Who Is Jay Gatsby 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.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.

In the beginning of this novel everyone seems to know, or at least have heard, about Gatsby. He is talked about a lot and it is manly in a good way. Gatsby appears to be a very powerful person who also has a lot of respect from people. He has a very strange and kind of mysterious personality. For example when he has his party’s, usually on

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…”

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

Great Gatsby, Gatsby is a man who comes from a less fortunate background. He falls in love

However, Gatsby’s life is ultimately taken away due to his burning desire for hope. His naivety in re-creating the ‘love’ he had with Daisy causes him to become a victim of his own wrong doing, the lies and the wealth all catch up to him in the end.

   The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about one man's disenchantment with the American dream. In the story we get a glimpse into the life of Jay Gatsby, a man who aspired to achieve a position among the American rich to win the heart of his true love, Daisy Fay. Gatsby's downfall was in the fact that he was unable to determine that concealed boundary between reality and illusion in his life.

Early in the book, the character Jay Gatsby, is introduced as a dreamer who is gracious, charming, and a bit mysterious. As the novel progresses we also learn that Gatsby is a self-made man who achieved the American Dream of rising up from the lower classes to the top of society. But to Gatsby, the desire for Daisy and love proves more powerful than money. Something that shows his obsession of her, is this example.

Secondly, the reason of the readers’ sympathy is Gatsby’s loneliness. Gatsby is perpetually enveloped by solitude. Despite the “Hotel de Ville” (11)mansion, the car and the luxuries that would overwhelm most people, Jay finds no sense of belonging amongst those objects. “ Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another” (51) does not mingle with his guests. Even at his own party, surrounded by glamour and people, he is still alone. In fact, he is a stranger. Only handful of his guest knows what he actually looks like, to others, he is a mystery. Equally important, Gatsby enclose himself in isolation, “he [gives] a sudden intimation that he [is] content to be alone… he [is] trembling.”(25) He has a whole mansion to himself yet he chooses to stand outside and ponder. Perhaps he is trying to find a way to unlock himself from the life of solitude.

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.

Before we can judge if Jay Gatsby is a tragic hero, we should look at the exact definition of a tragic hero. According to the classic definition, a tragic hero is a «great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat»1, and Oedipus, from the Greek Legends, is defined as the classic tragic hero.

Jay Gatsby epitomizes a tragic hero because, he is a wealthy and noble man, he has a tragic flaw, and his tragic flaw leads him to a tragic death.

In most reading, there is usually a protagonist. Most of the time, if there is a tragic hero in the reading, the protagonist is most likely it. Most authors usually have their tragic heroes to have a goal to reach, usually being passionate about something, whether it is a cause or a person. Having those goals that they are passionate about, they are most likely headstrong and persistent in wanting to achieve it. With passion and persistency come the goal of one day being great.