The Great Gatsby Character Analysis

The most admirable character in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is, without a doubt, Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby was the main character in the novel, but not the narrator. It is revealed that Gatsby did not always have a lot of fortune, and he grew up with a poor background. Gatsby changed his name from James Gatz and learned the manners of the rich while on a yacht with Dan Cody. Cody took Gatsby in and made him his assistant for the next five years, then left him a great sum of money. He was determined at a young age to become rich and be successful, which is very admirable.

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.

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald gives the reader a look inside the drama driven world of the high class of New York. Told from the point of view of one of the novel’s protagonists Nick Carraway, the novel displays recurring themes of love and deceit. The narrator considers himself to be on the outside looking in, and he feels justified in judging the characters within the elite society due to his belief that his sense of morality is stronger than theirs. Despite his belief, however, he unintentionally reveals to the reader the true manner of his character, which is really just as unacceptable as the people he commentates on. Though Nick prides himself in his honesty, he falls in love with Jordan Baker, suggesting that he is not better than the high society he abhors.

Gatsby is a character who aspired to be successful and to realize his dreams of love and wealth, however, when he faced his reality he was never able to fully accomplish his dreams, revealing that one will use all their energy to hold on to a dream that will never reach a reality.

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

The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about a man that is in love and thats wants his love that he had 5 years ago he want to repeat the past. How did Gatsby changes in the book from the beginning, to middle, to end of the book? Gatsby changes throughout the entire book. changes in him are linked to daisy.Gatsby changes and things start going his way, until the end, when he loses everything he worked for.Gatsby changes the most

Have you ever noticed how people almost always talk about what they do not have instead of what they do? Well in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this is a major part of the book. Fitzgerald’s characters are used to show that people are greedy and always will be. Specifically, Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby to show that society is greedy because he always focuses on what he does not have instead of what he does have. First, Fitzgerald shows how Gatsby does everything to impress Daisy, by how Gatsby becomes rich to win her over and how he does everything for Daisy. Secondly, Fitzgerald shows how Gatsby throws extravagant parties to impress Daisy. Finally, he shows how Gatsby is not happy being rich or poor. This is important because

Throughout the novel, the reader is constantly wondering who exactly Gatsby is and the mystery as to how he made his riches. It is later learned that he gained his money dishonestly. Gatsby did this with the purpose of gaining the woman he loved since she wanted to live a wealthy life. Daisy’s greed drove Gatsby into having the ambition of becoming rich. Daisy had even chosen Tom Buchanan to marry to live a wealthy life regardless of how poorly treated she was by him. She picked him over Gatsby since Gatsby was not rich at the time they met. She even exaggerates her greed by killing Myrtle and uses Tom to blame Gatsby to keep her life of wealth. Nick says “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made,” (Fitzgerald 136-145). Gatsby admits to the murder she committed and in the end is killed by Winston,the husband of Myrtle. Their strive for money, specifically Daisy, lead to the death of Gatsby, a man that simply wanted to be with his love by any means necessary, yet fails in the

Francis Scott Fitzgerald, the author of a book widely renowned as the greatest American novel, is known for his tendency to insert autobiographical elements within his works of fiction. Within The Great Gatsby itself, Fitzgerald wrote scenes and storylines from his own corrupted and perverse experiences, ones brought about by his damaged psyche. The greatest examples of Fitzgerald’s personal biography within The Great Gatsby are the amoral female characters which he wrote. Nevertheless the fact that the 1920s are widely regarded as the era in history when feminism first began to have a fighting chance, Fitzgerald wrote his female characters as destructive forces who are less than their male counterparts and have to be controlled. Fitzgerald’s misogynistic opinions are present in Daisy, a woman villainized despite being under the control of others, Jordan, a corrupted girl who negatively represents the feminism of the jazz age, and Myrtle, a character who was written more like an animal than she was a woman. Drawing from his own negative experiences with women, including unhealthy obsessions with those out of his social league and an affair-ridden marriage with his wife, Fitzgerald branded his female characters within The Great Gatsby with practically irredeemable qualities, revealing his sexist ideals and intentions.

Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, is claiming to be the most honest person he knows. Throughout the story, Nick is the person who gives the reader all the depictions of the other characters. Do we want to believe his depictions are true? Why should any reader believe Nick, who lives a life in seclusion apart from the rest of the characters? Are his statements of the others false or does his secluded life make him unbiased resulting in an honest description of the others? Nick is an honest character he stays loyal to everyone throughout the novel and the characters of the novel rely on him. He may not be honest with the characters but he is honest with the reader

Gatsby was an exceptional man with boundless potential. At the age of seventeen, James Gatz had completely reinvented his name and image. By cause of becoming Jay Gatsby, he had proven his longing for spiritual greatness. Nick as the narrator, admired this quality within Gatsby, he shared, “Extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.” (6). Initially Gatsby had struggled with the idea of accepting his lower social class and poverty that he was born into, “[A] life with poor, unsuccessful parents.” (20). The narrator described,“ For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food or bed.” (98). Gatsby had endured a difficult life however after his encounter with Dan Cody, a wealthy man that gained his riches from copper mines, Gatsby’s perception of his ultimate potential was reformed. Likewise this made Gatsby determined to obtain that

Although the timeline is kept vague in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes it clear that his work of art is based in the early 1920’s between World War I and the Prohibition. This was a transitional period in the United States. America changed after the war and as a result, so did life. The idea of the perfect life fluctuated as troops began flooding back to the United States, migrating to cities, picking up jobs, and buying houses for their new or planned families. The economy was booming, jazz became the new popular music, woman (more commonly referred to as “flappers”) and men were expressing their freedom by having parties and hanging out in clubs or bars, Henry Ford just introduced the Model-T which made automobiles

Gatsby does well in the war and he then tries to go back to Daisy but is unable to and is sent to Oxford instead. When he comes back, he is absolutely broke and then he tries to find a job. He shows his selfishness again when he tries to get money. Gatsby meets Meyer Wolfshiem while searching for a job. He ends up getting involved in some shady, illegal business and becomes a bootlegger. Gatsby was so adamant in getting money and rising up in society that he was willing to do whatever it took to get money. His greed and selfishness led him to do illegal things that he shouldn’t have been doing. Gatsby ends up buying a house across from Daisy where he was hoping to reconnect with her again. He again shows his selfishness by wanting to reconnect and rekindle his love with her even though she is already married to Tom Buchanan. Daisy is clearly taken and Gatsby wants her to leave Tom and go away with him since now Gatsby isn’t poor and can provide for her. Even now, he still selfishly hides the truth by lying about his education and not telling the truth about the source of his wealth. He even confronts Tom about his love for her saying “she never loved you. She loves me.” (Fitzgerald 137) Gatsby’s selfishness ends up costing him his life at the very end. He does end up showing some selflessness by taking the blame for the accident even though Daisy was the one driving.

The novel is set in the twenties, following World War I. The economy is booming, which is crucial for the ability to convey the themes of the American Dream and post-war moods. Set in New York City, the book opens in the West Egg, a new money part of the upper class neighborhoods.

With each turned page, everything else muted. Fading into my own world, nothing and nobody mattered as long as I read, watched, or listened to the classical soundtrack of The Great Gatsby. While the world progressed around me, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless novel found a way to calm my bursting teenage anxiety and draw my interest away from the drama in my life. Although originally my imaginary safe haven throughout high school, I’ve discovered the undeniable parallels between my personal journey and the storyline, especially in regard to Fitzgerald’s character development. While academic essays became my prime opportunity to self-criticize, the only essay that I felt pride in was