James Gatz, otherwise known as Jay Gatsby, born into nothing but an old farm, began his legacy in his mind at an early age. When he turned sixteen, Gatz made a reckless, but also courageous, decision to abandon his family in search of a better life. Most people can agree that Gatsby’s reputation as a wealthy individual was not a team effort. His success came from hard work, pure grit, and determination. Jay Gatsby built everything he had from scratch earning the title of “a self-made man.” Although, there is a cliff to every mountain, and if you keep climbing without awareness of current position, you will fall over the edge, as Jay Gatsby eventually did.
In one sense, Gatsby's success story makes him a prime example of the American dream. He began his life with little money, as the son of unsuccessful farmers fighting to get by in the world. And so, he made a decision that the average teenager would not, abandon his family and farm. After leaving and being on his own, he had the opportunity to reinvent himself, and due to his determination and a bit of luck, James Gatz became Jay Gatsby. Life became
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His inability to realize that his hope is not a reality only digs him into a deeper hole. Gatsby continues to stand watching for a sign from Daisy that will never come. He sees what he is doing as noble, honorable, and purposeful; however, the reader sees the task as an act of a hopeless romantic. Gatsby is an idealistic man whose efforts he will take to the grave . Gatsby can't wait to distance himself from his past in terms of his family, but yet he lives his adult life trying to recapture the past he had with Daisy. What makes matters worse is that he is in love with the idea of being with Daisy again, not Daisy herself. His inability to deal with reality sets him outside the normal way of life and, eventually, his holding on to the past leads to his