The Great Gatsby Research Paper

Greatness can come in many forms, whether it is fame, wealth, or power. Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald can be considered great in some ways. He arrives in New York after becoming newly rich, and lives where all the new money resides: West Egg. His source of wealth comes from selling alcohol, a crime at the time, but he hides it behind a drugstore front. One of Gatsby's neighbors, Nick Carraway, becomes one of his good friends who learns much about him and adores him. Across the bay from Gatsby’s mansion is East Egg, the residence of those who have old money, and there lives Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchanan, who is married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby and Daisy have a romantic history, but Daisy leaves him due to his former impoverished status, which leads him to wealth.

Gatsby is an accomplished man who makes a name for himself and earns the respect of New York. When he throws his extravagant parties, it seems as if all of New York is in attendance. People crave pleasure to distract themselves, and “Sometimes they [come] and [go] without [meeting] Gatsby at all, [they only come] for the party” (Fitzgerald 41). Gatsby’s events satisfy the hedonistic cravings that society has, making him likable by the public and legitimizing his fame. When Gatsby goes into the city with Nick, he gets caught for speeding. He simply waves a card in front of the officer where he is pardoned and drives away. Gatsby is well known to the point that the law respects him and allows him to bend the rules. In Gatsby’s past, his mentor and former best friend, Dan Cody, passes away, and he is supposed to inherit a fortune. Instead, he acquires “a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars.[and] the vague contour of Jay Gatsby had filled out to the substantiality of a man” (Fitzgerald 100-101).