Jay Gatsby was living the American dream high on life and loaded with money that is until he was killed. Jay Gatsby was Originally an incredibly secretive man was shrouded in mystery. For example, during Jay Gatsby’s summer party within his mansion in West Egg, an immeasurable amount of rumors about him were floating around such as “he killed a man once” (Fitzgerald 48). This is one rumor of many but this anonymity allowed Jay Gatsby to operate in secret and allow him to rapidly grow financially. Gatsby had originally set himself up good and had nothing to worry about to the fact that “he doesn’t want trouble with anybody” (Fitzgerald 48).
Wanting to gain status, Gatsby shows his wealth by throwing extravagant parties and purchasing expensive items to display. To announce himself as a man of wealth to the New York upper class, he purchases a “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (5), his mansion in West Egg. It is here that he chooses to throw parties every weekend, where everyone shows up, though rarely people are actually invited. It is here that he is able to show off the true extent of his wealth to other rich folk. For example, in his library, he has a collection of “absolutely real” books, rather than “durable cardboard” (45), expected by Owl Eye, and attendant of one of Gatsby’s parties.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a very wealthy man who lives in West Egg. He grew up not having money at all but changed that in order to better himself. He was born by the name John Gats and then later changed it once he had made all of his money. Jay Gatsby made his money illegally through organized crime; he sold illegal alcohol and stolen securities. From making all of this money, he now has one of if the biggest houses in West Egg.
He tries to act like he is a very elated successful man that throws all these lively parties to share his wealth with others. While in reality he feels incredibly isolated. Nick, the narrator, says while talking about Gatsby, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself”(95). This quote talks about how Gatsby came up with an idea of who he wanted to be and put his entire life purpose into becoming this conception of himself. He would put his success before everything else, even his own happiness.
Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are two of the most important characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel many comparisons and contrasts can be made, however, this may be arguably the most important due to the magnitude of importance of these two characters and the roles they play in progressing the story. Jay Gatsby, a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic Mansion in West Egg and the protagonist, throws constant parties every Saturday night, but nobody has much insight about him. Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota who lives in New York City to learn the bond business, is typically an honest and tolerant man. Although they do share some similarities, they also share a plethora of differences in their
On one hand, Gatsby gains enormous wealth through his own effort from the bottom of the society, which could be regarded as “the great” from a practical perspective in his guests’ eyes. However, in the end, his success becomes just an illusion. His ultimate dream—Daisy’s love –cannot be gained even if he is that wealthy, and his tragic death indicates that “the greatness” of his striving is easy to be destroyed. On the other hand, “the great” also reveals that Gatsby used to be a great figure in his numerous guests’ eyes, when he is able to hold glamorous parties every week. However, ironically, eventually he is just a nobody that none of his friends except Nick care after his death.
Despite all of the racism and segregation our country is experiencing today; America has come a long way since the cases Plessy vs Ferguson and Brown vs Board of Education took place. These cases regulated the way America views segregation, we wouldn’t be where we are today without them. They’ve changed segregation laws, changed courts view points of amendments, and changed American history forever. This revolution began with Plessy vs Ferguson.
In the time period that The Great Gatsby takes place; the values of a citizen of New York singly depended on the appearance of one another. The difference between West Egg and East Egg became more prominent as ‘old’ money and ‘new’ money. As a citizen of West Egg, Nick Carraway describes it as “the well less fashionable of the two” (14). This indicates that the location of where one lived was a key dictator of the appearance of a person living in the 1920’s. Gatsby was viewed as a less classy man and was classified as impure based on the fact that he lived in West Egg.
Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is a wealthy man with dubious sources of money; Gatsby is renowned in New York due to the lavish parties he holds every friday in his mansion. These are spectacles that fully embody the wealth and glamour of the roaring twenties, and are narrated through the eyes of another character Nick Carraway, an ambitious 29 year old man that recently moved back to a corrupt new york in a cramped cottage next to Gatsby’s palace. After admiring the careless behaviour of the parties from a distance, Nick gets a personal invitation to Gatsby’s next party, he promptly becomes infatuated by the extravagant and frivolous lifestyle the parties portray, along with the superficial
In the novel of The Great Gatsby many people didn't know about about his past. They just knew him as the rich guy who lived on West Egg, and threw parties every weekend. People from every corner of the city of New York would be at his parties and would talk rumors about him. Most people that had heard of him had never even seen him. The truth about Gatbsy was that his real name was James Gatz.
The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island sprang from his platonic conception of himself ” (98). The implication that Gatsby already had the name picked out shows his dissatisfaction for the simple life that he lived and his desire to become someone else, someone who could pull off the guise of a gentleman who was born of old money. Nick stating that the new name was because of Gatsby’s “platonic conception of himself” indicates that Gatsby believed that he understood his values enough to know that throughout his life, he will try to aim for that goal of becoming a wealthy man who has a sphere of influence, basically, the American dream. These conceptions of Gatsby and his ideals about wealth are tools that the author uses to demonstrate the reasons that
The Great Gatsby Showcasing The 1920s. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald represents all sorts of different lifestyles in the roaring twenties. From rags to riches, there is a character for each category. Throughout the 1920s, America went through drastic changes.
It has been over five years since the death of Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle and George Wilson. I stared out the window of my apartment, and recalled the words of Jay Gatsby. He was once a friend, a person whom I admired, and respected that disappeared like a fish swallowed by a tsunami. The last time I remember seeing him was around November when the leaves were falling off the branches of the trees, and the weather was becoming more chilly than any of the years before.
The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.
“Can you believe that the first day of school is already here?”Bobby exclaimed. “No,” Timmy respond. “Let's head to our first class of the day,” Bob said. While walking to class, Bobby thought to himself “what will happen if I start to drink the books.” Bobby rebuffed that question telling himself “No one is going to find out.”
