Examples Of Greatness In The Great Gatsby

Greatness can be defined in many different ways. I define greatness as someone who displays loyalty and determination and is successful in their own mind. In the book The Great Gatsby, it is told from the perspective of a character named Nick. Nick moved in next to a wealthy, mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Not many people knew the real Gatsby; he was rumored to have been a German spy and to have killed a man. The real Gatsby was in love with Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchannan. Gatsby and Daisy fell in love with each other before Gatsby went off to war. During that time, Daisy married a different man, Tom Buchannan. Gatsby was a poor man from the start, but he worked his way up the financial ladder and became a very rich man later in life. With

Gatsby was raised in a very poor family in North Dakota and started with little to nothing. He built himself up to be a successful man with hard work and dedication. In the book, Nick said, “For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher or in any capacity that brought him food and bed” (Fitzgerald 98). This quote proves to us that Gatsby started with little, and he began with a job that could just get him by with only buying the basic necessities. He built himself up to be something great, and he was known by the whole community. He had more money than anyone would ever need. Nick said, “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray” (Fitzgerald 92). After his hard work of earning a tremendously good profit, he can show off his accessories to Daisy and flaunt what is his. Greatness doesn’t mean you have to be extremely successful financially, but Gatsby strived to become wealthy. He wanted to pull Daisy in with that money, and because of that reason, I think that is one of the reasons why Gatsby can be considered

With the money that he had, he used it to help people who had little to nothing. I think he did this because he knows what it feels like to have absolutely nothing, and he did not want anyone else to feel that way. Gatsby had a side business that helped him earn money. He acquired this money illegally, but he did great things with it. He helped people who came to him begging for help. He wanted others to have a better life and to be happy, Gatsby said, “He came to us dead broke. He was very glad to pick up some money, old sport” (Fitzgerald 134). This shows that Gatsby doesn’t want people to be broke because it was a horrible experience for him. Even though Gatsby makes his money illegally, he still finds a way to be successful when he has nothing handed to him. He didn’t use the money for any bad or illegal reason; he put it to good use to help others around him. He used his money to throw extravagant parties, to help catch Daisy's eye, and to help people like Nick. Everything he did was for the benefit of others. Gatsby can also be considered “not great” for this reason. The reason is that he is a fraud in the way he makes his money. With his side business with Wolfsheim, he and Wolfsheim were able to make tons of money. Tom later uncovered the truth about Gatsby's money and said, “I found out what your ‘drug stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfshein bought up a lot of