The Great Gatsby Confidence Quotes

Vivianna King

Angel Dean

Honors English 10

7 March 2023

The Significance of Confidence in The Great Gatsby

Confidence can be one of the most beneficial forces in a person’s life, though it also has the potential to be one of the most devastating. Being too confident makes one predisposed to irrational thoughts and actions, whereas having too little leads to despair. This is true of the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the protagonist and narrator of the book, observes as those around him fall prey to both excesses and dearths of self-confidence. Nick’s millionaire friend, Jay Gatsby, crumbles under the weight of his dreams, brought to delusion by assuredness. On the other hand, George Wilson’s low

Having an excessive amount of confidence, he dedicates his efforts to the wrong objective: trying to woo Daisy, his past lover. This relationship can never come to fruition, however, as she is already married and has moved on with her life. The misled millionaire is unable to realize this fact, as his ambition has turned to delusion. This is exhibited when he tells Nick he is “going to fix everything just the way it was before” (110). This is a completely unrealistic expectation for a person to have. As Nick says to him, “you can’t repeat the past” (110). All because a little voice in the back of his head is telling him that it is possible, he is exhausting his time and energy on an unfeasible task. In fact, he does more harm than just wasting his life. Overconfidence leads him to hurt the woman he supposedly loves, Daisy. Gatsby and Tom get into an altercation over her when she and Gatsby reveal their love for one another (132-135). Daisy “[draws] further and further into herself” due to the stress of the argument (134). Gatsby is so caught up in the dream of Daisy he creates that he does not consider her feelings. This delusory assuredness of a future with her is the very thing pushing her further away from him. So focused on creating the life that he dreamed of, he never stops to form true connections with other people. Ultimately, he dies alone and unfulfilled as a

Those around him seem to have more authority over his life than he does, as he is too spineless to stop them from controlling him. Wilson tries to ask Tom about a car that Tom had promised to sell him, saying simply that “[the man owning the car] works pretty slow (25)” When Tom responds in a hostile manner, he quickly explains himself and stops the discussion (25). Tom overpowers the insecure man; he does not have the courage to stand up for himself, and so his happiness is sacrificed for the comfort of others. This lack of confidence is similarly abused by his wife, and Wilson is unable to question her, leading him to believe she is faithful. Though the reader sees Myrtle’s betrayal, “He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York” (26). Because of this, he is blind to the obvious affair; he does not see it odd that whenever Tom arrives, Myrtle leaves. Wilson lives in a carefully constructed world of lies built around his spouse. This world cannot survive forever; when it collapses, so does he. When Myrtle fatally collides with a car, he becomes violently unhinged. Seeking revenge for the death of his wife, the grief-stricken man is directed to Gatsby’s home after the Buchanans blame him (160-162). Violence ensues; Wilson murders the doomed millionaire before turning the gun on himself. The loss of Myrtle signifies more than just the death of his spouse; it marks the destruction of