Gatsby puts on a facade and tells everyone that he inherited his money, but in reality Gatsby has other means by which he earns his money for the sake of Daisy. He stoops to a level that shows that he has no care for his morals and he will go to any extent if it means making Daisy happy and earning money. He commits multiple crimes including buying “side-street drug-stores in Chicago and [selling] grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133). He doesn’t care about getting in trouble with the law because he is no longer living for himself, and it seems like he is only living for Daisy, who embodies the wealthy lifestyle Gatsby has wanted his whole life. Gatsby got rich out of a sense of “desperation and crazy hopefulness, out of refusing to get over a broken heart and give up the love of his life” (Voegeli).
“when he looked around him now for the first time and saw the height and splendor of the hall and the great rooms opening out from it into other rooms his grief began to be mixed with an awed pride”. This shows that even though Gatsby’s father was poor, he was still materialistic. His son had just been killed, and he allowed the material items and money that his son had, to distract him from the grief that he should have been experiencing over the loss of his son.
He tries to act like he is a very elated successful man that throws all these lively parties to share his wealth with others. While in reality he feels incredibly isolated. Nick, the narrator, says while talking about Gatsby, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself”(95). This quote talks about how Gatsby came up with an idea of who he wanted to be and put his entire life purpose into becoming this conception of himself. He would put his success before everything else, even his own happiness.
Some say Jay Gatsby is a horrendous criminal that cares only for his greed for wealth. Others say his criminal actions are justifiable because it is to attain Daisy. Does Gatsby deserve pity or is he a greedy scumbag that deserved his fate. Gatsby is worthy of pity because he is selfless and moral throughout the novel. Gatsby is selfless because he only cares about Daisy and only got wealthy to be with Daisy.
In our world it is hard to indicate whether it is genuine when an individual is treated in a kind matter or being deceived in order to get exploited for something in one’s possession. It is quite unfortunate that in this world, homo sapiens use a gift such as kindness in order to deceive and get whatever they desire, instead of being genuinely kind to one another. A person should not have to doubt the truthfulness behind someone’s kindness towards them. The readers of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby experience this false goodness and deception, through the false belief that Jay Gatsby is a kind hearted soul, with a pure and white soul; Contrary to that false belief, Gatsby is in truth, foolish, pathetic and a man who repeatedly sin and prove he is not
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively”, said by Bob Marley. That quote helps contrast my theme for The Great Gatsby. Few people with money ever acknowledge and care for what their personas may have done. As I explain this theme it’ll unravel all the secrets of the book and place them out for you to grab. We’ll start with a little bit of character analysis.
Greed and love, in most cases go hand in hand. People will sometimes become jealous when a loved one show affection or chooses someone else over themselves. This in many cases can drive a person to horrible or outrageous things this fact is one of the main parts in the novel The Great Gatsby. This can be summed up by one sentence and used as a theme statement and that sentence is “sometimes people will do anything to get what they want. Daisy is a prime example of how sometimes people will do anything to get what they want.
All Gatsby turns out to be in the end is fallacious. He lied; he manipulated people and was naive. This is not the kind of person you would want to refer to as ‘great’. Gatsby was never one for honesty. His whole identity of ‘Jay Gatsby’ is a lie itself as Nick tells us the story
Gatsby is rich, powerful, and influential, but that was never enough for him. He has everything that everything that people covet and wish for but to him it is only the things that exist to enable him to get what he wants. It is because of his fantasies about the American Dream with Daisy that everything he tried to build for years has been destroyed by those bad things that he did. Gatsby’s desire for money and social status led him to exhibit his negative qualities such as involvement in crime, dishonesty, and delusions about his life with a married woman.
Sophia Mechler Mrs. Fenlon Honors English III 22 March 2023 Title While reading literature created during the 1920s, the reader learns about different characters. Some of them are morally good, while others lack a soul and are empty inside. Especially, when completing the novel, The Great Gatsby, readers get a glimpse into the entitlement of the rich during the 1920s. Fitzgerald shows this by providing that most of the characters who live on East Egg inherited their money and never had to work hard for anything.
Several people may assume that selfishness is both unhealthy and wrong. A selfish person usually puts his own needs before the needs of other people. Selfish people need to be able to draw the line between when they need to worry about themselves, or when they should be concerned about other people. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the view of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, it is evident that the nature of man is showing selfishness through cruelty, greed, and manipulation. Cruelty is just one way that the nature of man shows selfishness.
Gatsby wanted to make his dream a reality and didn’t stop until he had achieved it. Jay showed his greatness in many ways especially through his determination, grit, and willingness to put anything on the line in order to achieve his goal. Many people see Gatsby and his life and get led to the assumption that he wasn’t great due to the fact that he attained his money through illegal means. Although this is true I disagree. Money is one of the most important and crucial things in life and you should put everything on the line in order to obtain it.
Set in the lavish era of the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the wealthy, yet sinful life of Jay Gatsby. When describing his character, Fitzgerald touches upon the three deadly sins: greed, envy and gluttony. James Gatz, having grown up in a small town to farmers, wished to make more of himself. Disowning his parents at a young age, he went off in search for money, and a new identity. “And when the TUOLOMEE left for the West Indies and the Barbary Coast Gatsby left too” (Fitzgerald 107).
"The Great Gatsby" is an outstanding piece of classic American literature. F. Scott Fitzgerald discusses the issues on-post-war society, the American dream, love, and wealth. This draws attention to the readers that question if Jay Gatsby is "Great". Despite the uselessness of his beginnings, Gatsby is great due to the intensity of his will. Although, Gatsby is a person whose false love, materialism, and egotism led him to the tragic end.
The Intro Lights of different shapes and colors appear across your dash and your vehicle is making odd noises and smells. The questions run through your head of what it could be, how much will the fix cost you, who will you go to? You know nothing about cars so what do you do? I used to ask the same question when I started driving my own car.
