The Ambiguous Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald´s The Great Gatsby

The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a destructive war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of disruption associated with modernity and a break with traditions.The Roaring Twenties was a time of great economic prosperity and many people became rich and wealthy. Some people inherited "old money" and some obtained "new money". However, there was the other side of prosperity and many people also suffered the nightmare of being poor. In the novel,The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a wealthy character

Morally ambiguous characters appear in many works of literature. The exemplary ambiguous character in Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” is Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a morally ambiguous character because of the actions he takes in order to achieve his own goals, Daisy. Furthermore, through Gatsby’s moral ambiguity, Fitzgerald reveals that setting a facade is ultimately bad.

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by a renowned American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The magnificent tale is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway and it is through his perceptions of characters that influence our thoughts of the entire story. Fitzgerald allows Nick to see both worlds and sides of conflict, as he is the moral center of the book. Even though the protagonist can be considered as an unreliable author, readers tend to agree with his sincere perceptions distinguishing between right and wrong, good people and bad people, truths and lies and reality. However, this quality does not interrupt the fact that he is an unreliable author. Revolving around the criticism of the ‘American dream’, Fitzgerald clearly uses Nick Carraway

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

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.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents Jay Gatsby as an immoral man who acquires his wealth through corruption. He associates Gatsby with felonious characters such as Meyer Wolfsheim, who fixed the 1919 World Series. However, readers still receive Gatsby favorably. Although Gatsby acts dishonestly, he captures the reader’s sympathy because of his ambitious, romantic, and genuine personality.

However as we begin to learn about his corruption, and the way by which he came by this money, we begin to loose this image of greatness. Even Nick swings form admiration to resentment. When Gatsby tells Nick about all his great travels and accomplishments around Europe traveling like royalty and studying at oxford. This Makes Gatsby a hero, however Nick doesn’t believe him, until Montenegro is mentioned, and the same applies to us. This is the point when our faith in Gatsby’s greatness, is reaffirmed. As the book progress and we dig deeper into Gatsby’s past. We begin learning more and more about his life built upon deception, we really start to suspect the rumors of his under ground involvement in crime, specially after meeting Meyer Wolfsheim. It is my personal opinion that Wolfsheim, was in fact a Jew, due to his characteristics, “a large nose” “a diminutive stature”. It is an important point to note, due to the fact that during the 1920’s, The Jews were blamed for Americas corruption, due to there infamous greed at that time. So when Gatsby is seen doing business with people like Wolfsheim, it slanders his name and he, is no longer the American dream, on the contrary, he is now, one of the people that corrupted America . We begin to learn his true identity is not Jay Gatsby, but that he is relay a man named James Gatz.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American dream during the 1920‘s. For the duration of this time period, the American dream was no longer about hard work and reaching a set goal, it had become materialistic and immoral. Many people that had honest and incorruptible dreams, such as Jay Gatsby, used corrupted pathways to realize their fantasy. People’s carelessness was shown through their actions and speech towards others. Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism from different characters and items to convey the corruption of the American dream.

In The Great Gatsby, the author, F Scott Fitzgerald depicts the post - war roaring 20’s, a time of overwhelming prosperity and a new found sense of hope for the future. While this novel is often perceived as a romance, it is also a criticism on the devastating nature of the elusive american dream. The story of Jay Gatsby is a representation of what had become the values of the individual at the time. With the progression of the early 1920’s the vision of the perfect life, or the american dream, had been skewed. It was replaced with greed, and an abundance of reckless spending in which the wealthier individuals placed their misguided ideas of happiness. In the Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald chooses to expose the hidden truth behind the illustrious concept of the American dream. Through his use of literary devices such as, symbolism, metaphor, and, irony the central idea of the truly unattainable American dream is supported throughout the novel.

Gatsby cannot be classified as a truly moral person who exhibits goodness or correctness in his character and behaviour. Gatsby disputes most moral damage throughout the novel. Gatsby exhibits characteristics explaining the reason behind moral decay in society. Corruption and lies are responsible for the destruction of humanity. Gatsby’s whole life’s basically is a lie as he created a fake identity for himself. A whole new persona, Jay Gatsby is not even his real name. Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896. He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and his parents were both born in Maryland and Irish. You could say he grew up very lower middle class. Fitzgerald’s views of relationships began at an early age. It was interesting because many of his best books came from the idea that women & men relationships is just a game with one person ending up being a winner. He claimed to forever have a jazz-age attitude that would stick with him for life, and it worked. F. Scott Fitzgerald died December 21, 1940 at the young age of 44.

A few symbolisms in novels are as memorable as the green light in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Shining at the end of Daisy’s dock, it is close enough to be seen, but too far away to be reached. Still, Gatsby, an eternal optimist, stares at it at night, as if it showed him that all his far-away dreams were about to come true. The green light in The Great Gatsby is symbolic of hope, a source of inspiration, and a representation of the American Dream to Gatsby and to the novel’s readers.

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby manifests of the corruption of American society through his immoral values and manipulative nature.

In the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway, the main character and narrator, makes himself out to be an incredibly understanding and patient man, who shuns judgement of people before genuinely becoming acquainted with them. While somewhat of a conceited statement, it, for the most part, accurately describes Nick’s appraisal of Jay Gatsby. From their initial encounter, Nick demonstrated disharmonious feelings towards Gatsby; at times Nick would laud him, and others Nick spoke considerably poorly of him. These conflicting opinions of Gatsby stem from a contention with Nick’s moral values, along with a sense of guilt that he may have brought about Gatsby’s untimely demise, playing off his moral sense of responsibility. These two senses shaped the progression of the book, explaining how Nick can portray two intensely differing sides of the same man.

It is often said that certain literary works and characters within such works represent real-world issues. In the work The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Gatsby is shrouded in ambiguity to the reader, providing them with a possibility for personal interpretation. In the work, Gatsby’s character develops from a character representing materialism and a fixation on status to one filled with humility and selflessness for his romantic devotion towards the character of Daisy. Through this shift, the reader is provided with insight in order to draw parallels between Gatsby and two distinct periods in American history. The materialistic side of Gatsby, driven by wealth and his status in Long Island, represents the moral corruption and materialistic desires of America in the 1920s, whereas the romantically devoted Gatsby represents wartime America, devoted to sacrifice and nobility. The contrast within the life of Gatsby allows for a profound insight into the significance of the work as a representation of changing American values.