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Who Is The Protagonist In The Great Gatsby

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The extract provided from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, acts as an appropriate and suitable conclusion to the novel as a whole. This essay will offer a detailed contextual analysis of the passage presented, expanding on the idea of the failure of the ‘American Dream’ and loss. It will explain how the passage reacts to and ties up the preceding events in the novel, such as the death of Tom Buchanan’s mistress; Myrtle Wilson. It will also explore the use of foreshadowing within the passage, suggesting what is to become of the main protagonist Jay Gatsby.
The extract provided ultimately focuses on the demise of the main protagonist in the novel, Jay Gatsby. The Scene occurs in Gatsby’s luxurious mansion in West Egg, Long island. Gatsby …show more content…

The “single dream’ that Nick is referring to, is that of the ‘American Dream’. The ideal of the ‘American Dream’ is to rise from rags to riches and while doing so come across love, high status, wealth, and power. Jay Gatsby’s role portrays the essence of the new ‘American Dream’ during the 1920‘s. He is looking for a life better than the one he grew up with. The Great Gatsby exposes this new kind of ‘American Dream’ where instead of striving for equality, the ultimate goal is to get as rich as possible. Gatsby completely undergoes a transformation in order to gain higher social status. Gatsby leads a life of corruption and crime in order to live a life of affluence and wealth. Morals and ethics are completely undermined and overshadowed by the need to become rich; this is a popular trend during the 1920’s. He changes his name from “James Gatz” (p.98), to Jay Gatsby, “He invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (p.99). He re-invents himself in order to fit in with his surroundings of a perfect and idealistic

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