What Led To Gatsby's Downfall

Author Zig Ziglar once said, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” His words perfectly embody what Jay Gatsby ignores in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The author spends the whole novel setting up and describing the American Dream and their effect on the characters, especially Gatsby’s corrupted version of that dream. Fitzgerald, however, writes his opinions of this idea from a pessimistic point of view. These negative ideals have led to his powerful message of his novel which is that attempting to achieve one’s unrealistic goals will lead to failure in life because it causes them to forget about the reality of their lives. Gatsby’s dream and adventure towards reaching Daisy’s heart led to his own demise. After Nick and Gatsby discuss Daisy’s hit-and-run outside of the Buchanan house, Nick leaves Gatsby while he stares over Daisy and Tom: “So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight — watching over nothing” (145). Nick’s mention of Gatsby “watching over nothing” displays how Gatsby is blind to the fact that his relationship with Daisy doesn’t have the fiery spark it once had. Gatsby had become deceived by his dream to continue the love he and Daisy had once had years earlier and this illusion disables his ability to let go of the past His persistence towards winning Daisy’s heart causes him to ignore the reality of his situation and drives him to become unable to see that he had failed in his ambitions. Additionally, when Nick realizes that Gatsby was

Gatsby’s and Myrtle’s unfortunate conclusions show the extent of Fitzgerald’s message. His pessimistic message does not solely apply to the novel, but also acts a lesson for his readers as well. Unlike the two characters, one should not let their dreams get in the way of their