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The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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In the story “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a man of high class with lots of money, living in a corrupt time in America’s history. “The Great Gatsby” takes place in 1918 right after World War I, a war in which Gatsby had gone off to fight in. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway from a first person point of view, where Nick tells us about his experiences with a “racketeer” farmer boy, named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby doesn’t appear in the story until chapter three and until then Gatsby, to the reader, is simply a mysterious wealthy man who throws wild house parties. Very little is learned about Gatsby in the first chapter, except for the fact that he lives in “West Egg” and not “East Egg.” “West Egg” is…show more content…
Gatsby had grown up wishing that he could distance himself from his family, since they were very poor farmers. One day an opportunity was presented to him, while attending a small lutheran college, Gatsby spotted a moored yacht owned by Dan Cody. Out of pure luck Cody invited Gatsby onboard, where Gatsby was paid to be his assistant on the yacht until his death. His chance on the yacht represented more than just luck, “As he rowed out to Dan Cody 's sumptuous yacht off the shore of Lake Superior, he was crossing towards opportunity, and a Platonic conception of himself (based on the Greek philosopher Platos ' theory of perfect forms, which interprets everything on earth as a better or worse copy of these forms, as well as the conception of a new self-identity)” (Hermanson). After Cody passed away and Gatsby 's job was no longer available, Gatsby took the little wealth that he had and enlisted in the army. This is where he meets the most popular girl in Alabama near his military post, and his dream forms of having that girl named Daisy. When Gatsby is sent off to fight in World War I the two “star crossed” lovers make a commitment that they will get back together when he returns. Sadly, after one year Daisy decides she cannot stay back and wait for a poor man, especially since she had been raised rich, therefore she marries “East Egger” Tom Buchanan. After Gatsby’s stint in the war, he attends
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