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Personal Essay: The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby Essay Gatsby was a man that led two completely different lives. He was both a very poor farmhand from the middle of the U.S., and also, according to the book, one of the wealthiest men of New York. Gatsby’s secretive figure is often a major point throughout the book and is one of the most influential recurring themes. The three main components within said theme are Gatsby 's perceived identity, Gatsby 's real identity, and the relation between the two. Gatsby is a mysterious man. To one that was paying attention the beginning of the novel, this may not be a surprise. Gatsby always seemed to be a myth in the intro. No one had a grasp on who he was or is. Nick and the reader weren’t certain he existed. Only a select few could claim that they have seen and conversed with him. Eventually though, Nick ends up meeting him on accident in a bit of an ironic twist. To Nick, Gatsby was a man with limitless charm and ambition. An entire paragraph was dedicated to describing how positive and reassuring his smile was. Nick even went as far as to say “It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey”. However, even after Gatsby is introduced, he is elusive. Nick also doesn’t trust him completely, saying “I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care”. He even out lies about his
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