Success And Fulfillment In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

"My third and last wish is that both my hands hang out of my coffin" - Alexander the Great. Alexander’s final dying wish, while there is some ambiguity surrounding the true intention behind this wish, many believe that Alexander wished to convey a deeper message about the transience of life and the importance of finding satisfaction and fulfillment from the actions and accomplishments of an individual not from monetary or social rankings. This desire to find fulfillment echoes throughout human history. In the novel The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the same idea of success and fulfillment. Fitzgerald uses the protagonist Jay Gatsby in his pursuit of economic and social success and ultimately Daisy Buchanan to convey

However, at Gatsby’s house while with Daisy, he receives a phone call: “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end…Gatsby picked up the receiver”(92-93). Fitzgerald paints a picture of Gatsby’s perfect moment. Depicting how he had dreamt of this exact moment, though as soon as he was in it, he left. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby as a way to show that, even when we reach our goal, reach our dream fantasy, it falls short. When Gatsby finally gets his once-cherished dream, he leaves to take a call, leaves to answer a call from the job he so tirelessly worked

Every move calculated for the chance to be with Daisy once more. During one of Gatsby’s elaborate parties, and Jordan walk into Gatsby’s library where they meet Owl Eyes. Owl Eyes in pure astonishment says, “ Absolutely real — have pages and everything… didn’t cut the pages” (45-46). Owl Eye’s punctilious eye catches that the books are still closed, the casing never to be opened. The unopened books in Gatsby's library highlight his desperate attempt to live the life he believes Daisy desires, one of luxury and status. The encounter between Gatsby, Jordan, and Owl Eyes in the library reveals Gatsby's obsession with creating the appearance of wealth and sophistication. He forces himself into a lifestyle that he does not truly value in, hoping to find fulfilment through Daisy. The books symbolize the facade that Gatsby has constructed to impress Daisy, showcasing his attempts to pose as the person he believes she desires. Fitzgerald uses the books to help ingrain that fixating over a goal and climbing the economic and social ladder does not lead to the satisfaction we desire, rather we should look into what we have accomplished thus far to enable ourselves to be capable of emulating lives of others. The final line of The Great Gatsby, "Borne back ceaselessly into the past" (180), is a poignant conclusion to the novel that encapsulates Gatsby's tragic journey. Gatsby was so