A Failed Dream: How Inauthenticity Leads to an Empty Life Money is the root of all evil. While Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is not necessarily and evil character, he loses part of himself in the desire for wealth as he attempts to attract the attention of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy woman who married into a prestigious family. Gatsby is an inauthentic character because his shallow love of Daisy leads to a false sense of the reality of his relationship with her; thus he does not achieve the American Dream through his failure to achieve happiness along with his wealth Gatsby’s inauthenticity is rooted in how his love of Daisy is surface level and relies heavily on Daisy’s status in society showing how his …show more content…
Gatsby and Daisy reunite for the first time and make their way towards Gatsby’s house. According to Nick, “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of the response it drew from her well-loved eyes”(Fitzgerald 91). Gatsby stresses the importance of grandeur with his possessions solely to attract Daisy’s attention. His opinions lose legitimacy when he decides that his stuff is important to him if it appeals to Daisy. By reducing his opinions to be whatever Daisy’s is, he loses his authenticity as a character. At this point in the novel, Gatsby has told Nick that he is willing to take the blame for Myrtle’s death and now is talking about Daisy. Fitzgerald writes, “It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy-it increased her value in his eyes”(149). The way Daisy is described …show more content…
At this point, Daisy has just left Gatsby’s party and he is upset that she did not enjoy it. He claims that he can reclaim what he and Daisy once had but Nick sees that this is not possible. Nick says, “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself that had gone into loving Daisy”(Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby has spent the past five years dreaming up a version of Daisy that no longer exists. By loving the idea of Daisy rather than actually loving Daisy, he loses the genuine part of himself that once cared for
He gave her nothing, she gave him all… He got a break and went away to get a new start But poor kid, she never got a break Except the one way down in her heart (Hanshaw). Popular Jazz Age radio star, Annette Hanshaw, wrote these lyrics in “True Blue Lou.” The Jazz Age was a time period in the 1920s; this period changed and grew American rapidly. The idea of individuality engendered during this era.
Gatsby has spent numerous years trying to authenticate to Daisy, and the populace around him, that he is worthy of her. If Mr. Gatsby were to give that up now, he would lose what he feels is his entire life. Since this is not possible, he has to contend to convince to others that he truly is old money rather than old money. Due to this, he has consumed his life around her and refuses modify his ways. “‘ Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly.”
Gatsby lost the women he loved, Nick got so caught up with drama with everyone he knew, he ended up as unhappy as the rest. Everyone used Nick at least once, or gave him something to doubt. People used everyone and no one noticed. “If you want anything just ask for it old sport,” (Fitzgerald 48) Gatsby was trying to create a friendship with Nick, only to later on use him as bait to get closer to Daisy, who Gatsby believed loved him. But in the end nothing really comes the way he wanted, proven when Daisy admits she loved Gatsby but not the way when they were young.
According to some, love of money is the root of all evil. In some cases, simply being near money can cause moral groundings to erode. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in a time where money was shored up in rich houses and thrown about lavishly in big parties. This culture of wealth and pleasure was his modern world, and he wrote The Great Gatsby to comment about it. The title character of the book, Jay Gatsby, has exorbitant wealth, as do Tom and Daisy Buchanan, other vital characters.
Jay Gatsby is from a small town and poor town in North Dakota (Fitzgerald 173). As a child, he was “... bound to get ahead (Fitzgerald 173).” Mr. Gatsby observed a strict regimen driven by a rigorous schedule that pushed him each and every day (Fitzgerald 173). Gatsby never reaches his “Dream”, which is Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s ultimate goal, his most desirable object is exactly that, Daisy (Donaldson 197).
Reaching a higher class and wealth are aspects of success that many aspire to achieve. Although that may be true, in reality, as a person begins to expand their goals toward the American dream, they tend to spiral downward and crash in the end. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, pertains to an ambitious character; falling short of the American dream, resulting in a tragedy. Specifically, the book follows a young man named Gatsby and his dream to finally meet the love of his life, Daisy, who he hasn't seen in five years. Gatsby goes to great lengths in order to grab Daisy’s attention, by throwing lavish parties, which he had to achieve by becoming a bootlegger.
It always seems that lying is an easy way out, rather than explaining and convincing other people with honesty. Even before Gatsby appears in the novel, wild rumors circulate about him; however, surprisingly they do not affect him at all. This shows that when humans get in the habit of lying, it is hard to understand and trust them. It is difficult to know what to expect of them. In chapter eight, when Gatsby narrates to Nick the first time he meets Daisy he states that“he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself-that he was fully able to take care of her.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays love, obsession, and objectification through the characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Some might say their love was true and Gatsby’s feelings for her was pure affection, while others say that he objectifies and is obsessed with her. Perhaps Gatsby confuses lust and obsession with love, and throughout the novel, he is determined to win his old love back. At the end of the novel, Gatsby is met with an untimely death and never got to be with Daisy. The reader is left to determined if Gatsby’s and Daisy’s love was pure and real, or just wasn’t meant to be.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that depicts the American Dream; however, the American Dream cannot be established without running over a few people in the process. Gatsby the protagonist of the novel is known to deceive others and himself; however, his lies are not meant to hurt anyone. Gatsby is lost in his desire to be rich and have Daisy’s love, and in his desire forgets about how his actions may harm others. In addition, Gatsby only wanted to be more than his parents who were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (98). Gatsby’s deception goes as far as fabricating who he is, his financial standing in the past; including how he makes his money, lying to Daisy, and allowing others to tell rumors about himself.
The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.
In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the majority of the characters are either dishonest, chasing hollow dreams, or plain ignorant. Fitzgerald flaunts the flaws of these characters regularly. Tom Buchanan is a constant example of dishonesty, due to his reoccurring affair with Myrtle Wilson. Although she does not believe it true, Daisy is one of the most ignorant characters.
"The Great Gatsby" is an outstanding piece of classic American literature. F. Scott Fitzgerald discusses the issues on-post-war society, the American dream, love, and wealth. This draws attention to the readers that question if Jay Gatsby is "Great". Despite the uselessness of his beginnings, Gatsby is great due to the intensity of his will. Although, Gatsby is a person whose false love, materialism, and egotism led him to the tragic end.
In both A Farwell to Arms and The Great Gatsby there is at least one character that would be considered a tragic hero. A direct example of this type of hero would be Jay Gatsby and Henry Frederic. Frederic, the protagonist in A Farwell to Arms may be defined as a tragic hero [since in parallel] “whereas the tragic catastrophe is supposed to result from the hero’s mistaken actions, tragedy in A Farwell to Arms depends on Federic Henry doing the one thing we most desire him to do and respect him for doing-committing himself in love with Catherine Barkley” (Merill 572). The result of Henry's strong obsession with Catherine Berkley is her death and Henry's catastrophe that follows. In Gatsby's case, his catastrophe is chasing
In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.
The Corruption of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates society in the 1920’s and the desire for the people with in it to achieve the American Dream, which embodies the hope that one can achieve power, love and a higher economic/social status through one’s commitment and effort. The novel develops the story of a man named Jay Gatsby and his dream of marrying what he describes as his “golden girl”, also known as, Daisy Buchanan, his former lover. Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American dream through the Characters; Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy.