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The Great Gatsby Character Analysis

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The stereotypical American Dream is being wealthy and successful, living in a nice house with a family. Once a person experiences this American dream, he or she becomes greedy and unscrupulous. This is evident in The Great Gatsby through the insights and backstories sprinkled intermittently through the novel. As the story begins it is clear that Tom Buchanan wants women other than his wife, Jay Gatsby wants to rekindle his relationship with Daisy Buchanan, and Daisy Buchanan just wants to be loved. None of these characters get what they want and that is due to their dishonest actions before the story even started, which Fitzgerald interrupts the plot to tell the reader. In fact, they all end the story with less than they started with …show more content…

If he left the room for a minute (Daisy) would look around uneasily and say: ‘Where’s Tom gone?’” (77). Tom was untrustworthy from the beginning of his marriage making Daisy feel this way. Also, he is later seen cheating with hotel chambermaid in Santa Maria. In the case of Tom, he already has the American dream because he is born into it and because he marries Daisy, has a child, and lives in the Hamptons. This derailing of the plot shows how it has corrupted him and causes him to cheat with Myrtle (who he also punches in the face for mentioning Daisy). It has directed him toward a snobby and lavish lifestyle and a marriage with no true romantic connection between husband and wife. Unlike Tom, Gatsby is not born into the American dream but he creates the name Jay Gatsby for himself when he is 17 and becomes friends with Dan Cody. Fitzgerald provides insight into Gatsby as a character when he writes, “His parents were unsuccessful farm people---his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (98). Gatsby always has an idea of success and American dream that he completely disconnects himself from his impecunious upbringing. Fitzgerald also gives the reader the backstory on the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy to explain why Gatsby later tries to take a married woman away from her husband in order to pursue the American dream

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