In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the past comes up quite a bit for a few of the characters and Fitzgerald shows how the past affects each of the characters. Each character in the book has their own unique characteristics that create who they are. In this book it is explained what happened in Gatsby’s past and how he was able to become the successful person that he now. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald shows us how Gatsby keeps looking back at his past, especially when Daisy is involved she is everything to him and the biggest reason that he wants what he had in the past to come back. Successful futures cannot be justified by the unethical actions of the past.
Gatsby has a great work ethic, as mentioned in the novel. But Gatsby’s work ethic wasn’t used in the right way to be successful. Gatsby gained his wealth, by selling illegal alcohol over the counter in drug stores. Also known as a bootlegger. Tom calls Gatsby out on his illegal fair of business, to show Daisy that Gatsby is worthless and is not from old money.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the nineteen twenties prosperous period as well as the dark secrets of the United States history. James Gatsby is a young man who is raised in poverty to wealth and power. His rise to wealth is the ipodomy of the American dream even though he used illegal means of making money. Gatsby sold illegal liquor through his pharmacy during the prohibition. The Great Gatsby also shows the lack of police enforcement of the new laws from the twenty first amendment.
The first source I found was The Great Gatsby with one character specifically named Gatsby who was fighting for the American Dream. Although Gatsby’s life didn’t end the way he hoped, he did live his American Dream. His American Dream was to be with the women he loved while showing off his riches to get her. Which he did do, he lived in a mansion and after five long years was able to grab her attention. In addition to doing the impossible he started his life as the son of poor farmers and ended as a successful and rich man.
She is also the reason he throws so many parties and bought a house across from her. Everything Gatsby does is driven by Daisy. Unfortunately, this results in his demise. Once he meets up with her again, he gets carried away from there, wanting her all to himself. At the Hotel in New York, Gatsby stands up to Tom and tries to convince him Daisy never loved him, and he so desperately wants to hear it.
In the Great Gatsby, the book is mostly about money and love. It’s about how love and money can make you do foolish acts. Gatsby’s American Dream is to repeat the past and reunite back with Daisy. He often uses his parties and wealth to impress others. So, how does love and money act as a motivator in the book?
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel, it talks about bootlegging and the mystery of how Gatsby became rich. Many of the examples came from the people that were at Gatsby’s parties, like in the portion, where Tom states that “Who is this Gatsby anyhow?... Some big bootlegger?” (Fitzgerald 107). There was also the reveal near the end of the book about how Gatsby became rich, also said by Tom, where he says “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133).
Gatsby set off the impression of being a nice and kind guy to the general public but behind the closed doors he could be ruthless in order to get what he wanted. Gatsby is a very persistent man and when he sets his mind to something he will go after it regardless of the consequences. He believed that money was the solution to all his problems, and
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main protagonist has set his own path to the American dream, and will stop at nothing to succeed it. As a young child, Jay Gatsby, or his birth name, James Gatz, was born into a poverty-stricken environment and had little to look forward to in his future. His true roots trace back to a poor family living in rural North Dakota on a farm. Gatsby happened to be one that endured the struggles of poverty; this significantly affected him, but in a different way. Most people use their living situations as a foundation for strong motivation to live a better life; Gatsby preferred to separate himself from those hardships in-order-to become the person he wanted to be in a life he
Gatsby’s Failure of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Dreams are seen as a positive way to keep people going forward through their lives. However, dreams can blind people and not let them to see the truth. The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the idea of The American Dream of not being able to be achieved. Gatsby is one of the characters in the novel that tries to achieve The American Dream. The pursuit of the American Dream brings negative results to Gatsby because he becomes greedy, unrealistic, and dishonest, which shows that chasing dreams can destroy one’s life.