Passage Analysis Essay On The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the author illustrates one of its main characters, Jay Gatsby, through Nick Carraway’s perspective. Gatsby is depicted as a wealthy and successful neighbor who Nick, the narrator, encounters after moving to New York. Throughout the novel, Gatsby’s background, behavior, and goals are revealed, bringing light to the intention of his actions. In the passage on the novel’s second page, Nick reflects upon his experience in the East, vividly focusing on the greatness of Gatsby and inciting readers to forge their own opinions on the topic.
Outside the passage, Gatsby can be seen as the opposite of greatness: a liar, criminal, and morally wrong. During a car drive, Gatsby informs Nick of his past saying, “‘I’ll

He describes Gatsby having a “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life,” like a seismometer “that register[s] earthquakes ten thousand miles away” (2). Nick, using a simile, emphasizes Gatsby’s ability to detect the “promises of life,” and forge romanticized ideas and dreams. Shown outside the passage, Nick describes Gatsby throwing “himself into [dreaming] with a creative passion, [...] decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way” (95-96). Here, the “bright feathers” resemble Gatsby’s ideas for his dream, parallel to the promises of life. Every idea he detects and crafts adds to his dream, further highlighting his ability to hope. Nick notes this in the passage saying Gatsby had “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness” (2). Through this, Nick also highlights Gatsby’s state of anticipation to realize his dream. This readiness is further illustrated outside the passage when Nick says Gatsby “dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, [...] at an inconceivable pitch of intensity” (92), illustrating the extent to which Gatsby dreams and his determination to realize them. Gatsby’s unbelievable “intensity” and resolute to complete his goal is what amazes Nick and makes Gatsby great. In the passage, Nick continues his description of Gatsby’s sensitivity to hope saying, “This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the ‘creative temperament’” (2). Those with “flabby impressionability” are prone to be impressed or influenced. Further, the concept of “creative temperament” is one’s tendency to adapt to situations and evade attention, inferring that Gatsby’s hope is unwavering, independent of others’ judgments and opinions. What makes Gatsby great is his ability to dream and his determination to achieve these