To What Extent Can Gatsby Be Considered a Tragic Hero?

The word “hero” is a Greek word coming from the word heroine, usually is considered of good character and noble. Making sacrifices that may affect themselves but will result in a greater outcome for others is a typical action made from people and characters who are considered heroic. Jay Gatsby, however, is not a heroic character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby.” Compared to other characters in other novels who are heros, their personalities and actions do not match up. Take Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s iconic novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” for example. Finch is honest no matter what he is faced with; he wants to make sure his children are raised properly. No matter how something will affect his reputation, good or bad,

According to Aristotle, there are a number of characteristics that identify a tragic hero: he must cause his own downfall; his fate is not deserved, and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble stature and have greatness. These are all characteristics of Jay Gatsby, the main character of Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby.  Jay Gatsby is a tragic hero according to Aristotle's definition.

During the first chapter we learn that from Nick that Gatsby is a very optimistic and hopeful man. He's done his best to prosper in life but we learn that he has hopes for more. Also we learn that his hope is what drives other characters. Then we find out through Jordan that Gatsby wants to meet with Daisy but is afraid. That is why he always holds such lavish parties, Jordan tells Nick,"I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties..,but she never did.". Later in the story after Gatsby has spilled the beans of he and Daisy's affair he hopes and waits for her to come to him. In the end she does not and this is where we actually see a genuine act of despair in Gatsby, "Nothing happened.., I waited, about four o'clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute..". Overall, Gatsby goes through having his hopes crushed entirely by the end of the novel. But the hope he actually had was false because all along he knew what he had dreamed for wouldn't really work out and you can see this in many chapters of the book.

Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel is an incredibly wealthy young man, living in a medieval mansion in West Egg on an imaginary area of Long Island. Gatsby has many laudable traits. For example, he is filled with optimism and the ability to transform his dreams into reality. Jay is also extremely faithful to his true love, Daisy Buchanan, even to the point of death. When we first meet Gatsby, he is the aloof host of the fantastically opulent parties thrown every weekend at his mansion. It appears he is surrounded by wondrous luxury and is courted by beautiful women and the rich and powerful men of the time. Jay is also a very admirable character due to his status of wealth and being a hero of War World I, “In the Argonne Forest I took two machine gun detachments so far forward that there was half a mile gap on either side… I was promoted to be a major, and every Allied government gave me a decoration- even Montenegro”. However, Nick who narrates the book views Gatsby as a flawed man who is dishonest, deceitful, a liar, and a dreamer whom is searching for answers in the past, “he talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself, perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy… if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…”

Since he died for taking the wrath of something he did not do. Gatsby is a man who struggled to get what he wants and who much reach a certain status before marrying the woman he is in love with. He was basically an outsider who comes from an uncertain past. Gatsby was able to win the hearts of many of the people around him with his tales of adventures and showing off his wealth. Yet, there is not a view that shows the success of Gatsby. He tries to convince Nick about his upbringings and his heroic exploits. Gatsby’s stories seemed extraordinary to the point where people questioned it but they still believe

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero character can be defined to be of noble status, but not necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance but it is this that becomes his tragic flaw and leads to his ultimate demise. However, his tragic ending should not simply sadden the reader, but teach him or her a life lesson. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the tragic hero who portrays the corruption of the American dream through his tragic flaw. His devastating death at the end of the novel portrays the dangers of centering one’s life on money and other materialistic things and warns the reader not to follow his foolish steps. Jay Gatsby is the epitome of a tragic hero; his

The Great Gatsby As A Tragedy A hurried read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can generate a tragic impression. The deaths of three of the main characters and the failure of Gatsby and Daisy's romance can be viewed as tragic. However, a deeper analysis of the book reveals a much deeper tragedy.

The first thing you see when you pick up this book is the Title “The Great Gatsby”

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is seen as a mysterious character that’s not called great or bad. The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920’s during the “roaring twenties” or called as the “Jazz Age”, a period ending the Great Depression and an era where jazz and dancing become trendy. Gatsby does not seem to be fit to be called “great”, instead he is fit for being called a determined man. Some may not call Gatsby “great” because of his lies and some will call him “great” because he is a man who is determined to get Daisy back from Tom or because Gatsby is a nice man who does not have much ignorance like Tom. An example why Gatsby do not deserve to be called a “great” man is because he is a liar and a “great” man does not

Like the many heroes, Gatsby is a male. The Hero’s Journey archetype and Gatsby’s journey are divergent because Gatsby only has a few helpers and mentors along the experience. For the most part, he is alone. Penultimate, what Jay seeks, is exactly what he is trying to find. Although he does learn lifelong lessons, it isn’t a symbol of what he actually finds. Lastly, after Gatsby emerges from the darkness, he never has a complete epiphany. He has hints of the message, but isn’t able to finalize it. Instead, Nick Carraway is the one to complete his journey for him. Gatsby also has a few traits that embody the Aristotelian tragic hero archetype. He appears to be of noble birth to his peers when he really isn’t. He is a good person, but his flaws ultimately bring his suffering and downfall. He thinks of himself highly even though he has an imperfect past. Finally, he has a short moment of realization that isn’t fully completed. Gatsby’s quest is an avant-garde spin to the established Hero’s Journey archetype.

Gatsby is a dreamer, he lives for and in his dreams. But his amazing ability to focus on and achieve his dreams makes him great.

According to Cynthia Wu, no matter how many critical opinions there are on The Great Gatsby, the book basically deals with Gatsby's dream and his illusions (39). We find out from the novel that Jay Gatsby is not even a real person but someone that James Gatz invented. Wu also tells us that Gatsby has illusions that deal with romance, love, beauty, and ideals (39). Wu also points out that Gatsby's illusions can be divided into four related categories: he came from a rich upper class family, a never ending love between him and Daisy, money as the answer to every problem, and reversible time. Through Nick's narrations we can really see who this Jay Gatsby is and the reality to his illusions, and from this we can make our own decision

Jay Gatsby is the protagonist of The Great Gatsby. Like many others in the novel Gatsby is a young, very wealthy man. Nick Carraway neighbors Gatsby and his large mysterious mansion famous for his shindigs. Even though many people attend his parties, nobody really knows who he is or his story. Throughout the novel we learn that Gatsby was born in a rural town in North Dakota. He was not rich then, but he gained his fortune throughout the years by committing criminal activities. In the beginning of the novel Nick looks at Gatsby as a faulty man, but he later then sees that he works hard to get to where he wants to be reaching for the green light.

Around December of last year, finals were quickly approaching, and three of my finals involved writing. For AP English III, we were tasked with writing an analysis of the theme of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby. Analytical English papers involve the writer's opinion, a writing structure, eloquent sentences that flow together to create a clear and concise message, and, of course, a thesis that addresses the main idea of the essay. To supplement our final exam in College Chemistry, we performed a lab experiment, followed by a lab write up. The write up, unlike the English paper, contained an unbiased perspective, statistical data, and a detailed explanation of the procedure we followed. Finally, my AP World History instructor assigned

In the book, The Great Gatsby, John Kehul defines a romantic hero as “one who has ideals, dreams, and illusions”. Jay Gatsby definitely had all these traits. For one, he had a lot of ideals. Some of them were based on his relationship with, Daisy Buchanan, who was the cousin of the narrator Nick in The Great Gatsby. This was just the kind of person he was. He had a lot of views about Daisy, but also other aspects of his life. His ideals were like values of who he also wanted to be. He liked for people to think of him as the “ideal” man. People viewed him as the perfect man who had everything anyone could ever dream of.