The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story of rags to riches, passion, and the hollowness of the upper class. A common wonder regarding this piece is the question of what it is that makes Gatsby so great. Through the use of works by Harlem Renaissance poets such as Langston Hughes and Claude Mckay, with a connection to the themes of the story, the questionable greatness of the notorious Jay Gatsby can be proven valid.
In chapter six of Fitzgerald’s novel, it is revealed that James Gatz had been born to farmer parents residing in North Dakota. Since boyhood, he had always been very organized and ambitious, keeping daily agendas and lists of ‘general resolves’ for self improvement. According to his father, “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got for improving his mind? He was always great for that…” (173). Beginning in childhood, James grasped onto a dream of leaving North Dakota and making a name for himself. Though he held many grueling jobs in his youth, he saw little benefit from his work. It was through a coincidental introduction to extremely wealthy Dan Cody that prompted Gatz to reinvent himself into the man known today as Jay Gatsby. Cody served as a mentor figure, supplying Gatsby with additional motivation to reach a similar level of success and teaching him the ways of the wealthy. Regarding his new persona, “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—and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old...
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...rately concludes, “They’re a rotten crowd… You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154). The difference from the other, wealthy characters, that makes Gatsby great is the fact that he is motivated by the real emotion of love; Everyone else is motivated by the fraudulent lust of greed. As the poem states, though he was of lower class, Gatsby turned out to be worth more than any of the morally corrupt higher class.
To conclude, Gatsby proves through his prolific and loyal nature, that he is indeed great. The usage of Harlem Renaissance poetry in comparison to The Great Gatsby helps to clarify the qualities that make Jay Gatsby such a magnificent, dynamic character.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925
Hughes, Langston. ¨Mother to Son¨
Hughes, Langston. ¨As I Grew Older¨
Hughes, Langston. ¨Question [1]¨
James Gatz despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication. His parents were farmers so he could never accept them as parents. He was craving to move up from the middle class and achieve “all the beauty and glamour in the world” (Fitzgerald 100). After meeting Dan Cody on his yacht, he fell in love with wealth and luxury that he created a new persona of himself as Jay Gatsby, his ideal self. Starting a poor life, he chose the illegal road leading to upper class and was able to make a fortunate that made him able to live the life of a millionaire, which is a representation of the America in 1920s. Gatsby’s perception of the lives of people from upper class is very superficial; he was blinded by all the glam that comes with it. He was only attracted to the appeal of wealth and showed this by throwing over the top parties in his mansion. These parties represent a portrait of the Jazz Age in 1920’s America, rise of the materialism and the decline of the moral values. Nick indicates, "I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the fe...
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the pursuit of the American dream in a corrupt period is a central theme. This theme exemplifies itself in the downfall of Gatsby. In a time of disillusionment the ideals of the American dream are lost. The classic American dream is one of materialism and when Gatsby incorporates Daisy, a human being, into the dream he is doomed to fail.
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-- and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. 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 (99).
“(Gatz's) parents were shiftless and unsuccesful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby was 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—and he must b...
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby many characters are not as they seem. The one character that intrigues me the most is James Gatsby. In the story Gatsby is always thought of as rich, confident, and very popular. However, when I paint a picture of him in my mind I see someone very different. In fact, I see the opposite of what everyone portrays him to be. I see someone who has very little confidence and who tries to fit in the best he can. There are several scenes in which this observation is very obvious to me. It is clear that Gatsby is not the man that everyone claims he is.
From a young age, James Gatz has plans to change his social status; he plans his days hour by hour; forfeits his given name for a new one; deserts his home, family and friends; and most importantly picks up a job as a bootlegger to make his desired sum of money. The schedule taken from an old book of James' shows his plan for an entire day and includes a list of "GENERAL RESOLVES (Fitzgerald, 173)," both of which show a general urge for success. James' resolve to, save $3.00 per week (Fitzgerald, 173), displays an early understanding of the American dream and the necessity of money. His further understanding of the way life works is expressed through the action of changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, a name that seems to flow easier and deserve a greater deal of respect than his previous, harsh name of James Gatz. His new name, in essence, opens up a new life for Gatsby, and allows him to start over the way he wants to. Gatsby's next choice, to abandon his home, family, and friends in order to sail aboard a yacht for years with a near stranger, displays Gatsby's belief that living a fanciful life aboard a yacht will enable him to lead a fantastic lifestyle in all aspects of his living. Finally, it is at this point where Gatsby makes the biggest decision of his life, solely on the belief that a high income will bring him happiness, and ultimately the love of his life; Gatsby chooses to accept partnership with a man working as a bootlegger of grain alcohol.
When looking at Jay Gatsby, one sees many different personalities and ideals. There is the gracious host, the ruthless bootlegger, the hopeless romantic, and beneath it all, there is James Gatz of North Dakota. The many faces of Gatsby make a reader question whether they truly know Gatsby as a person. Many people question what exactly made Jay Gatsby so “great.” These different personas, when viewed separately, are quite unremarkable in their own ways.
" Show that Gatsby wants to improve himself to a point where he can succeed. That isn't all Gatsby did to improve his chances of success, though. He even went to the extent of changing his name from James Gatz, to Jay Gatsby in an attempt to create a new, successful man that people could admire. Gatsby had a very large influence in his race for the top spot. Dan Cody showed Gatsby a life of extreme elegance and women.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life. The occasional insights into character stand out as very green oases on an arid desert of waste paper. Throughout the first half of the book the author shadows his leading character in mystery, but when in the latter part he unfolds his life story it is difficult to find the brains, the cleverness, and the glamour that one might expect of a main character.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.
During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.
The novel, The Great Gatsby focuses on one of the focal characters, James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. He grew up in North Dakota to a family of poor farm people and as he matured, eventually worked for a wealthy man named Dan Cody. As Gatsby is taken under Cody’s wing, he gains more than even he bargained for. He comes across a large sum of money, however ends up getting tricked out of ‘inheriting’ it. After these obstacles, he finds a new way to earn his money, even though it means bending the law to obtain it. Some people will go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve things at all costs. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, conveys the numerous traits of Jay Gatsby through the incidents he faces, how he voices himself and the alterations he undergoes through the progression of the novel. Gatsby possesses many traits that help him develop as a key character in the novel: ambitious, kind-hearted and deceitful all of which is proven through various incidents that arise in the novel.
Jay Gatsby is truly not so great in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, concluding in this essay that Gatsby is not the person who he comes across as in the novel. This novel is full of illusions that are hard to see, but it is up to the reader to find them. Always keep an eye out while reading this novel; the illusions come out of nowhere in such obvious yet so simple scenes that readers tend to over look. Gatsby does bad things with good intentions, he is a criminal and a liar but all to achieve the American dream and pursue Daisy, the love of his life.
Jay Gatsby is the epitome of a tragic hero; his greatest attribute of enterprise and ambition contributes to his ultimate demise, but his tragic story inspires fear amongst the audience and showcases the dangers of allowing money to consume one’s life. To qualify as a tragic hero, the character must first occupy a "high" status position and also embody virtue as part of his innate character. In Fitzgerald’s novel, the tragic hero Jay Gatsby was not born into wealth but later acquired social status through bootlegging, or selling illegal alcohol during Prohibition. When he was a child, James “Jimmy” Gatz was a nave boy from North Dakota without any family connections, money, or education who was determined to escape his family’s poverty through hard work and determination. Once he enrolls in the army, however, Gatsby gets “’way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn’t care” (151) when he meets who he believes to be the girl of his dreams—Daisy.