Exploring Gatsby's "Greatness" as Illustrated in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Tom is very wealthy and has power over the people in his life, it makes him in a sick way happy. Because Tom has this he never goes for the gold or dreams of a better life he and his wife could have. At first glance the story is about love but once you get a bit deeper the truth shines through. It’s about the fantasy of fulfilling unachievable dreams, the selfishness money invokes, and the violence associated with power. Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom never fulfill their potentials in life.

In other words, Gatsby possessed the qualities of a great individual, but his reliance on material objects to show his love and his corrupt ideology prevent him from reaching his full potential as an honorable character in the work. Gatsby?s greatness is not contained in noteworthy accomplishments, his wealth, or even his pursuit of love. Gatsby possesses the power to dream. Gatsby dreamed of being wealthy and reuniting with Daisy. He fulfilled his dreams, but unlike his dreams, Gatsby?s reality was hollow.

He bough the house because of where it was in relation to Daisy (across the bay), and he held the most amazing parties in the hope that Daisy, or someone that knew Daisy would come. Gatsby, in effect, devoted his whole life to the search for Daisy, and his money is a tool to help him find his love. Diver’s attitude to money is very much a contrast to this. Money to him does not represent freedom and choice, but a bind that ties him and constricts him. Diver is conscious through the whole novel that he himself is not the financially dominant member of his marriage, but Nicole, with her seemingly endless riches.

At first, he was surrounded by wealthy people who he thought were good people but saw their true colors at the end of the novel. Because Nick had certain advantaged that other people did not have, he did not judge people but it was so hard not to when he was surrounded by a group of people who constantly lied, cheated, and cared about themselves. He realized that people aren’t always as they claim to be. Nick wanted to make a fortune and live a good life and ended up leaving New York knowing how much misery a fortune can bring. Leaving New York, he matured as a better man with much more knowledge than ever before.

Wolsey having bad press from the start, nobility were jealous of his power and wealth. One can see that Wolsey was a successful and just administrator who succeed in his aims making England a leading power. His rise was due to luck, charm and his intelligence, but his fall was due to some of his fatal characteristics and bad luck. But we can clearly see Wolsey alone wasn’t entirely responsible for his downfall; there were many other factors, which Wolsey couldn’t have helped that increased his downfall. Wolsey had some responsibility to his own downfall.

Gatsby would do just about anything to get what he wanted, his own friend described him as “quick and extravagantly ambitious” (Fitzgerald 101). Though Daisy never show... ... middle of paper ... ...s drive him to be patient, determined, secretive, and careless with his wealth. He truly was a “great” man, as title suggest, stating from nothing but through hope and inspiration from his one true love he creates a “promising future” for himself (Myer). While at first the traits Gatsby posses may seem in some ways beneficial, they prove themselves to be just the opposite as this story progressed. One reason proving that these qualities were detrimental was the fact that Jay Gatsby possessed and used the qualities for all the wrong reasons.

As a young man, Jay Gatsby was poor with nothing but his love for Daisy. He had attempted to woe her, but a stronger attraction to money led her to marry another man. This did not stop Gatsby’s goal of winning this woman for himself though, and he decided to improve his life anyway he could until he could measure up to Daisy’s standards. He eventually gained connections in what would seem to be the wrong places, but these gave him the opportunity he needed to "get rich quick." Gatsby’s enormous desire for Daisy controlled his life to the point that he did not even question the immorality of the dealings that he involved himself in to acquire wealth.

Money is a motivating force for almost everyone, but not everyone loses sight of who they are. Gatsby's house and parties were a part of the shows he wanted to impress Daisy with. Daisy, confused by Gatsby's money and wealth tried drawing away from her husband Tom when she saw financial security with Gatsby. Although Nick was tempted to be successful and wealthy he viewed  ethics and even his own morals to be additionally significant. Most of the Characters in the Great G...

I think Gatsby threw extravagant parties in hopes of having Daisy someday come to one of them. His parties were very popular and known about everywhere, people usually just showed up without an invitation. Gatsby wanted to get Daisy’s attention with his parties and hopefully she would show up and they could meet again. If she did come to one of his parties he wanted to show her how successful and wealthy he was, he was good enough for her and would take care of her properly. In addition I think he was very lonely.

- Then there's a third way of looking at the title, the “Great Gatsby”. Although Nick, the narrator, does not entirely support Gatsby's means of acquiring fortune, he admits that Gatsby's driven by a noble emotion, the emotion being undying love. To add, Nick believes that Gatsby is, in hi... ... middle of paper ... ...ingly. Daisy's tragedy conveys the alarming extent to which the lust for money captivated Americans during the Roaring Twenties. Tom Buchanan Living a life of anticlimax after his glory days.