The Great Gatsby Faults

How did Gatsby’s dreams lead to his success? How have those dreams created his faults?
His dream was to be able to meet Daisy Buchanan again, and to do so, he would have to become wealthy just like her. He was able to acquire massive amounts of money, and he paraded around as a rich man to please Daisy. This is why many people refer to Gatsby as, “an Oxford man” (128) and why he consistently uses the phrase ‘old sport’ as a symbol of wealth to fit in with the rich crowd. However, in the struggle for wealth, it caused Gatsby to try reliving the past to get back to where he was with Daisy. When they finally met again in chapter 5, Gatsby was, “running down like an over-wound clock" which symbolizes Gatsby’s desire to ‘stop’ time and his inability to do so. His dream eventually led him to becoming blinded by obsession for Daisy, and his need for everything to be perfect, demanding so much to the point of telling Daisy to say she never loved Tom. His

In Nick’s case, his, “family has been prominent… people in this Middle Western City for three generations”(3), meaning he was old money. His lifestyle was simple, and he grew up with a sense of humility and the ability to never judge others. However, people in the East were not like him at all- quite the opposite in fact. They were self centered, and all had a superiority complex, which is completely contrary to Nick’s personality. The difference in upbringings makes Nick ill-equipped to be able to fully integrate, just like Gatsby. Though Gatsby was ‘new money’, his means of obtaining his wealth (i.e. various bootlegging businesses) were his major downfall, and caused rifts in his unstable relationship with Tom. Since his means of acquiring money were corrupt, it led to him constantly hiding his true identity and never being