Great Men Are Not Born Great

“Great men are not born great, they grow great (Puzo)”. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the protagonist Jay Gatsby comes from a poor background and strives into a wealthy individual because of his hard work and determination. In the Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, the narrator, reflects on how Gatsby hails from a lower-class family in North Dakota surviving with nearly nothing. Eventually after returning from World War I, he moves to West Egg New York to attempt to win the love of his life back, Daisy Buchanan whom lives in East Egg and is married to Tom Buchanan. Unfortunately, it is obvious to Gatsby she is not able to accept him for who he is because of the difference in social status and wealth between them. However, he pushes through the barriers and goes out of his way to the earn money and wealth to receive her attention through a

Daisy Buchanan is unhappily married to Tom Buchanan and throughout the novel Gatsby has strong hope he can split the two of them up. After Gatsby passes away Nick recalls, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”(180). The green light located across the bay from Gatsby at Daisy’s house gives him faith that the past was indeed possible to regenerate. He always looks on the positive sides of situations and holds on to the part of him that is hopeful for the best. Additionally, the marriage between Tom and Daisy has nothing on Gatsby. He believes Daisy never loved Tom and only remains with him because she has no choice. While in the Plaza Hotel, Tom begins to cause tension and Gatsby exclaims, “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. In her heart she never loved anyone except me!”(130). Gatsby chooses to believe there was no way Daisy could ever feel something for Tom although Daisy claims that’s