Theme Of Identity In The Great Gatsby

Sometimes in many books and stories, characters use their motivation to fulfill a goal they have set. These said characters can be driven by love, money, greed, or revenge. Greed and money can take a toll over someone's life very greatly and affect their mindset. In The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, one of the main protagonists, Petruchio, is driven by his greed to find a wife and money that comes along with her. Petruchio's intentions for his marriage are very great and demanding.

Gatsby believes that wealth is the only way that he will “gain respect” (47) from Daisy so he acquires money by whatever means possible. The need to become wealthy for Daisy, drove Gatsby to the point of getting involved in “illegal activities (123) in order to become rich for Daisy. On the other hand, Daisy Buchanan determines who she will marry by how much money a person has. When Daisy was young, she has a relationship with Gatsby, but breaks it off because he does not “have enough money” (112). She then decides to settle on Tom, who is “abusive” (23) which Daisy tolerates due to the fact that Tom is extremely wealthy.

At the beginning of the novel Jay Gatsby’s wealth and identity are a great conundrum. Since Gatsby’s identity and history were a mystery, many speculated his involvement in World War I as a spy or assassin. Other hypothesized Gatsby was a man of oxford who inherited all of his wealth from inheritance. As Nick Carraway meets Gatsby for the first time, the readers receive the first true glimpse of Gatsby’s character. At first, Jay Gatsby presents himself during one of his parties when Nick was searching for him.

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.

The narrator of the novel is Nick Carraway, a former soldier whom is now selling bonds in New York. This novel became significant because it has given a deeper outlook into human nature and what one will do to reach their American Dream. In this novel, James Gatz’s goal, aka Jay Gatsby, is to become rich, make something of himself and marry Daisy in order to improve his social status. He does end up becoming very rich, but not without compromising his morals. Gatsby’s

There are many interpretations when it comes to the word rich. One could be rich in intellect or possibly rich in loving others. Authors often use these different definitions to make a reader think more when reading a story. When reading the title of the story, "The Rich Brother,” many readers will first assume that Pete is the rich brother because of his monetary wealth; conversely, a deeper analyzation of the story reveals that Donald is the rich brother because of the author’s non-stereotypical interpretation of the word “rich.” In the first paragraph, the author tells the reader of Pete’s monetary wealth when it says he “worked hard and made a lot of money.”

Firstly, Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy led to his successes that eventually led to failures of money. Gatsby understands winning over Daisy he must impress her with money. Therefore, he starts illegal affairs (bootlegging) to become rich. Gatsby wanted to become rich enough so Daisy can love him and want to be with him. This quote for example shows that, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by a standard-it was a factual imitation of some hotel de ville in Normandy with a tower on one side spanking new under a thin beard of raw in, and a marble swimming pool, and more than…”(pg.11).

He had goals and ambition to escape the life he was born into and become something great. He eventually became very wealthy and felt at home with who he was. Changez was considered rich in Pakistan, but could not afford Prenston. He felt like since his classmates thought he was rich like them, he fit in more

I believe that Fitzgerald’s parallel to Gatsby and Zelda’s parallel to Daisy says something important about their relationship. If we go off of what happened in the book, Fitzgerald was, at one time, enamoured with Zelda, and became wealthy to win her over. It worked, and the two of them got married. However, Fitzgerald soon realized that it was not him Zelda loved, but his wealth and success. This must have devastated Fitzgerald, as Gatsby’s life ended because of Daisy.

Elegant and lively soirées are ubiquitous, and people don’t have a care in the world… or so it seems. The era of excitement is littered with secrets. Every member of high society seems to be hiding something. Self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby uses this to his advantage -- he toys with the ideas of hiding and concealing to craft the persona he desires. Fitzgerald uses the motif of concealing to show how Gatsby hides his true identity from himself and others in an attempt to develop a better self-image of wealth and sophistication.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is written as a mockery of American ideals, and emphasizes materialism, sexual immorality, and selfishness. Though it appears at first glance to be a love story about Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby is actually a satirical take on American culture, especially in the 1920s. In the 1920s, known as the “Roaring Twenties”, America’s economy was booming, jazz was immensely popular, and alcohol had been banned. Organized crime ran rampant, and Americans seemed to lose their moral values.

The American Dream is originally about the discovery of success, but by the 1920´s, this dream took a different path; a path where people fought for the desire of wealth by any means in a battle between what was considered legal vs. moral. This mentality was product of capitalism, which introduces the mentality that money would bring happiness and success. This is why F. Scott Fitzgerald creates each setting of The Great Gatsby with a purpose, whether it was to illustrate how the roaring twenties changed the American society, or to symbolize how each setting represent the mentality of each character from the novel. The Great Gatsby tells the story of Jay Gatsby and his life into the world of the social elite as he works to gain Daisy's love. Fitzgerald focuses on how money and wealth can create a change in people, and throughout the novel, the setting represents part of this message, each location representing a different social class and a different perspective of life among the ones living in it.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, tackles social and ethical problems that are found in his own time. Fitzgerald was born in Minnesota and as he became a writer, he moved to “the racy, adventurous” (Fitzgerald 56) New York City in 1919. In the film, director Baz Luhrmann accurately portrays the differences between East and West using colors and the positioning of the camera to show Fitzgerald's position. Fitzgerald's goal was to portray the backgrounds of his characters into a never ending chain of cause and effect, from where they once lived to their present situation and how that affects their personality.

The American dream is an opportunity to start a new life for oneself and others. American Dream is important for our American culture today because for one to dream and succeed is a proud moment. In our society today an American dream is a literary trope due to its a repeated allegory with recurring images or figure of speech. For example a feature that makes the American dream a literary trope is by symbolism, such as in the video “ American Oxygen” of flags, liberty, soldiers,etc, idealing the greatness of America and different types of the American dream. Following in the article by John Steinbeck stating “ No one can define it or point to anyone person who lives it, but it is very real nevertheless,perhaps more real than that equally remote dream…”, illustrating The American dream is free for all as long as we work for it but some might consider The American dream as a disillusion.

Romagnolo fixes her ideas of a false dichotomy by acknowledging the complexity and interconnectivity within two main types in her 2011 paper Initiating Dialogue: Narrative Beginnings in Multicultural Narratives. In it she states, “Although several critics have established the importance of beginnings, they have yet to excavate the links between the ways narratives begin (formal beginnings) and the ways they address the concept of beginning (conceptual beginnings)” (Romagnolo, 183). It seems that since her 2003 paper, she has recognized the spectrum in which narrative beginnings operate, not just falling in one of two places, but sometimes belonging to both, neither, or an undefined category. If more critics were to acknowledge this, I think