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The Great Gatsby? The novel The great Gatsby is written around the 1920 s when the American dream was every mans dream. Gatsby is a quintessential example of the American dream, a self-made businessman and entrepreneur. His wealth made evident through his elaborate parties at his mansion in West egg, near New York.
The question is, is it his success as a businessman and adventurer what makes him great, or does it lie a lot deeper than that? Throughout the story Gatsby has his affections set on a girl who has been his one true love, called Daisy. Despite Gatsby's many attempts to gain her affections, she always seems to have her affections directed elsewhere. The problem was Gatsby was always putting up a front to impress daisy with fast cars, planes and boats. Which were the very thing that Gatsby had earned his reputation for, that and his parties.
The problem with Gatsby s strategy prior to the arrival of Nick was Daisy never attended any of Gatsby's many parties, which could have been for many reasons but also because she lived in the more fashionable East egg, directly opposite west but over an expanse of water. The docks at the backs of the houses in each district had lights on the ends of them, Daisy s light was green and it says at the very end of the book: Gatsby believed in the green light, the organic future that year by year recedes before us. I think that part of his failing with daisy was his apparent obsession with her. If he hadn t been so obsessive he may have appealed to her more.
This became more evident as the time line of the book progressed, with the parties, where Gatsby would just sit in a corner all night or upstairs in his mansion. All he would do is wait in the hope that one day Daisy would decide to come along. Until the arrival of Nick this was never going to happen, the thought being that Daisy was fully aware of Gatsby's presence in New York but never did anything about it. Also the statement that is made by Catherine on page 39 indicates that the general consensus is that people fear Gatsby, yet still attend his parties regularly: I m scared of him, I d hate to have him get anything on me. So, what is Gatsby, if he is feared yet loved at the same time? He is without doubt great in the aspect of how he has made himself his own fortune, a genuine rags to riches tale.
But deep down I believe he is great in more ways than one. The thought that perhaps we realise that Gatsby has fulfilled his dreams of success and now his goals have shifted to a more persona note. Companionship is what he seeks from this point onwards and only has eyes for Daisy, which turns out to be the end of him, which I believe is quite a fitting ending. Once you get to know the character you realise that he is a victim of his own affections and would rather be dead than live without Daisy. To this point I have come to the conclusion that if Gatsby was to be referred to as being great then I now realise that he is great for more than the reasons of his success. He is great for what he did and what he stood for, his persistence in his pursuit of Daisy and his determination to gain her love.
The reason that Daisy did not leave Tom and start a new life with Gatsby, I think is mostly because she feared Tom. It is also apparent that Gatsby feared Tom also or he would have been a lot more persistent in his quest for Daisy. The question is, does this make Gatsby a coward? In some respects yes, but I m sure he kept his distance for Daisy s sake more than his own.
If anyone is being a coward it is Daisy as she is fully aware her husband is having an affair but refuses to do anything about it. Nick aids Gatsby in his quest for Daisy simply because he has no choice in the matter, because Gatsby sort of allows Nick to be caught up in the whole affair. From this point onwards Nick automatically becomes the go between in the relationship. Without doubt, the story from the point of Daisy going to Nick s house for tea onwards the relationship between Gatsby and her becomes more and more complicated. This is because Daisy was in the belief that she was going to see Nick for tea and did not expect to see Gatsby there. I also believe that Nick was being a coward in the story, because of his inability to tell Gatsby the truth about his dreams of being with Daisy.
In the end it took Gatsby to realise this in himself, that his dreams were never to become a reality. The novel itself makes Gatsby out to be quite a weak person in my opinion, posing no real threat towards any other members of the plot, at least, directly. Tom was the only person Gatsby posed a threat to, although he himself was probably not aware of it until late in the book, that is if he was that seriously aware of it at all. I now find it hard to understand why Gatsby didn t take the matter further than he did with Daisy herself, because she just seemed to fob the possibilities of a relationship off. At least she could have made the impossibilities of a relationship starting clearer to Gatsby and confessed her cowardice to him. This, in any event was his downfall.
I think that within the story, Nick sees himself more as a hero than Gatsby does. Gatsby is desperate and needs answers and Nick is the one who endeavours to get him them. Gatsby settles for the information that Nick gives him and Gatsby listens to it. Does this make Gatsby Nieve? Gatsby is a romantic attempting to maintain ideality in an era totally inimical to such a venture Gatsby's quest is to attain, via his love of Daisy, a realm beyond time. By idealizing the moment he hopes to turn it into something deathless.
John S Whitley 1976. This comment by Whitley sums up the desires of Gatsby. All he wants is to be with Daisy and holds the hope of making his love for her and her love for him timeless. All he wants is to be with her forever, and it is his enormous will power that keeps him in his own self-made illusion that this is possible. There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind. Page 131.
The Great Gatsby. Although this comment is not made directly towards Gatsby but is made towards Tom s mistress Myrtle, I think it sums up the novel in a sentence. This statement by no means implies that in the novel Gatsby is a simple person, but when the mind of anyone is concentrated on something it only sees one point of view. In his own confusion Gatsby is forced into the belief that it is possible for him and Daisy to be together.
In instances like these the mind becomes almost childlike in thinking, it becomes simple. Also the fact that daisy is the object of so many men s affections makes Gatsby want her even more. The problem with this is that Tom knows it and therefore his suspicions are already aroused before the group of friends travel to the city. This is where the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby comes to life. If there is a defining moment in the novel, which I think makes Gatsby great is the scene in the flat within the row between Gatsby and Tom. Gatsby at this point decides in his own mind to own up and tell Tom everything.
Which includes everything about him and Daisy. This event was spurred on mostly by Tom getting Gatsby annoyed, and although admittedly, Gatsby plays on this and Tom s apparent anger perhaps as a ploy to get him to say something he might regret. So, in the event of Gatsby finally taking a stand, obviously Daisy gets caught up in the middle of the argument between Gatsby and Tom. Nick and Jordan are mare onlookers at this point as Gatsby and Tom fire questions at Daisy, which I enjoyed as a reader because it seems that she is finally getting what she deserves.
My thoughts at this point are whether or not Gatsby is going through turmoil because of it. At this point the last thing I wanted to see was Gatsby cut down: Go on. He won t annoy you. I think he realises that his presumptuous little flirtation is over (Tom Buchanan) page 141, The great Gatsby. This is the focal point of the book and sort of, spells out the shape of things to come for Gatsby. This seems to mark the beginning of the downfall of his relationship with Daisy and the possibilities of a future with her look grim.
This is where the irony begins to cut in. None of the men understand what is going on. They are both extremely wealthy but without the love of one particular woman they are nothing. They have power and money but when it comes to human emotions they come up a little short. Gatsby I believe is the more emotive of the two and cares a Great deal about other peoples feelings as well as his own. Tom on the other hand is a man based on what he can get through his power and more importantly, what he can keep.
Gatsby is a hero, he is great. I say this because he stands up for what he wants and more importantly he stands up for what he believes is right. He confronts Tom, a man whom from description sounds to be almost twice his size. He does this with no care for his personal self and at the end of this conflict loses. The loss of the fight does not, however serve to make Gatsby great; it bears no relevance to his greatness. It was the fact that he was willing to stand up for what he believed in and try against all odds to keep daisy on his side, simply because he needs her that badly.
It seems almost right that Gatsby died for love although the plot becomes twisted at the point of his death. This is because in all of his money making he neglected it and expected Daisy to wait an eternity for him. This inevitably did not happen, but his valour in attempting to rekindle the fire also makes him great. These decisive moments in the story, like the scene in the flat and also when Daisy arrives at Nicks for tea are where Gatsby comes into his element in the tale.
The title of the book is irrelevant to my decision that Gatsby is truly great. 1853 words.
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