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Jay Gatsby Downfall

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Many can agree that The Great Gatsby is an American classic but not many can see where the character Jay Gatsby comes from. Fitzgerald was considered a “lost” writer during his time because he moved to Paris. Fitzgerald moved to another country because he saw through the corrupt game of obtaining the American Dream, something he wanted to show through his character, Jay Gatsby. However, he also put some of his own characteristics in Mr. Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald wanted to create a story that was almost personal but was completely fictional. Fitzgerald was born into a financially struggling family in 1896, just like Gatsby. The two also joined the army in 1917. While enlisted, Fitzgerald met his wife, Zelda Sayre, who was a rich southern belle, like Daisy’s character. In the novel, Gatsby fakes his wealth because he knows Daisy will not want anything to do with him if he is not socially equal to her. This event was inspired by Zelda waiting to marry Fitzgerald until he could financially support her. When the Fitzgerald’s were finally married, they began to live a luxurious lifestyle. F. Scott Fitzgerald experienced and wrote about the downfalls of this lifestyle. …show more content…

The Fitzgerald’s were no strangers to spending outrageous amounts of money, which caused F. Scott Fitzgerald to write extra work, like short stories, so they could continue this lifestyle. These extra jobs did not help his alcohol addiction, especially since his wife was speculated to be having an affair in Europe. These themes are found in Gatsby’s parties, he is a bootlegger (even though he does not drink) and spends tons of money to throw big and outlandish parties to attract Daisy, who starts having an affair with Gatsby in the story. The way Fitzgerald exposed these matters made him become the leading author of the

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“I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library." (Fitzgerald 42). In The Great Gatsby there are many parallels between the life of the main character Jay Gatsby and the life of the author F. Scott Fitzgerald that suggest events from the author's life being drafted into the novel. The idea for Daisy's character, Gatsby's rise into wealth and vasts amount of drinking throughout the novel were influenced by Fitzgerald's life. Fitzgerald was stationed at camp taylor during world war 1 where he met the love of his life and future wife zelda Sayre.

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Jay Gatsby (James “Jimmy” Gatz) is one of the main characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby. Jay was born in North Dakota and he was brought by his poor family. In order to better his life, he enrolled at St. Olaf College. He dropped out the first semester because he did not like that he was supporting himself by working as a janitor. Soon enough, he ran away from home and went to Lake Superior.

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One of the ways Fitzgerald’s life influenced The Great Gatsby was his past. Fitzgerald was notorious for partying with his wife Zelda. He had a “mythic career of drinking from hip flasks, dancing until dawn, and jumping into outdoor fountains to end the party.” (“F. Scott Fitzgerald”). In the novel, Jay Gatsby also was famous for his wild parties similar to those that Fitzgerald had attended.

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Fitzgerald himself was married to a woman named Zelda Sayre oh whom demanded wealth and possessions which led to the couple falling in serious debt leading to Fitzgerald's alcoholism and his wife’s mental issues. Fitzgerald attempts to illustrate to the audience how the superficial love portrayed is the widespread norm such as the metaphor, “Men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars”. The persona is demonstrating that the people going to Gatsby’s party have become obsessed with materialism that they have become degraded into insects and this is how they pursue happiness. In the novel, Gatsby uses the metaphor, “Her voice is full of money”, to illustrate how Daisy’s reason for marriage is to gain wealth and become more upper class by marrying someone who has “old money”. This is also reinforced through, “They’re such beautiful shirts… I’ve never seen such — such beautiful shirts before.”

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In their youth, Zelda and Daisy were identical. Both grew up wealthy and needed a husband who could support their extraneously materialistic lifestyles. This is seen when Gatsby tells Nick of how he lost Daisy, “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately--and the decision must be made by some force--of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality--that was close at hand. That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan” (Fitzgerald 151). This rings true in Fitzgerald’s life, too.

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His cousin Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan who is a very wealthy/powerful man, but there is sill a love between Daisy and Gatsby. Many people find The Great Gatsby an amazing book and that is because Fitzgerald writes in such uniqueness and creativity within his charachters, setting, and theme.. Additionally, F. Scott Fitzgerald is quite an interesting man he was a college dropout, a

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He started life with little, as the son of fairly unsuccessful farmers. Even though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in gaining his fortune was for his love Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Since Gatsby 's money did not come from inheritance, as he would like people to believe he had to find another way to obtain it. He got his wealth from organized crime, since the story takes place during the time of

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F. Scott Fitzgerald 's characterization of Jay Gatsby demonstrates the extent to which Gatsby transcends his own lowly roots and creates the impression of being "great." Throughout the procession of the 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, readers are exposed to Gatsby 's various amazing achievements, including his ascent into excessive wealth and reputation, his long-standing and eventually successful pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, and his tragic, galvanized death. However, as with the Great Houdini, Fitzgerald 's "Great" Gatsby emerges from a logical and almost karmic reality through the exposure of his ill-explained fortune and questionable social status, his fleeting and doomed-from-the-start relationship with Daisy, and his unmemorable passing;

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The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that tells the story of love affairs, the american dream, and the battle between old money versus new money. The main problem of the novel is the fight for Daisy’s heart. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, and their love is fading away. Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, while later on Daisy is having an affair also with Jay Gatsby. The Buchanans come from old money, while Gatsby comes from new money.

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Major themes that were constant throughout Scott’s writings were those of “wealth, youth, and beauty”. Fitzgerald’s writing of the Great Gatsby focused on binging of various items or ideas. In every activity that the character Gatsby took a part in, he binged. He drank excessively, only the most superb drinks of course, or he served large amounts to large quantities of people. Gatsby, following his creator’s perspective of romanticism, was all about finding his love.

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The Great Gatsby Greed can ruin a person’s life. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows this in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby, a sad love story about the rich title character, Jay Gatsby, and his obsession to win back the love of the now married Daisy Buchanan, his former girlfriend. The extravagant lifestyles of Gatsby and the wealthy socialites who attend his parties lead to lost dreams and wasted lives. These men and women are absorbed by material pursuits. In Jay Gatsby’s case, all the money in the world could not replace what he truly desires, Daisy.

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On the other hand, Zelda was also very accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle. “Unfortunately, his paltry salary was not enough to convince Zelda to marry him, and… she broke their engagement in 1919… Fitzgerald, suddenly a rich and famous author, married Zelda a week after its publication” (Willett). This shows that Zelda would not marry Fitzgerald unless he had

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Gatsby represents the American Dream throughout the story, he works hard towards rewarding achievements but is let down, because others would rather have money, power, and society’s approval. Jay Gatsby grew up in a poor family from North Dakota. As a farm child he worked hard and followed the American dream. He wanted to escape the poor farm life and make a name for himself. He wanted to be someone that was looked up to by others.

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