The Importance Of Dreams In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

In the book , The Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby is developed. The story is set in the 1920’s in the New York area. Gatsby grew up as a poor boy, but aspired to be more. He met a wealthy girl named Daisy. She pushed him to go after his dream more intensely. He worked for a man named Wilshiem as a bootlegger and became very wealthy. Unfortunately, while Gatsby was away, Daisy married Tom. Daisy’s approval of his new, wealthy life was Gatsby’s ultimate dream. Fitzgerald’s presentation of the hero Jay Gatsby illustrates that Gatsby’s dreams should be admired because through his perseverance he achieves the lifestyle he wants.

Gatsby’s poor childhood greatly influenced his admirable dream to want a better life for himself. Growing up, Gatsby was very poor. “His parents were shiftless unsuccessful farm people-his imagination never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (pg. 98) Growing up, he hated his parents for the fact that they were poor as well as their lifestyle. When he was a teenager, he left his home to pursue a more prosperous life. After Gatsby left, he saw a yacht that belonged to a wealthy man, Dan Cody. This represented the rich lifestyle that he longed for. His ambitions to be a part of the upper class grew. Gatsby worked on the yacht for Dan Cody until Cody died. After this period of time, he began to act “rich” and took on this new persona. Gatsby had to completely change who he was. He even changed his name. The name he was born with was James Gatz, When Daisy and Gatsby met, they fell in love. She was from a very wealthy family. Gatsby knew that obtaining her would prove that he had embraced the upper class lifestyle. They couldn’t marry because he was not from a well-known family. Gatsby though...

... middle of paper ...

...ne he didn’t even know. He worked very hard for Wilshiem to make his money. He was constantly taking phone calls from all over the country. It was obvious that he had become a very wealthy man. He even became so well known that a reporter showed up at his house asking for a statement. He had obviously achieved the wealthy lifestyle.

Scott Fitzgerald’s presentation of Jay Gatsby was a heroic one. He overcame a poor childhood, fought very hard for his dreams, and achieved them. In the 1920’s it was very difficult to change classes of people. Gatsby was able to do this with a lot of hard work. Even though he didn’t acquire Daisy he still achieved the riches he wanted. Jay Gatsby’s persistence tells the audience that anything is possible. No matter what the circumstances people can achieve their dreams. Jay Gatsby’s dreams were very admirable and he is an obvious hero.