The Great Gatsby Word Great

Identify the quality or qualities in Gatsby that confirm the word great in the novel’s title.

The word great is usually bestowed upon those heroic figures that either manage to change the world or save it from a tragic destiny. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald was able to introduce a new perspective and a whole different side of meaning behind the term ‘great’ through his novel The Great Gatsby. During Gatsby’s lifetime in the novel, he grows into his title and gains it by truly being great in a corrupt society that only cares about money.Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald develops Gatsby’s character to turn into someone great by demonstrating many of Gatsby’s characteristics such as his never-ending passion for Daisy, his burning determination,

Another example is when Nick describes Gatsby’s kiss with Daisy as he says “Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” (Fitzgerald 111) Here, Nick draws a very romantic picture of a passionate and emotional kiss. He describes Gatsby as the loving source that breathed love into Daisy’s heart and with that they were able to complete each other. Gatsby was more than just a mundane character in the story, he was a man who was known to be living his dream, and to many, it seemed like he had it all.

Fitzgerald was able to use Gatsby as a symbol and figure to portray a very important theme in this story, which is The American Dream. Gatsby was living the common, lavish version of the American Dream throughout his lifetime. He started with nothing, as an ordinary poor man, but he manages to climb his way up through hard work and determination. Nick’s description of Gatsby suggests that Gatsby was not an ordinary person when he said:

“The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God – a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that –So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (Fitzgerald