Succeeding Through Power

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Recommended: Great Gatsby and the effect of social class

Through The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald takes a poignant look on power through the glamorous and tumultuous lives of New York’s elite society in the early 1920s. More precisely, the carelessly vain nature of those in “East Egg,” such as Daisy Buchanan, the coveted Golden girl, and Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s self-righteous husband. Furthermore, in contrast to these characters, Fitzgerald creates a character like Jay Gatsby, who is driven solely by a primal yet virtuous desire to succeed, therefore lacking the emptiness that Daisy and Tom display. Gatsby accumulates wealth, refines his conduct, and moreover strives unceasingly for Daisy’s love because these three aspects all constitute the power necessary for him to procure success. Success to Gatsby is not solely living a better life and entering into a higher society but rather it is also feeling as though he truly belongs to this elite society which is essentially why he changes his name, changes his conduct, dons his wealth visibly and needs Daisy. Power manifests itself as an integral means by which one attains success, therefore as Gatsby’s power through wealth and his demeanor prove to be flawed, his power as a direct result proves to be insufficient to reach the level of success he truly desires.

Although, Gatsby’s amassed wealth grants him the power to enter into a higher society, ultimately the origins of his wealth limit his power and consequently his ability to reach success. As a young man, Jay Gatsby never truly accepted who he was and from thenceforth his undaunted goal was to live a better life than the meager one he was born into and thereby achieve success. Therefore, this worthy desire to succeed became a central driving force in his life, going so far as to...

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...fects one’s ability to achieve success. For Gatsby, succeeding means more than just living a better life, it also means belonging and being accepted by those in the elite class he so greatly craves to be a part of. Therefore, therein lies the true reason why he chooses conform by changing his name, changing his way of speaking and acting, changing his way of living and also why he needs the Golden girl that is Daisy by his side. Moreover, because the origins of his wealth and his newly refined behavior both have flaws, they lack the power necessary for him to succeed and therefore also attain Daisy’s love.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 2004. Print.

Michaels, Walter Benn. The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and

Ignore Inequality. New York: Metropolitan, 2006. Print.

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