Character Analysis Essay James Gatz, also known as The Great Gatsby would be considered the wealthiest man in 1920’s New York, having everything while having nothing. Gatsby could be considered the “American Dream”, starting from the bottom to the top. However, his origin like any achiever is shrouded in mystery. Charisma, persistent, selfless, and even emptiness, traits that best fit Gatsby like, a glove fits a hand. The author Scott Fitzgerald, crafted Gatsby as this great man to show that any man can achieve greatness but can as well lose it all if careless. And, so Gatsby is a perfect character to analyze, understanding what kind of a man he is through his personality traits For Gatsby’s first trait he is a very charismatic person that …show more content…
This is said to enrich Daisy’s emotions to Gatsby’s favor persuading her to love him and leave her husband Tom. Gatsby “[admires Daisy the way every women dreams of being looked at]”. With an endearment vocabulary and striking looks, Gatsby couldn’t be more imposing. He as well put impressions on others during his journey to success progressing further and further. He would even gain a strong friendship with Mr.Wolfsheim, a man who would nearly teach Gatsby everything he needs to know. Gatsby’s choices of words gives him an intellectual tone as for an example he continuously refers to everyone as an “old sport” when speaking to others as a way of friendly …show more content…
Even though Gatsby has much wealth, he still can’t full his hunger. He tries to fill his void with good deeds and money often not seeing what kind of impression he leaves. This can be seen when Gatsby was going to shower Nick with gifts but it more less felt like Gatsby was trying to buy Nick. He as well has no thought when trying to woo Daisy as she is a married women. He believes because of his wealth he’s almost untouchable. And, to support this is the argument him and Tom have, "She never loved you, do you hear?"... It was a terrible mistake but in her heart she never loved any one except me". He doesn't care that their married 2or how Tom feels he bluntly tells off Tom, something many people don’t
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays society’s role in transforming one’s identity by creating complex and realistic characters. Jay Gatsby is a prime example of how one will change themselves to accommodate society. Once a poor son from a farming family, Gatsby puts up an extravagant facade to hopefully win a woman over, however in the process, puts aside morals and values. Fitzgerald demonstrates the importance of social expectations, wealth and the perception of the American Dream are in determining one’s identity.
Even though Gatsby was born James Gatz on a small farm in North Dakota, he was motivated by Dan Cody and Daisy to dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth and love. Some people might claim that Gatsby was able to achieve his dream because he succeeded in becoming a fabulously wealthy man in West Egg. However, this is only partially true, for Gatsby’s genuine American Dream was to attain Daisy Buchanan. Therefore, this novel portrays both the power and deleterious result of the American Dream (C. J. Dawson).
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him.
As the opposite of Daisy, Gatsby “remained faithful to an ideal love for five years” (Seiters). Daisy comes from a good family and is also a very beautiful girl who has a strong desire for love and that may only be the reason she married Tom instead of Gatsby. She was scared that Gatsby did not come back so she did not want to wait any longer. Tom and Gatsby are two very different people, Gatsby wasn't rich all his life he had even changed his name, “Jay Gatz--that was really, or at least legally, his name” (Fitzgerald 98). He sailed with his mentor Dan Cody who had taught him to speak and act like a well educated gentleman. Knowing that it allow him to have a good reputation in high societies. With Gatsby's ability to make friends in the city he became a criminal who used him to sell bootlegged alcohol, basically a drug dealer. Gatsby is what they call new money which means he has to show off and prove to the world that he is rich, for example to his parties he wears extravagant suits with gold ties and drives an eye-catching yellow car “Gatsby's car is an adolescent's dream, the very vehicle for one who formed his ideals as a teenager” (Seiters), all this is done to get Daisy’s
Gatsby is a character that want to success his achievement. For example, his goal is to polish his life, but he quickly change after he saw Daisy Buchanan. The image of that green light, symbol of Gatsby's faith, which is burning across the bay. This scene draws on the "violent hour" passage from "The Fire Sermon" in which "the human engine waits/like a taxi throbbing waiting...It is hour of a profound human change, and in the famous stirring of Gatsby's recognition there is for a moment, perhaps, a possibility of his escape. But the essence of the American dream whose tragedy Gatsby is enacting is that it lives in a past and a future that never existed, and is helpless in the present that does. (Bloom, Harold. “F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.” F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia, 2004,
Jay Gatsby, a man described as many words. His first and only desire in the book, “The Great Gatsby”, is to become wealthy in order to win Daisy Buchanan’s love. All Jay wants is for Daisy to desire him over all the rich men on their society, including her husband, Tom Buchanan. The author of “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald, is very clever. For example, he applies events that occurred in his time period and expresses them in his text. F. Scott Fitzgerald published his work on the date of April 10, 1925.
Roaring and Booming, American culture in the 1920’s drastically evolved. Women defied gender rules, money became easier to obtain, life moved faster and faster by the year. This rapid consumer culture drove too quickly and, as a result, caused the economy to crash and burn. Just as society grew eager for new and beneficial consumer goods, Gatsby and Daisy grew eager for each other’s plastic, external qualities. However, both America and these character’s relationship illustrates the fruit-less and rotten state of moving too quickly. Developed within F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the life cycle of fruit mirrors the spoiled relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan. Gatsby’s longing for the perfect “American” romance drives his
Gatsby adores the idea of having her as his own ‘Golden Girl’ no matter the price, he truly loves her. He doesn’t care for the people he has to hurt or what may hurt Daisy, he just wants her for himself no matter the conflicts that may occur along the
In the wildly popular classic The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively expressed the bacchic spirit of 1920’s America as well as his personal life experiences. Though not directly, The Great Gatsby developed into an autobiographical novel by including events and plot similar to Fitzgerald’s own life. While hints of Fitzgerald’s life and personality showed through multiple characters, the essence of the author was captured most prominently in the tragic main character Jay Gatsby. By mirroring events in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life during the early twentieth century in the life of Jay Gatsby, including experiences with love, rise to money, and unknowingly to Fitzgerald, death, The Great Gatsby flourished into an autobiographical
F. Scott Fitzgerald's “The Great Gatsby”, depicts the lavish and privileged lives of an affluent cast of characters living in East and West Egg (Long Island), during the height of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald illustrates an “up for grabs” world where anyone can make it to the top. No one better embodies this than Jay Gatsby, a midwest farm boy turned self-made millionaire. While many such as Gatsby were able to amass a large amount of wealth during the Roaring Twenties, it was a futile endeavour for many, and came with consequences. However, Fitzgerald recognizes this and demonstrates to the reader that this world of glamour that Gatsby and the
The disillusionment of the American Dream is a frequent but important written theme in the American literature. Fitzgerald’s famous book The Great Gatsby is one of the most important representative works that reflects this theme. F. Scott Fitzgerald is best known for his novels and short stories which chronicle the excesses of America's Jazz Age during the 1920s. His classic twentieth-century story of Jay Gatsby examines and critiques Gatsby's particular vision of the 1920's American Dream. The Great Gatsby can be seen as a far-reaching book that has revealed many serious and hidden social problems at that time. As one of the most popular and financially successful
F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American author during the jazz age. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. He wrote novels and many short stories but he is mostly known for his iconic novel “The Great Gatsby.” This American Classic, written in 1925 takes place in New York during The Roaring 20’s. The novel revolves around this interesting character named Jay Gatsby. He is from North Dakota, and around 30 years old. Born poor, motivated him to do anything to acquire his longtime dream to become wealthy. Apart from that, he was also motivated to reacquire Daisy’s love. Gatsby acquires his wealth by performing illegal activities to impress, and win Daisy back. The Great Gatsby is an example of the prototypical American Dream, but also demonstrates many characteristics of American society that leads the country to the great depression
This analysis of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald will define the failure of the American Dream in the character of Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby’s “rag to riches” story defines the failure to understand the inability of poor people to actually become a member of the American upper classes. In one way, Gatsby was able to gain considerable wealth in the American economy, but his background as an agrarian farmer prevents him from being accepted into aristocracy of Long Island. More so, Gatsby’s quest to gain the love of Daisy by becoming wealthy defines the shallow materialism of his vision of the American Dream that ultimately ends in with his own death at the hands of Tom Buchanan. Jay’s rise to wealth and prosperity is an example of the rare exception of a talented individual rising to the upper classes, but he could not maintain this position in the strict class rankings of the American aristocracy. In essence, an examination of the failure of the American Dream will be defined in this analysis of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Gatsby tries to present himself as constant and wealthy to Daisy. He tries to do this by associating with well-to-do people and having parties while sparing no expense, as though all the money in the world was his money. He uses the affinity seeking strategy of being comfortable and relaxed, even throwing down his shirts to Daisy, who laughed with delight. He stopped by for tea at Nick’s house when he knew Daisy would be there, using politeness to win her over to him. Using a credibility strategy was difficult for Gatsby in this case, as he wanted to show her that he had not changed and that the past could be repeated, but he does mention how his shirts are chosen for him in London. When he is called out by Tom as not an Oxford man, he self-handicaps and claims to have only gone there for a few months. When he is with Daisy, he never seems to self-deprecate, because he wants to seem in charge and flawless. He continues to carefully self-monitor himself with her, as he was taught while he was at sea. Finally, he used both influencing and self-confirming strategies when he had a party with her there by showing how he was rich, just like her, and confirmed his image as a rich man.
It is not uncommon to think the title of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an ironic one. In reality, the character from which the title received its very name is not widely considered to be “great”, nor is his last name even Gatsby. James Gatz’ alias, Jay Gatsby, is in fact a criminal who has created an illusion of a complete and utterly different life. The character of Jay Gatsby is obsessive, mentally unstable, and quite frankly a criminal; however, the title of The Great Gatsby is nevertheless well deserved for Gatsby’s ability to dream and remain hopeful, his unrelenting perseverance, and the true reason behind his motivation.