Mohammad 1 Sheheryaar Mohammad Writing for Wisdom II Professor Snell 11/7/2013 Why Is Gatsby Great?

Many people go throughout their lives being afraid of grasping their aspiration, and wonder what could have been. To be successful in life one must work hard and show dedication to their goal so that they can achieve their goals. What makes individuals great is that they keep working on these aspirations till on day they are achieved or die trying. Jay Gatsby is great due to the fact that he believes so strongly in the love that he shares with Daisy, and will go to any extent to protect, love, and care for her that leads to his downfall. Jay Gatsby is willing to do anything for Daisy and will always watch over, and protect her from any harm that she faces. Jay Gatsby is madly in love with Daisy and becomes a mogul in the underworld to become the man that she wants. Gatsby is so intoxicated with Daisy that he makes excuses for her shortcomings she was nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car coming the other way (Fitzgerald 150). Jay takes the blame for Daisy when she hits Myrtle and burdens himself with the incompetence of Daisy. The reader begins to see the true characteristics of Daisy and how careless she can be. Gatsby is especially concerned with the relationship between ideals and conduct, and its thesis on this subject

Mohammad 2 appears to be as follows: To have large romantic ideals is almost certainly to be mistaken, because of the nature of ideals, but to attempt to do without them is to live emptily and to thwart a permanent human craving; hence almost any large romantic ideals, however mistaken, deserve to be viewed respectfully (Fraser 555). Fraser explains how Gatsby is shrouded by Daisy and how the relationship that they have formed is nothing but an illusion that Gatsby thinks is the truth. Gatsby is in love with the idea of Daisy due to this he is not able to see the deception of their relationship. The reader. Nick was the only one who truly cared for Gatsby, and called Daisy half an hour after we found himbut she and Tom had gone away (Fitzgerald 171). Daisy really did not love Gatsby at all; she did not even have the curtsey to come to his funeral. After everything Jay did for Daisy she still did not acknowledge him as someone who she cared for. What makes Gatsby great is that he works so hard to achieve an illusion, and in the process he dies but he always keeps the faith that one day Daisy will be his. Jay Gatsby is an example of the American Dream and how he works so hard to become the man who he thinks Daisy wants. Gatsby, the "mythic" embodiment of the American dream, is shown to us in all his immature romanticism. His insecure grasp of social and human values, his lack of critical intelligence and self-knowledge, his blindness to the pitfalls that surround him in American societyAnd yet the very grounding of these deficiencies is Gatsby's goodness and faith in life, his compelling desire to realize all the possibilities of existence (Eble 36). Gatsby exemplifies the American dream because he has come so far from where he was to become the man that he believed Daisy wants. Gatsby devoted his whole life to the notion of be a romantic that indulged himself in corruption and exploitation of society to achieve his goal. The

Mohammad 3 American Dream is too much an ideal ever to be consummated except in the sense to which "orgastic future" corresponds (Barbarese cxxiv). Even though the American Dream is an ideal that each individual tries to achieve, Gatsby illuminates this idea of The American Dream by striving for a better future for himself. Jay becomes something this mobster and an underground bootlegger to provide the life Daisy wants so that she will be happy. Gatsby has such a remarkable[that] we must pay heed to Fitzgerald's ambitions for Gatsby, because it is in the breadth of these ambitions that a comparatively slight novel with a melodramatic plot and a hazily distinguishable central character emerges into a novel of such remarkable amplitude (Eble 38). The character of Gatsby that Fitzgerald shows is such a dynamic character that makes an impact on Nick Caraway, which shows him how, devoted a man Gatsby is and begins to see the true colors of Gatsby. Gatsby is not a playboy or a shallow social climber, but a man in love who will do anything to live his life with Daisy. Gatsby came from nothing that worked so hard to be good enough for Daisy and even though she was in his grasp she still got away, but even through everything Gatsby still believed that she would call him. These true characteristics make Gatsby a symbol of the American dream. Gatsby is a tragic hero who gives up his life and everything for Daisy. Jay Gatsby is considered a tragic hero because "It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete" (Fitzgerald 166). Gatsby died for the crimes of Daisy, when she hit Myrtle while driving Jays car. Gatsby takes the blame for Daisys shortcomings and pays the ultimate price of death. The audience begins to see how Jay is a tragic hero because it did not matter to Jay if he was the richest person in the world or the poorest, all he wanted

Mohammad 4 was to be good enough for Daisy. The Great Gatsby story takes place during the roaring 20s. This is a time when World War 1 had just finished and bootlegging was very prominent, but despite all the financial success Gatsby achieved he did not reach his on goal for the woman of his dreams. Gatsby [the] of-view; he is very much in the story? and who he is and where he stands and where he ends up is as important to the story's import as Gatsby is. Like Marlow, Caraway provides a moral center (Eble 40). Gatsby throws all these enormous parties and yet no one knows who he is. Gatsby has achieved financial success and believes that this will bring him everything he wants in life. Gatsby strives to become friends with Nick so that he can get closer to Daisy, but even through everything this is impossible. Jay Gatsby becomes a tragic hero because he becomes a bootlegger and is part of the underworld all in hope to live out the rest of his life with Daisy, but because she is married and only cares about who can protect her Gatsby has no chance with her. The whole time he works so hard just to lose his life to without reaching his goal makes Jay Gatsby a tragic hero. Nick sees Gatsby as the incarnation of this national impulse, this "extraordinary gift for hope," using the same term? "wonder"? to describe Gatsby s desire for Daisy Buchanan and that of the first American colonists gazing at "the fresh green breast of the new world. For Nick, Gatsby's lies, his pre tensions, and his corruption are "no matter"; nor is his failure to win back Daisy; what matters is the sustaining belief in the value of striving for a "wondrous" object, not its inevitable disappearance and meaninglessness (Will 126). Gatsbys character shows the audience the characteristics of a tragic hero who strives for a wondrous person that he knows will make him whole, but she is too guarded and selfish in her own world to care about anyone except what she wants. Gatsby is used as a tool and disposed of when he

Mohammad 5 becomes useless. Nick Caraway is the only person who sees Gatsby for who he is and begins to understand the true character of Jay Gatsby. What makes Gatsby a tragic hero is his notion of innocence and determination that he puts forward to claim Daisy for his own, and in the process dies taking the blame and consequences for Daisy. Jay Gatsby is so arrogant and thoughtless in his action, which lead to his demise. Gatsby is very senseless he works so hard for a woman of his dreams, and creates this persona of a rich honorable man, even though he is a crook and lies to flirt with a married woman. The audience begins to be indulged into Gatsby's sphere in this passage, and it is worth noting that the whole transition from hoax to belief has a distinct literary coloration (Weinstein 31). Jay Gatsby is someone who believes he is doing the right thing by becoming a bootlegger and crook to provide Daisy with the life that he believes she wants, but in reality he corrupts himself to become part of the elitist society. Gatsby wants a married woman and convinces Nick to help him be with Daisy. Gatsby says that he is a man from Oxford, but in actuality he was only there for 6 months and is not from a wealthy family. During the roaring twenties Gatsby is aptly suited for the role of arch-high priest because he is the persona and chief practitioner of the hedonism that marked this period. He is also its unwitting prophet, for his failure and destruction serve as a portent for the eclipse of the American dream, and the passing away of an era. It is with this prophet image that this paper will chiefly deal (Pearson 639). Gatsby does not exemplify the American dream but in actuality he stands for corruption and shows the readers how any individual and achieves wealth by participating in illegal activities. Gatsby shows society that if one wants to

Mohammad 6 achieve ones goals they must cheat and lie. In actuality Gatsby is a spiritual wasteland-materialistic and mortal, and by its very nature doomed to ashes (Pearson 641). Jay does not have any moral obligations and acts as a playboy who throws elaborate parties to attract the wrong attention in hopes that Daisy will one day attend. Jay Gatsby is very thoughtless in his actions because he put himself in a position between a married woman and her husband. Jay Gatsby is not great because he represents all the vices of the twenties and makes it seem that these actions are what make an individual great and successful. Gatsby uses these vices to obtain his dream of being with Daisy. By doing so Jay Gatsby has become the representative of everything wrong with society. The American Dream represents opportunity and having a better life, which Gatsby exploits in a negative way. Gatsby is great because he works so hard to achieve his one goal in life to be with Daisy and works so hard to become what he believes she wants. Gatsby is selfless in these actions and acts out of pure love for Daisy. Jay does not ever loose hope in Daisy that one day they will be together. By being selfless and working hard Jay Gatsby also represents the American dream by loving Daisy and working so hard to achieve become the man that he believes Daisy wants him to be. These ideals are what help make Gatsby great, he is a tragic hero due to the fact that he looses his life for the woman that he loves, but this is what makes him great. Jay Gatsby is great due to the fact that he believes so strongly in the love that he shares with Daisy, and will go to any extent to protect, love, and care for her that leads to his downfall.

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Barbarese, J. T. "The Great Gatsby and "American Dream"" The Great Gatsby and

"American Dream" 100.4 (1992): Cxxi-xxiv. Jstor. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Eble, Kenneth. "The Great Gatsby." The Great Gatsby 1.1 (1974): 34-47. Jstor. Web. 28

Oct. 2013.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print. Fraser, Jhon. "Dust and Dream and The Great Gatsby." Dust and Dream and The Great

Gatsby 4th ser. 32 (1965): 554-64. Jstor. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Pearson, Roger L. "Gatsby: False Prophet of The American Dream." Gatsby: False

Prophet of The American Dream 59.5 (1970): 638-42. JSTOR. Web. 28 Oct.

2013.

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Samuels, Charles T. "The Greatness of "Gatsby"" The Greatness of "Gatsby" 1st ser. 7.4 (1966): 783-94. JStor. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Weinstein, Arnold. "Fiction as Greatness : The Case of Gatsby." Fiction as Greatness :

The Case of Gatsby 19.1 (1985): 22-38. JSTOR. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.