The Great Gatsby Essay Gatsby was a man that led two completely different lives. He was both a very poor farmhand from the middle of the U.S., and also, according to the book, one of the wealthiest men of New York. Gatsby’s secretive figure is often a major point throughout the book and is one of the most influential recurring themes. The three main components within said theme are Gatsby 's perceived identity, Gatsby 's real identity, and the relation between the two. Gatsby is a mysterious man.
Readers see this side of Tom through him showing off every inch of his house to Nick, cheating on his wife with a mistress, physically abusing his mistress, and being obsessed with the Aryan superior race. Tom’s preconceived notion that he is of higher rank due to his family’s wealth shaped his brute force of nature and lack of a moral compass. While Tom embodies the image of humanity being corrupted by money and power, Gatsby represents that humanity is able to remain humane in the face of
It sets people apart and makes them different (Slater 55). Racism is eminent in The Great Gatsby, separating blacks from whites and making it clear that black people are not part of the American
As the novel progresses, Nick becomes friends with a man named Gatsby, who is viewed as a mysterious figure to outsiders. Nick finds out his second cousin once removed, Daisy was once in love with Gatsby. Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy was more focused on money and the social power, so when he went to war, she did not wait for him, and instead married Tom Buchanan who had lots of “old” money. This shows the moral decay of society because Daisy left a man she loved (Gatsby) because she could not wait for him and he did not have the money. The name Daisy itself shows moral decay because in the novel the color yellow symbolizes moral decay.
And Gatsby’s love for Daisy isn’t really love, it’s only another item for Gatsby collection. The story takes place in New York on Long Island, that has two areas which is East Egg & West Egg. And where it took place was around 1920 since it was a big time of selling alcohol illegally which the novel hinted when we got to know that Gatsby’s wealth is from all illegal marketing and boycotting of alcohol. And in chapter 1 they initiated that Nick would move in New York to learn about bond business and that he bought/hired a house on Long
In the time period that The Great Gatsby takes place; the values of a citizen of New York singly depended on the appearance of one another. The difference between West Egg and East Egg became more prominent as ‘old’ money and ‘new’ money. As a citizen of West Egg, Nick Carraway describes it as “the well less fashionable of the two” (14). This indicates that the location of where one lived was a key dictator of the appearance of a person living in the 1920’s. Gatsby was viewed as a less classy man and was classified as impure based on the fact that he lived in West Egg.
The Great Gatsby, widely known for its extravagant character, Jay Gatsby, and his unending romantic endeavor, does not revolve around the man inscribed in the title, but rather around Nick Carraway, the narrator. As every well-rounded protagonist should, Nick Carraway takes readers through his journey of development and discovery. As the storyline unfolds and Gatsby remains the same, chasing the past, Nick evolves, forming new ideas and opinions. After parting ways in 1917, Gatsby becomes determined to rekindle his romance with Daisy. Throughout the book, Gatsby’s decisions are influenced by his desire to relive his past with Daisy.
The first glimpse of Gatsby is introduced in the first chapter while Nick is “exempting him from his reaction” of a “uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever” already placing Gatsby in a position of moral ambiguity (Fitzgerald 2). When Gatsby’s full character is brought into the novel he is said to have “‘killed a man’” and been “‘a German spy during the war’” to show other supporting characters ambiguity toward the rumors surrounding his luxurious parties (Fitzgerald 44). Thus, already
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells a story defined by class. Nick, the narrator, gives us insight into three disparate groups of people: the East Egg crowd, represented by Tom and Daisy Buchanan, who were born into wealth; the West Egg crowd, represented by Jay Gatsby, who “pulled himself up by his bootstraps,” so to speak; and the people in the Valley of Ashes, represented by Myrtle Wilson, who have only an illusion of superiority. Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby pursue relationships with the Buchanans in order to feel as though they are of their class. Myrtle uses Tom to support her feelings of superiority, while Gatsby uses Daisy to forget what he has learned about wealth since they first met. Both want to the impossible: to have
Jay Gatsby is the most impacted people in this novel. Gatsby tells Nick about his past and who he really is, Daisy reunites with Gatsby is by far a very intense moment in the novel. These events impacted Gatsby and changed him as a person. Gatsby tells Nick about his past, he did told Nick that he changed his name and how he did not grow up wealthy; he was born on a Dakota farm and his family was poor. Dan Cody became his mentor and best friend.