Great Gatsby Essay

A well-known German philosopher named; Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too." The novel, The Great Gatsby, was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the early 1920s during the time period known as the "Roaring Twenties." Fitzgerald was a prolific writer, completing four novels and over 150 short stories. Born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald's work often touches on themes such as society, social class, wealth, materialism, and romantic idealism. The Great Gatsby falls under the genres of tragedy, modernism, and romance, with a primary focus on tragedy, which explores the suffering and sorrowful events that befall the main character.

Throughout the Novel, the readers learn that Gatsby had a rough upbringing, and because of it, he made a personal vow to rewrite his story and shape it according to his own vision. With being motivated by his determination and drive there were even times in the novel when it was clear that Gatsby's determination and drive motivate him. At times, the audience can even observe his eagerness to rewrite history. The text stated in Chapter 6, "I suppose he'd had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people--his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God--a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that--and he must be about His Father's business, the service of vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So 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." When Gatsby started out, he didn't have much going for him. But when he fell in love with someone who had it all, he became determined to make a change. Gatsby refused to let his circumstances dictate his life and took control of his own story. Driven by his dream of becoming wealthy, Gatsby created a

In the novel, Gatsby's love for Daisy never faltered, and he was willing to do anything to win her over. However, his fixation with the idea of Daisy blinded him to her true nature. For example in chapter 7, “Well, I tried to swing the wheel ——” He broke off, and suddenly I guessed at the truth. “Was Daisy driving?” “Yes,” he said after a moment, “but of course, I’ll say I was.” This statement shows how Gatsby's love for Daisy was so strong that he was willing to take the blame for something she had done. He understood that revealing the truth would harm her so he was determined to keep her safe and vowed to protect her. Gatsby's love for Daisy was so intense that he was oblivious to the risks involved and believed that by doing anything he could, he could win her affection. It also stated in chapter 6, “He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God.” This showed how Gatsby's expectation that his kiss with Daisy would be so intense and incredible that it would change his life and the way he thinks forever. When Fitzgerald stated “Unutterable visions” it referred to Gatsby's dreams and aspirations, which he hopes to share with Daisy during the kiss. However, the contradicting phrase, “perishable breath” suggests that the