Heroes In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Heroes are individuals in stories who show a character of unwavering virtue. They are individuals with few to no shortcomings and conduct themselves in such a manner both publicly and privately that no readers might question the good in their motives. Throughout The Great Gatsby, many characters are positioned as possible heroes. Though the “personification of purity,” Gatsby, and the “perfectly honest” narrator, Nick, appear to be the most likely possibilities, there are in fact no heroes in the story of The Great Gatsby. Instead, the key to the story in its metaphors is to say that in fact there are no heroes in the American Dream as a concept, and that all under its allure are instead depraved in their own particular ways, disqualifying

[He] thought that [Nick] didn’t make very much----” (Fitzgerald 87). Such an offer is later shown to be part of Gatsby’s “little racket.” Gatsby was willing to involve his recently-gained friend. He was willing to violate the social contract to make his fortune, and yet it is supposed to be acceptable within the context of him seeking Daisy. To excuse such shady dealings would be to ignore perhaps one of the most important aspects of Gatsby as a character, and to excuse inexcusable actions. Gatsby is no hero, perhaps his goals are pure, but he is the perfect example of why the ends do not justify the means. All actions cannot be excused in the name of love, neither can Gatsby. Gatsby is not the hero of this story. While Gatsby, the novels namesake and main focus, is clearly not the hero of the tale, many would choose to look instead toward the character whose perception guides the book, Nick Carroway. Nick from the beginning is relatable to the reader, being the lens by which all else in the narrative is experienced, and he seems to be an altogether good character, even being the self proclaimed most honest man throughout the

Nick is no hero, he is in fact, though relatable, a character with a poor moral guide and an individual who likely caused more trouble than he was worth clearly excluding him from being the hero of any tale. The Great Gatsby is a novel focused on metaphor rather than individuality. Its focus is not to have a story of good and evil, heroes and villains. Instead, the story is a depiction of the perceived reality of Fitzgerald. The meaning of Gatsby is not to be found in the characterizations of heroes and so all are incredibly flawed. Nick seems to realize this in the end and shows this belief. His final words to Gatsby show his place in this reality proclaiming that “‘They're a rotten crowd... [and he’s] worth the whole damn bunch put together.’” (Fitzgerald 162) Gatsby though not a hero is still the closest they have within the novel. Every character is flawed in major ways, and to put Gatsby, the most financially corrupt of them all, as the greatest of them, exemplifies the perverse morality of the others. Perhaps one of the most important quotations throughout the story shows the disgust that should be felt towards