Jay Gatsby is a dead legend who not many people met but everybody heard about. He is an astonishing two-sided young man in a battle to win Daisy Buchanan over; however, he is fatally killed in his pool because of this girl. He is an alpha male who is extremely successful in all aspects of life except his escaping love of Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is this mysterious awarded man who is highly praised by all people. Jay Gatsby, is a modest optimistic man liked by all people, but he truly isn’t known by anyone; therefore, no one truly knows the real Jay Gatsby because he truly is a dishonest criminal who only lives for one person, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s progression as a character starts very slowly. Gatsby comes from North Dakota, in the midwest, …show more content…
Dan Cody was supposed to give his inheritance to Jay, but the deal didn’t end up falling through. Jay still wanted people to believe that his wealth did come from his inheritance because that would make him seem like a more admirable person. However, Gatsby’s wealth came from organized crime. Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, tells Daisy: “Gatsby’s riches come from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities.” (Fitzgerald 120). The other illegal activities are not specified, but Gatsby did profit greatly from selling liquor illegally. Later on, Jay feels he owes Daisy the decency to tell her the real story, he doesn’t want Tom’s accusation about him to ruin his persona for Daisy. He explains to Daisy that what he did was wrong, but he did it for a reason. The reason was to get Daisy back. This shows he didn’t act with malice.
Daisy kills Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan’s mistress while driving through the Valley of Ashes. Jay tells Nick he intends to take the blame for Daisy because he would do anything for her. Eventually, Jay is killed by Myrtle’s husband. This displays that he was an admirable person because he was willing to sacrifice his own life for the one he loved. This is another reason why he should be portrayed as “The Great Gatsby.” The two-sided legend dies in his own love story, full of unfaithful relationships, which is truly sad because this never happens to
Rumors abound regarding Gatsby, and many seem to revolve around his involvement in organized crime. Additionally, Jay is unable to defend himself when Tom launches a verbal assault on his character: “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong” (Fitzgerald __). Gatsby and Meyer Wolfshiem had connived a way to sell illegal liquor over the counter, and Mr. Buchanon discovered this illicit business. Gatsby’s failure to make money legally nullifies his seemingly extensive
“I don’t mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much of the same stratum as her.” (159) Gatsby so badly wants to have his dream life with Daisy that he lies about his wealth so that she will stay with him. Soon we see that Gatsby is a bootlegger and does some not so good things to get his wealth. He want to live his American Dream so badly, that he will commit crimes to get
In chapter four of The Great Gatsby, Nick and Gatsby drive to New York City. During the ride, Gatsby enlightens Nick of his past, and how he became the man he is. “I'll tell you God’s truth… I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West-all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years.
I’ve been several things,’ he corrected himself. ‘I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I’m not in either one now’" (Fitzgerald 90). The quote says that Gatsby got his money through illegal means.
Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," is a complex and enigmatic character. He is a rich man who throws amazing parties in an effort to win back his old love, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby's past is filled with mystery, and the novel gradually reveals the details of his life before he became a rich man. Gatsby was born James Gatz and grew up in North Dakota. He fell in love with Daisy while he was a soldier staying near her home in Louisville, Kentucky.
Gatsby grew up with poor parents who were farmers in North Dakota. Gatsbys “parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (Fitzgerald 98). After Gatsby left North Dakota, he continuously pushes himself to become a better man, and after finding Dan Cody, he becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming rich. As a result of his great perseverance, he ends up finding his wealth from bootlegging liquor and fake stocks. Although he found wealth by corrupt means, Gatsby's constant commitment to becoming rich shows how he is a great man with great ambition.
Jay Gatsby is a character who has new money, and Tom Buchanan falls into the class of having old money. Jay Gatsby uses illegal means such as bootlegging, gambling and securities fraud. Gatsby’s activities get revealed in an argument with Daisy and Tom Buchanan. Tom states, “He [Gatsby] and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drugstores here and in Chicago sold grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 78). Gatsby tries to use his illegal alcohol production to gain wealth, trying to establish himself as better than Tom Buchanan.
The 1920’s was an era filled with new changes and inventions, cultural developments and numerous political conflicts. In January of 1920, the 18th amendment placed a ban on the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol. Organized crime was already present, but the Prohibition Era drastically increased its activity. The closure of all alcohol related companies was the main reason behind increased unemployment ; diligent Americans suddenly were drinking a banned substance. During these tough times, families turned to crime in order to make fast money.
When he was a young Gatz, he helped Dan Cody, who put his wealth on full display with a big yacht that Gatz admired. To Gatsby, Dan Cody’s possessions “represented all the beauty and glamour in the world” (77). As a result, he had a dream of becoming as wealthy as possible. He changed his name to Jay Gatsby, to distance himself from his past, and began to bootleg alcohol, something that was illegal during the time of Prohibition in the 1920s. This was one of the societal obstacles that he needed to overcome in order to make the money he desired.
He was a no body who made something of himself. Gatsby came from a poor family from North Dakota. At the age of 17, James Gatz, chose to change his life around. He changed his name to Jay Gatsby when he “witnessed the beginning of his career,” when the opportunity came up to be with Dan Cody on his yacht (Fitzgerald 104). This, is where and when Gatsby’s self-reinvention process began.
Whenever asked the question on how Gatsby maked his money, he would always answer that he built up a few drugstores and when his parents died he inherited money. Gatsby was never telling the truth about this; and Tom eventually figured this out. Gatsby wanted to appear as old money to impress Daisy which is why he lied. However, the reason why Gatsby never told the truth about how he made his money was because he was making his money illegally. In chapter seven, Tom accuses Gatsby of being a bootlegger, “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (133).
Gatsby obtains his wealth through illegal alcohol business, and this character of Gatsby adds onto many other reasons why Gatsby is never going to be like those old money people of East Egg. Gatsby’s action of bootlegging shows the audience that his strong desire for the American Dream caused him to go against morality and become corrupt. Going against morality proved to be costly for Gatsby as he was still unsuccessful in achieving his main mission: Daisy. The pursuit of the American Dream once again shows its negative consequences. One who pursues wealth will become corrupt and go in the wrong
The reader learns later on in the book that this is not true and it is implied that he earns his money from bootlegging alcohol. Gatsby lies about his income source not only because it is illegal, but also because he wants Daisy to think that he has a stable and steady income. This eventually backfires when
During his youth as a poor farmer, “The arrangement lasted five years... Dan Cody inhospitably died…” (6.97) Gatsby worked on a boat for a couple of years for Dan Cody, a wealthy copper mogul. When Cody died, he left Gatsby $25,000, but Cody’s mistress prevented him from claiming his inheritance. Gatsby then dedicated himself to becoming a wealthy and successful and successful man. Tom, in a state of panic over slowly losing Daisy to Gatsby, tells Gatsby, “I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were...
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the themes of love, lust and obsession, through the character of Jay Gatsby, who confuses lust and obsession with love. The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as arrogant and tasteless. Gatsby 's love interest, Daisy Buchanan, was a subdued socialite who was married to the dim witted Tom Buchanan. She is the perfect example of how women of her level of society were supposed to act in her day. The circumstances surrounding Gatsby and Daisy 's relationship kept them eternally apart.