ipl-logo

Great Gatsby Characters

1343 Words6 Pages

After World War I, America seemed to provide unlimited opportunities for anyone willing to work hard—an American Dream. For many people the idea of accomplishing their American dream corrupted them, as they acquired wealth it changed them and made them a completely different person. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, we learn about a few character that appear to take advantage of the freedom of the 1920s, their lives reflect the hollowness that results when wealth and pleasure become ends in themselves. The three characters in this novel — George Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan—show that chasing the American dream can have a very high cost in the end, and only end in misery.
Nick first meets George Wilson while traveling with …show more content…

Throughout the novel he is never content with what he has. He only wants one thing, Daisy’s love. Jay and Daisy had a past relationship that is broken by his deployment into WWII. When Jay comes back he finds out that Daisy moves on to a man named Tom because of his immense wealth (at the time Nick was not wealthy). This crushes Jay and drives him to become everything that Daisy would ever want, so he goes on to make millions of dollars and purchase a huge mansion in West Egg. He purposely made his mansion be across from Daisy’s home, "…Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78), because he wants to be as close to Daisy as he can without him being on top of her. From his house he is able to see/reach the green light (which represents his dreams of being with Daisy) and gaze upon Daisy’s …show more content…

He is ultimately unable to persuade her and goes through a visible depression. This entices him to take the blame for the car accident that kills Myrtle, "Yes," he said after a moment, "but of course I 'll say I was…Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock – it must have killed her instantly” (143), he does this because he is a hopeless romantic and wants to take care of Daisy even if she did reject him. Unfortunately this act of kindness later leads to his death because George finds out who the owner of the yellow car is (Gatsby, the car that hit Myrtle) and decides to take matters into his own hands. Later on that afternoon George ventures towards Jay’s house and shoots him and himself. This assassination brings an end to Gatsby’s American dream, which is to live with the love of his life happily ever

Show More
Related

  • The Great Gatsby American Dream

    660 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Decline Essay

    460 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is why in the 1920’s, the quest for the American dream for hope and prosperity started to decline. The American dream was declining and was demonstrated by the way the characters acted. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby” to show that people are corrupted and using immoral means to gain happiness. This book demonstrates that to the best degree possible, using Gatsby and Daisy as examples of the corrupted side of society and Nick as the honest side.

    Read More

  • Why Does Daisy Deserve The Great Gatsby

    365 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby uses the last five years of his life trying to achieve his one goal of obtaining Daisy as his wife and spending the rest of his life with her, but what happens to him instead is unexpected and undeserved. Jay Gatsby got shot and killed by George Wilson. Gatsby did not sleep with Myrtle, he is an honorable man and would not sleep with another man’s wife. Gatsby also did not kill Myrtle, if he did he would have stopped the car and not just kept driving. Daisy did not talk to Gatsby ever again after the accident.

    Read More

  • Nature Of Man In The Great Gatsby

    985 Words  | 4 Pages

    Later on in the novel the violence escalates, “The death car, as the newspapers called it, never stopped...” (Fitzgerald 137). This quote is referring to Myrtle getting hit by a car. This incident causes a reaction from her husband, George Wilson. From his reaction we get to see a glimpse into the nature of man.

    Read More

  • What Is Daisy's Obsession In The Great Gatsby

    952 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, what Jay Gatsby feels for Daisy Buchanan is obsession. Gatsby revolves and rearranges his entire life in order to gain her affections. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy resulted in him buying a mansion across the lake from her, throwing huge parties, and spending years of his life trying to become rich. Gatsby bought mansion intentionally across the lake from Daisy just to be closer to her.

    Read More

  • Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby

    951 Words  | 4 Pages

    Francis Scott Fitzgerald once stated, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart and all they can do is stare blankly.” Throughout his famous work, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrayed the American Dream. Contrary to the ideology of the “Roaring Twenties” society, he described the American Dream as a delusion. People of the era focused on materialism in order to boost their wealth and status and forgot the importance of their relationships. Several characters within the novel sought to gain a higher status in society.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby

    884 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 1920’s was a very interesting time in United States history. After all World War I had ended and many Americans did not realize that the Great Depression was in the near future, so the 1920’s fell between these two dramatic events. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby teaches many morals, but none more important than the duality of the 1920’s. Duality is evident in Gatsby's dreams, his death, his lover Daisy, his wealth, and his parties, which all reflect the duality of the 1920’s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald makes the concept of achieving the American dream seem improbable.

    Read More

  • The Facade Of The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    1034 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Facade of the American Dream The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a strong naturalism argument about the rigid class system in society and the disillusionment of the American Dream.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Disillusionment Analysis

    637 Words  | 3 Pages

    When he buys the home the man who had been living there before him had just died. This is foreshadowing of his dream not being able to work out. Gatsby throws extravagant parties every night. The only reason he does all this is because he is hoping daisy will come one night. In the end of the novel Gatsby wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of The Great Gatsby

    1218 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.

    Read More

  • Immigration In The Great Gatsby

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Dream is a vision held by the working class of America: a dream in which one can achieve all that he desires through hard work and perseverance. The reader sees Gatsby as a self-made man: a man with everything you could possible want in life, a man who has achieved the American Dream to its fullest, and yet, this image is marred by his unhappiness. A barrier between the inherently wealthy and ‘new money’ blocks his ability to win back the girl he loves, placed there by by the embodiment of the upper class in America - Tom Buchanan. Tom never saw Gatsby as his equal because Gatsby was not born with money, calling him a “Mr. Nobody from Nowhere” (130). The working class sees this statement as an example of why the American Dream is not worth the effort.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

    1261 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Great Gatsby presents its characters as having living the American Dream. However, it is only a belief; the behaviors they have and decisions they take only leave them with a false perception of life and lifestyle. The Great Gatsby relates to the corruption of the American Dream for those materialistic people who were after money. Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life.

    Read More

  • Examples Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1726 Words  | 7 Pages

    Extended Essay: American dream in the USA of the 1920’s, as depicted by “The Great Gatsby” by F. S. Fitzgerald Introduction The modern American literature is a topic as broad as it can be; there is, however, one novel which often appears as the one called “the greatest American novel of all times”. The novel in question is “The great Gatsby”, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and published in April of 1925. [1] There are a number of reasons for why it is deemed so special, with its’ current position in modern pop culture and status of a classic, compulsory for every reader. One of the major causes is the layered meaning, which leaves whole lot of room for interpretation.

    Read More

  • The Tragic Hero In The Great Gatsby

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    His disregard for reality is how he formulates his dream to rewrite the past and reunite with Daisy, according to his belief that sufficient wealth can allow him to control his fate. He establishes an immense fortune to impress Daisy, who can only be won over with evidence of material success. As Gatsby attempts to make his ideal a reality, things do not run as smoothly as he plans because Daisy can never live up to his dream. When Nick is reflecting on Gatsby's idea of Daisy he notes, "He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you'" (105). Gatsby’s ideal life is not a realistic expectation because Daisy is already married and has a family to take care of.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

    1133 Words  | 5 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .

    Read More

More about Great Gatsby Characters

Open Document