows Daisy in the years after he is deployed to World War 1, and when he sees she has married Tom Buchanan he becomes hell-bent on replicating the success Tom has inherited in order to win over Daisy. Through moderately deceitful ways, Jay Gatsby builds his wealth and reputation to rival and even supersede many already lavish family names. Astonishingly, the great Mr. Gatsby, overrun with newfound affluence, stays true to his friends, lover, and his own ideals to his blissfully ignorant end.

Gatsby meets Daisy when he is in the army. He is awe-struck by her, not believing that she could love him over other guys. As time goes on the couple falls more and more in love until Jay gets called to go to war for WWI. Gatsby plans to return as soon as he can from war in order to get

Jay Gatsby, the title character of The Great Gatsby, is really not all that the title might suggest. First of all, his real name is James Gatz. He changed it in an effort to leave behind his old life as a poor boy and create an entirely new identity. He is also a liar and a criminal, having accumulated his wealth and position by dishonest means. But he is still called ‘great,’ and in a sense he is. Gatsby is made great by his unfaltering hope, and his determination to live in a perfect world with Daisy and their perfect love. Gatsby has many visible flaws—his obvious lies, his mysterious way of avoiding straight answers. But they are shadowed over by his gentle smile and his visible hunger for an ideal future. The coarse and playful Jay

apart from Tom. Gatsby portrays the character qualities of being a passionate and kind person.

Wealth is an intoxicating spirit and drunkenly encourages some to acts of eccentricity. Tom and Gatsby are both respectfully rich, spending their fortune in bizarre manners. In Chapter 1, it’s noted that Tom’s family was “enormously wealthy”, that “freedom with money was a matter of reproach”, “for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies for Lake Forest.” (CH 1) Tom’s wealth also affords him a second life, complete with fully furnished apartment, another pet, and an additional woman. Gatsby has quite a fortune as well, and his outlandish expenditures equally rival Tom’s. Gatsby’s parties are legendary and extravagantly catered with a seemingly unlimited supply of food, drink, and entertainment for its hundreds of attendees. This is made more absurd coupled with the fact that Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, written by Fitzgerald, Gatsby releases an ultimately superficial persona to the world due to his obsession with Daisy. Through the examination of Gatsby’s smile, one can see that his charm is merely a façade hiding his past. The subtle descriptions of Gatsby’s morals, in relation to the effect that Daisy has on him, demonstrates that Gatsby is not all that ‘great’. Through Gatsby’s attempt to achieve the love of the unattainable Daisy, he never realizes that Daisy being ‘nice’ masks the pain she causes him. Because Gatsby’s hopelessly romantic nature was caused by meeting Daisy, Gatsby was later portrayed as superficially charming and well-poised, thus suggesting that Daisy was the main reason for his questionable character.

The Great Gatsby is a true classic of twentieth-century literature based on the views of the main character, Nick Carraway. Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is based on the Jazz Age, a time of prohibition, illegal trade of alcohol, increase in crime and bootlegging and the rise of the ‘new rich’. There are multiple significant themes portrayed throughout this novel, such as destruction, corruption, love, hope, manipulation, and carelessness. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a literary masterpiece that significantly depicts the theme of carelessness throughout each character's personality and actions. Three pertinent examples of this theme are Tom's love affair with Myrtle, Gatsby’s extravagant parties and the way Daisy plays

     F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a tragic tale of love distorted by obsession. Finding himself in the city of New York, Jay Gatsby is a loyal and devoted man who is willing to cross oceans and build mansions for his one true love. His belief in realistic ideals and his perseverance greatly influence all the decisions he makes and ultimately direct the course of his life. Gatsby has made a total commitment to a dream, and he does not realize that his dream is hollow. Although his intentions are true, he sometimes has a crude way of getting his point across. When he makes his ideals heard, his actions are wasted on a thoughtless and shallow society. Jay Gatsby effectively embodies a romantic idealism

Upon seeing Gatsby, Nick Carraway notes that “he was content to be alone” and therefore did not speak to him. This silent observation of Gatsby’s behavior serves to demonstrate the curiosity of the whole situation. It is clear, however, that despite his success, Gatsby is unsatisfied and unhappy. It can be said that “the image of a Gatsby who ‘stretched out his arms toward the dark water’ (Fitzgerald 26) may symbolize the subconsciousness poised against reality” (Bui). While much is still unknown about Gatsby at this point, the description of his wealth and economic status serve to describe his situation in life, a rich, upper class man living in a nice home, who worked hard to get where he

Have you ever done something to others which make them think that your great after doing something above average? Gatsby has been called great for showing his love to one person which is more than a regular person could ever show. He might be great to Daisy or Nick, but is he great in the eyes of Tom, or Meyer Wolfsheim. Greatness is a universal thing, everyone is great, maybe to their friend, loved ones, but what about the other people in the world. Greatness is not a real thing but it lies before the person's opinions..

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides a dark and pessimistic outlook into the American life style in 1922. Jay Gatsby, an American wealthy social identity, appears to have it all. But wealth, stature and an extravagant lifestyle seems not to be enough for Gatsby; he still yearns for his old idealistic love Daisy. In an ideal world this has the making of a great love story with a happy ending, but Fitzgerald chose to carry the story as a reflection of the American era the book is set in. An era consumed by appearances and excess and overall pursuit of the American dream.

Gatsby does not belong to his own class and he is not accepted by the upper class, therefore he becomes an exception. Because of disappointment of being looked down upon and impossibility of accept by the upper class, he has nothing left except his love, which is also his “love dream”. Gatsby’s love for Daisy has been the sole drive and motive of his living. Gatsby’s great love is also the root of his great tragedy, because he is desperately in love with a woman who is not worthy of his deep love. Fitzgerald offers Gatsby with the spirit of sincerity, generosity, nobility, perseverance, and loyalty. All his good natures can be seen