How Is The Great Gatsby Selfish

795 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The changing culture of the roaring twenties

Jay Gatsby: A Great Human Being
The effects of the economic growth and the consumer society during the roaring 20’s resulted in one of the greatest time periods in this country. Music, dance, and movies; the cultural innovations revolutionized the way of living of every American. F .Scott Fitzgerald, the writer of The Great Gatsby, shows the importance of the time period to a specific character named Jay Gatsby. He represents everything that could characterize the 20’s as one of the greatest time periods of the United States. Gatsby is a determined and devoted man that confirms the word great in the novel’s title.
Gatsby’s determination is one of the qualities that builds up Fitzgerald’s idea about using the word great in his novel’s title. …show more content…

Even if World War I separated Gatsby from Daisy, he never stops loving her. He found out Daisy was married to Tom Buchanan; he could have let them be together but he knows that him and Daisy are meant to be together and he could make her happy again. When they start seeing each other again, Daisy falls in love with Gatsby and she could not be more ecstatic. They are ready to tell Tom about the situation so they go to the city with Tom, Nick and Jordan. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake , but in her heart she never loved any one except me!”(p.130) Even if it is not representing Daisy’s real feelings about love, Gatsby’s message to Tom shows that he would have done everything to get her back, which makes him a special character. He fights for her love and never would have let her be with a man who has affairs behind her back. On their way back, something terrible happens to Myrtle, Tom’s mistress: “This woman rushed out at us as we were passing a car coming the other way” (p.143).When Nick asks: "Was Daisy driving?” Gatsby responds: “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was” (p.143). After she betrays him when they are in the city with Tom, Gatsby is still there to protect her from everything. Taking the blame instead of putting her into some trouble is one thing, but taking a bullet

Show More
Related

  • Character Analysis Of Daisy In The Great Gatsby

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Nick visits Daisy she tells him the story of how her daughter was born, “It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about––things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling.” By leaving Daisy behind at a time when she most needs him, Tom loses his value of companionship with Daisy. He no longer fits the three criteria that Daisy feels she needs in a man. Daisy knows that Tom no longer loves her and is having an affair with another woman, but despite all of this, Daisy has no intention of leaving him (20). This is because Tom, despite no longer fulfilling her emotionally, is still better for her financially and socially than if she left him to live alone. If Daisy wants to stay in her class, she has no option other than to stay with Tom. When Daisy finally sees Gatsby again, she suddenly has another option besides staying with Tom. Daisy knows that Gatsby has true feelings of love towards her, but leaving Tom would prove to be risky as it could tarnish her reputation and by extension her social stability. Daisy is now struggling between taking a risk for love and maintaining a safe, stable life she is ultimately unhappy

    Read More

  • Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Knowing from their different circumstances, he could not marry her. So Gatsby left to accumulate a lot of money. Daisy, not being able to wait for Gatsby, marries a rich man named Tom. Tom believes that it is okay for a man to be unfaithful but it is not okay for the woman to be. This caused a lot of conflict in their marriage and caused Daisy to be very unhappy.

    Read More

  • Does Daisy Truly Love Gatsby

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    Daisy does not make it clear that she either loves her husband Tom or Gatsby. This idea is illustrated when Nick, Gatsby, Jordan, Daisy and Tom went to the hotel to have lunch and Gatsby ask Daisy to tell the truth of who she loves. But, “She hesitated. Her eyes fell on Jordan and me with a sort of appeal, as though she realized at last what she was doing—and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all. But it was done now It was too late. ‘I never loved him,’ she said, with perceptible reluctance” (Passage 3, Lines 11 - 14). According to the response of Daisy, one can see Daisy telling that she never loved Tom, but with reluctance. Meaning that she didn’t want to tell it with her own willing. Although Gatsby feels very strong and confident with his love, when it comes to the right moment, in front of Tom Daisy does not show that she truly loves him. She could’ve said without any hesitation that she loves Gatsby and doesn’t love Tom but she does not do that. As a result, one can that regardless of how confident Gatsby felt on his love, Daisy does not truly love

    Read More

  • Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson of The Great Gatsby

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    This led Gatsby on because he dedicated his whole life to getting Daisy back, and she had no gratitude towards it. At the hotel suite scene, Daisy reveals to all that she loves Gatsby, but then also says that she loves Tom as well. This leaves the reader in awe, because after all the suffering that Tom puts her through, she still wants to be with him.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • Hardships In The Great Gatsby

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is a well written and exemplary novel of the Jazz age, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald desired writing his books about the roaring twenties and would explain what happened during that time frame. The majority of the characters in The Great Gatsby cared more about money, power, and having a good time then the people in their lives. This lack of caring for others resulted in the hardships the characters faced. Especially, Jay Gatsby was one of these cruel characters.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Adultery In The Great Gatsby

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though at first when they finally got together after all those years and everything seem great and romantic but good things always come to an end. The affair effected Gatsby in his life by having him back the old love he first had for Daisy even hoping for a lifetime future together. His dream is very much vivid about his romantic hopes about Daisy in his mind, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). He seems to be falling deeper in love with her even maybe more than the love she really had for him even though through the end of the chapters her love that she claims to have for him seemed not truly. In New York, the truth comes out more about she feels about Gatsby by being questioned and feeling guilty when Tom gets to the fact that she loves him and not Gatsby but Gatsby rejects his sayings and tells Daisy to say how she truly feel about him. Over all the excitement, Daisy tells how she truly feel about the whole love affair, “I did love him once but I loved you too” (132). It is possible that the leading of Gatsby’s death was caused from Tom’s jealousy of his wife’s confessed love for Gatsby. Tom would had told Wilson that Gatsby was the driver of the car that killed Myrtle and her secret

    Read More

  • Gatsby's Over-zealous Appoach to Life in the Great Gatsby

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby is one of the most determined and organized characters in the book. When Mr. Gatz shows Nick the schedule from Gatsby?s childhood, Nick realizes how even though Gatsby?s history changed, Gatsby was always a very goal oriented person. Once Gatsby set his mind to something, he would do anything to follow through with his over-all goal. For the main portion of the novel, the goal that Gatsby has is Daisy. Gatsby becomes determined to get her in anyway he can. Nick respects that Gatsby still has love for Daisy after all of the years apart, even after she married Tom when she promised to wait for Gatsby when he came out of the army. Gatsby?s trait of following through on something is very admirable and is a quality that many characters in the novel greatly lack. Gatsby has a heart and is true to it, whilst Daisy, Tom, and other characters are bullish and inhuman, running over people and then hiding behind their money. Gatsby is true honest and determined and Nick truly respects Gatsby for these traits.

    Read More

  • Daisy And Gatsby Forbidden Love

    341 Words  | 1 Pages

    Daisy and Gatsby spend five years away from each other and when they get back together, the circumstances change. Daisy gets married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby has no option except for grabbing Daisy’s attention. The love that the readers realize is passionate however this love changes into a forbidden one because Daisy is now married. Gatsby tries his best to convince Daisy that everything will go back like they used to, but she doesn’t seem to agree. The past cannot be repeated. Tom sees the love between Daisy and Gatsby but he does not say anything until the right time. The circumstances that are happening to both Daisy and Gatsby make their love forbidden. As much as Gatsby is very rich, he does not seem to be enough because he’s new money

    Read More

  • Obsessiveness In The Great Gatsby

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tom suspects that Gatsby and Daisy are having a relationship, but has no evidence to prove it. However, whenever Tom would leave the room, Daisy would immediately run into Gatsby’s arms to show her affection. To their dismay, Tom sees this: “She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw” (Fitzgerald 126). This leads to a confrontation between Gatsby and Tom, where Gatsby boldly declares that “Your wife [Daisy] doesn’t love you …She’s never loved you. She loves me” (Fitzgerald 139). Gatsby feels untouchable, and his confidence in Daisy’s love for him allows him to declare this to Tom. However, Tom slowly gains control of Daisy, reminding her of the experiences they shared together. Realizing this, Gatsby becomes desperate, and attempts to force Daisy into saying things she doesn’t believe, but Daisy tells Gatsby the truth: “’Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom… It wouldn’t be true’” (Fitzgerald 142). Gatsby is delusional because his only thought is proving to Tom that Daisy doesn’t love him, and fails to realize that he is slowly losing Daisy. He is once again so absorbed by Daisy that he fails to realize what is going on around him. Even after Daisy runs over a woman murdering her in cold blood, Gatsby is willing to take the blame for her, and states “of course I’ll say [to the police] I was [driving]” (Fitzgerard 154). Gatsby still loves Daisy after she commits murder, which is a testament to his obsession and delusion over her. Gatsby is willing to go to prison and lose everything because Gatsby still believes that Daisy loves him despite Tom proving

    Read More

  • Examples Of Selfishness In The Great Gatsby

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    The entire book revolves around his one selfish desire to be with the woman he loves, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is well aware that Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, but that does not stop him. Gatsby and Daisy begin seeing each other and spending a great amount of time together. This was not enough to satisfy Gatsby. One night, he and Tom, Daisy’s husband, were in dispute.

    Read More

  • The Results of Keeping Secrets in the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a novel set in The Roaring Twenties, portraying a flamboyant and immortal society of the ‘20s where the economy booms, and prohibition leads to organized crimes. Readers follow the journey about a young man named Jay Gatsby, an extravagant mysterious neighbor of the narrator, Nick Carraway. As the novel evolves, Nick narrates his discoveries of Gatsby’s past and his love for Daisy, Nick’s married cousin to readers. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald develops the theme of the conflict which results from keeping secrets instead of telling the truth using the three characters – Tom Buchanan, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby (James Gats).

    Read More

  • The Complex Themes Hidden in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1703 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The great Gatsby” is an inspiring novel written by the famous American author Scott Fitzgerald. The novel was published in 1925. It is regarded as Scott’s supreme achievement and also as a masterwork in American literature, and it’s entirely justified.

    Read More

  • The Ironic Title of The Great Gatsby

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, this perception of Gatsby is eventually completely transformed as Fitzgerald continuously divulges the flaws within Gatsby and his way of life. Having given his book the title, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald has created a level of irony that enhances Gatsby's character and serves as a basis of contrast between how Gatsby appears to an outsider and what he really is. F. Scott Fitzgerald was very clever in choosing the word "great" in describing such a complex character as Jay Gatsby. It is clear that this word is being used facetiously as Fitzgerald continuously reveals more and more weakness within Gatsby. At first glance, Gatsby is portrayed as glamorous and magnificent.

    Read More

  • Decaying Morals in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Title Meaning

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the title ‘The Great Gatsby’ is fairly flexible, it lends itself to many different interpretations; for example, as well as reading it as a literal statement alluding to Gatsby's wealth and apparent generosity, it is possible to read it sarcastically, as a reflection of his failure to achieve his dream. An important factor of the interpretation is the definition of ‘great’, which could refer to anything from a large size to something that is merely above average. Nick’s direction is therefore very helpful in determining just how the title should be read and how the novel should be judged. He appears to encourage us to think of ‘great’ as an adjective meaning excellent, and consistently tries to present Gatsby in this way. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is shown to be a unique and special individual- despite representing all that Nick has an ‘unaffected scorn’ for, he is somehow ‘exempt’ from reaction, set apart from all others for some unknown reason.

    Read More

More about How Is The Great Gatsby Selfish

Open Document