Free Essays on The Great Gatsby

The Significance of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg in The Great Gatsby Henry David Thoreau once said, â€Å"Men have become the tools of their tools.† This statement very closely follows the underlying meaning of the Great Gatsby. What Mr. Thoreau is saying in his statement is that men no longer have stability over what they used to control. That idea, is indirectly portrayed throughout the Great Gatsby through the symbolic character of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. In this paper, I will be analyzing the purpose behind the character of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg and the symbolism behind him. Fitzgerald often uses the word careless in describing the characters and events in the Great Gatsby. There seems to be no fear of consequence or judgment on the part of the characters. This setting begs the question of who is doing the judgment? That is, in part, what the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are intended to do. The eyes are always mentioned whenever Nick is there. They look over the situation, objectively, but offer a kind of judgment on the characters and their actions. They are placed near Wilson's because that is where some of the most selfish acts take place: Myrtle's death, Tom's affair. All of these crimes go unpunished. So the eyes look on and remind the characters of the guilt that they forget to have for what they have done. The beginning of chapter two dives directly into the symbolism of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald describes him as having â€Å"blue and gigantic† eyes, but these features have no face. The symbolism of the color blue in this stanza interprets to mean deeply and profoundly religious. The use of the color blue also gives Dr. Eckleburg the powerful characteristics of a God figure. Dr. Eckleburg having no face and a â€Å"nonexistent nose† relates to the theme of the degeneration of American. Fitzgerald is saying that America is so far lost that even â€Å"God† ... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby portrays 1920’s life. The novel’s author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, describes the lives of the upper-class segment of society, a group of which Fitzgerald possesses first-hand knowledge. Although they lead glamorous and seemingly carefree lifestyles, the characters in the novel possess many glaring moral deficiencies and personal insecurities. They endlessly seek personal advancement and overall happiness by any means necessary, yet in the end, they fall short of true happiness. Throughout the novel, moral decadence, frequent exploitation, and the unobtainable American Dream represent significant themes in understanding various interpretations of The Great Gatsby’s storyline. Throughout the novel, moral decadence is displayed by many members of the wealthy, ruthless upper-class society. For example, blatant adultery takes place throughout the novel. Tom Buchannan and Myrtle Wilson, both of whom have marriages with other people, arrange a meeting together in New York (Fitzgerald 30-31). Both Tom and Myrtle treat their spouses as their inferiors, and neither really respects his or her marriage at all. According to Kate Maurer, Tom openly participates in the affair with Myrtle. His wife Daisy has come to accept it, however (78). Tom clearly does not respect or acknowledge his marriage to Daisy. Later in the novel, Daisy Buchannan admits to Tom that she no longer loves him, and that she now loves Gatsby. Daisy shows a great lack of moral character when she quickly involves herself in an affair with Gatsby. Gatsby’s willingness to go after another man’s wife shows a disregard for the marriage on his part. Marriage stands as one of the oldest, most widely-recognized institutions of society, symbolizing a life-long bond of devotion. When one purposely intrudes on or withdraws from this bond, he or she shows a great deal of disregard, not only for his or her partner, but also for the laws of society and re... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote what was considered to be his greatest work. The Great Gatsby is considered to be the â€Å"great American novel† by many because the main character of the story is said to â€Å"embody the innocence of the American dream.† (Shute 3.) The novel ultimately manifests the failure of this American dream, as Gatsby is unsuccessful and his ultimate goal of gaining love becomes unattainable. â€Å"America’s origins are based in the political ideals of freedom and democracy, but Fitzgerald demonstrates how this ideal has failed because it is incompatible with social reality.† (Donaldson) In a way, it seems that American idealism has been trumped by social discrimination. The novel takes place throughout the twenties, when society experienced a corruption of values and a decline in spirituality. Critics say that Fitzgerald tells of this corruption in many of his novels, The Great Gatsby included. In order to show this corru ption, he uses many symbols to support his cause. In the case of Gatsby, he uses light as a symbol to show our society’s â€Å"movement into darkness.† (Sutton 3) Most critics and reviews of the novel agree that the work shows corruption of some sort, whether it be social, moral or ethical. Some even go as far as to say that it shows society’s â€Å"failure of faith in God.† Often in the novel, it seems the socially elite characters often forget about their morals in order to get ahead in life. Fitzgerald does a good job, however, in showing that while forgetting these things leads to material possessions; it more often than not leads to unhappiness and corruption. The Great Gatsby has been an enduring work because the similarity of the characters can easily be compared to the socially elite of today and how things have changed since the 19th century. In order to examine the similarities between the corruption of the Roaring Twenties and the corruption of today, the plot of t... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby To Kill A Mockingbird In the novel â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† each of the main characters changed quite a bit. Through the experiences each character went through and the natural maturing that occurred in each of them, the characters were altered from the way they were at beginning of the book. The children, Scout and Jem, were the two most dramatically changed characters. However, Scout showed much more change than Jem did because of his mysterious hidden attitude. Scout matured from a helpless and naà ¯ve child into a much more experienced and grown-up young lady. As a growing young girl, Scout was learning and experiencing things just like any other child would though growing up. She got older and was able to understand things a lot better as well as being able to apply lessons she had learned in her everyday life. She began to act slightly more grown up in situations such as Aunt Alexandria’s dinner party. Scout forgot how much she despised her Aunt and how much she disliked dresses and joined the group of women in their conversations. Despite how she didn’t want to â€Å"act more like a lady†, she played along with her Aunt’s â€Å"campaign to teach me (Scout) to be a lady† made an exception to please her Aunt and to create some peace between them. Upon hearing the news of Tom’s death she concludes â€Å"if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.† This shows how Scout was beginning to act more ladylike for her Aunt. Another way Scout changed a lot was in the way she treated Boo Radley. At the beginning of the book Jem, Dill, and herself enjoyed playing â€Å"Boo Radley† as a game and tormenting him by trying to have a chance to see him or prove their bravery by touching the house. As time went on, Scout’s fears and apprehensions regarding the Radley place slowly disappeared. She mentions how â€Å"the Radley Place had ceased to terrify me (her)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As she matures and is more able to take care of herself, sh... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Significance of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg in The Great Gatsby Henry David Thoreau once said, â€Å"Men have become the tools of their tools.† This statement very closely follows the underlying meaning of the Great Gatsby. What Mr. Thoreau is saying in his statement is that men no longer have stability over what they used to control. That idea, is indirectly portrayed throughout the Great Gatsby through the symbolic character of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. In this paper, I will be analyzing the purpose behind the character of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg and the symbolism behind him. Fitzgerald often uses the word careless in describing the characters and events in the Great Gatsby. There seems to be no fear of consequence or judgment on the part of the characters. This setting begs the question of who is doing the judgment? That is, in part, what the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are intended to do. The eyes are always mentioned whenever Nick is there. They look over the situation, objectively, but offer a kind of judgment on the characters and their actions. They are placed near Wilson's because that is where some of the most selfish acts take place: Myrtle's death, Tom's affair. All of these crimes go unpunished. So the eyes look on and remind the characters of the guilt that they forget to have for what they have done. The beginning of chapter two dives directly into the symbolism of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald describes him as having â€Å"blue and gigantic† eyes, but these features have no face. The symbolism of the color blue in this stanza interprets to mean deeply and profoundly religious. The use of the color blue also gives Dr. Eckleburg the powerful characteristics of a God figure. Dr. Eckleburg having no face and a â€Å"nonexistent nose† relates to the theme of the degeneration of American. Fitzgerald is saying that America is so far lost that even â€Å"God† ... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby When posed with the question, â€Å"How does Fitzgerald convey the theme of the American Dream throughout The Great Gatsby?† one might find it difficult to respond to. The definition of the American Dream varies from one person to another. It is safe to say, however, that one of the stereotypical American Dreams is â€Å"a house surrounded by a white picket fence where Dick and Jane play with their dog, Spot.† Most people perceive this setting as the perfect life, because it appears to be flawless no problems and no worries. The upper class would be a part of this â€Å"perfect life† as well. A person in the upper class has wealth, intelligence, and is somewhat superior to the other social classes. That, in itself, seems like the perfect life, in addition to the American Dream. Yet are stereotypes, such as these, as accurate as they appear? Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of The Great Gatsby, seems to represent this American Dream. The reader becomes aware of his wealth and position in the upper class as the novel progresses. One illustration is when Daisy and Gatsby are first reunited. Klipspringer, Gatsby’s piano player, plays a song for Gatsby and Daisy because Gatsby told him to. This gives the reader a sense of Gatsby’s superiority. Another example that displays his wealth is the references to his extravagant wardrobe. Fitzgerald mentions Gatsby wearing a pink suit at one time in The Great Gatsby. Also, Gatsby hires someone to cut his neighbor’s grass, which was another allusion to his wealth. In addition to his upper class lifestyle, he regularly throws social gatherings in his home, which shows how many people he knows. His wealth and social life make his life complete. If someone lived a life similar to Gatsby’s, he or she would be filled with satisfaction. From the perspective of an outsider, it appears as though Gatsby has a life of perfection, yet he is still unsatisfied. His life is like a story wor... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby Characters in books can reveal the author feeling toward the world. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald suggested the moral decline of the period in America history through the interpersonal relationships among his characters. The book indicates the worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America's moral values had diminished. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby's monitory means could not afford his only true wish, therefore he cannot buy everything which is important to Daisy. (Fitzgerald, -page 42) What you wish for is not always what you want or not all that glitters is gold. The wild lavishness of Gatsby's parties and the shallowness and purposelessness of the lives of the guests all kills Gatsby on the inside. All Gatsby wants when he chooses to be rich is to get Daisy. Daisy, who is wealthy and beautiful, symbolizes a way of life which is remote from Gatsby's and therefore more attractive because it is out of reach so he changes himself. (Fitzgerald, -page 54) Myrtle and Gatsby both want to be part of the same elite crowd. They play a reflection of each other in the book by wanting the same thing but they have different methods of achieving it. Gatsby wants Daisy, and Myrtle just wants to be higher in society. Gatsby plays the god-like character in this book so his means are good but both him and Myrtle do bad things to get higher in a crowd that will never take them in. To make themselves appear better to the other crowd, they lose some of the moral fiber that was there to begin with. (Fitzgerald, -page 83) Loss of morals in the 1920' in America caused the American dream to vanish. The god-like character of the book was a good person but he did bad things like bootlegging and joining in organized crime. Affairs happened in the elite crowd between Tom and Myrtle. Dishonesty reared its ugly head when Daisy killed Myrtle by running her over then bla... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby Chapter One: The story starts off with a personal note by the narrator, Nick Carraway. Carraway came from a prominent family from the Midwest, graduated from Yale and fought in the Great War. After the war and a period of restlessness, he decided to go East to learn the bond business. At the book's beginning, Carraway has just arrived in New York, living in West Egg village. He was going to have dinner with Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy. Tom was an enormously wealthy man and a noted football player at Yale, and Daisy was Carraway's second cousin. Jordan mentions that, since Carraway lives in West Egg, he must know Gatsby. Another woman, Jordan Baker, is also there. She tells Nick that Tom is having an affair with some woman in New York. Tom discusses the book "The Rise of the Colored Empires," which claims that the colored races will submerge the white race eventually. Daisy talks to Carraway alone, and claims that she has become terribly cynical and sophisticated. After visiting with the Buchanans, Carraway goes home to West Egg, where he sees Gatsby come from his mansion alone, looking at the sea. He stretches out his arms toward the water, looking at a faraway green light. Chapter Two: Fitzgerald begins this second chapter with the description of a road running between West Egg and New York City. A large, decaying billboard showing two eyes (advertising an optometrist's practice) overlooks the desolate area. It is here, at a gas station, where Tom Buchanan introduces Nick Carraway to Myrtle Wilson, the woman with whom he is having an affair. Myrtle herself is married to George B. Wilson, an auto mechanic. Tom has Myrtle meet them in the city, where Tom buys her a dog. They go to visit Myrtle's sister and also visit her neighbors, Catherine McKee and her husband, who is an artist. They gossip about Gatsby, and Myrtle discusses her husband, claiming that she was crazy to marry him, and how she met Tom. Later, ... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920’s during the Jazz Age. Nick Carraway is a man in his late twenties residing on West Egg island in Long Island, New York living a â€Å"normal† life. That is, until he meets his mysterious neighbor, a wealthy man named Jay Gatsby. He is a man of mystery, living in a mansion that is constantly full of people, music, and fun. Nick’s â€Å"normal† life gets thrown topsy-turvy when he gets involved in the life of this extraordinary millionaire. Marred by jealousy, cheating, and lying, Nick begins to feel the essence of living a glamorous life in the ‘20’s. He showed this when he said, â€Å"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.† All along, I felt sorry for Nick being dragged into more and more tragedy, but I especially felt bad for him during one instance. His friend Daisy was married to Tom, but Tom was having an affair with Mrs. Wilson and Daisy had a thing for Gatsby. Daisy and Gatsby were driving home from town after an argument amongst the group of friends when they passed the Wilson’s gas station. Mrs. Wilson ran out to Gatsby’s car, because they were driving Tom’s car, and was hit. Mr. Wilson went positively crazy, and Nick felt torn by his mixed feelings towards his supposed friend Gatsby. â€Å"I disliked him so much by this time that I didn’t find it necessary to tell him he was wrong.† Gatsby’s insensitivity brought on by his lifestyle made Nick despise him. This is the part where I think Nick really started opening his eyes to how Gatsby really was. This book really displays how the life of an important person is, especially in that time period. At first, Nick is awed and drawn in by the glamour and prestige, but he eventually figures out for himself how rough it really was. Although this book was set back in the... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby Great? Or Not So Great? In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby we see the constant battle between morality and secularism, mainly through his use of symbolism. Two main symbols used throughout his work are the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg and the green light. One must sometimes wonder why people create dreams and images of false hope which almost never come true. But it’s no surprise why the people of the Valley of Ashes disillusion themselves in this gloomy town. The narrator, Nick, first introduces the Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg in the beginning of chapter two. At this point in the novel the eyes don’t seem to represent anything of importance to him. At first sight, all he sees are, â€Å"A pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose†. (pg 27) After Nick’s description of the billboard, he doesn’t discuss it any further, thus implying that he only saw it as an object and really didn’t put much though into it. However, in chapter seven, Nick has a different outlook on the eyes. He states that, â€Å"The eyes were regarding us with a peculiar intensity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg 131) For the first time, Nick feels like the eyes are overseeing everything that is happening . This can be due to the fact that he is witnessing Tom’s wife and mistress being at the same location, at the same time. This allows nick to realize the unmoral behavior surrounding him. The third and final time the eyes are seen in this novel is in chapter eight. This is the point in the novel when George mourns the loss of his wife Myrtle. While his neighbor, Michaelis tries to consol him,George turns to the billboard and says, â€Å"God sees everything†. (Pg167) George believed the eyes were the eyes of God, while Michaelis assured him that it was, â€Å"only an advertisement!† (Pg167) Obviously to Wilson, the eyes had a deeper meaning, while to Michaelis it meant nothing. During the 1920’s, society was breaking away... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby I. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, born in St. Paul, Minnesota, grew up in an upper-middle class family where he enjoyed the traditions of the upper classes, but not the financial ability to uphold those practices. Fitzgerald acquired his fame, almost overnight, with the publication of his first book, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. His extensive career began with the writing of stories for mass-circulation magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post. That same year, he married Zelda Sayre, who later became one his major influences on his writing, along with literature, Princeton, and alcohol. In the summer of 1924, Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, a novel about the American dream. This novel was written in Fitzgerald’s own time. The reader is able to see his insight and artistic integrity in the way that which the novel is composed. He brings forth the values that he embraced at least partially in his own life, such as materialism and the magic of wealth, wh ich are clearly placed in the characters of The Great Gatsby. The novel is almost a paradox of his own biography: a unique materialism in which men attempt to create happiness from material achievement. The novel received the most striking critical appraisal, just as predicted by Fitzgerald. This honorary event marked the climax of his fame, however, his reputation faded from then on. With the illness of his wife, he reflected his experiences in his further work, such as Tender Is the Night. Some other examples of his work include The Beautiful and Damned and The Love of the Last Tycoon. At the age of forty-four, Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack. Since his death, critics have come to see his work as a reflection of the American culture and of â€Å"The Twenties†, a noteworthy representation of his people that is saturated with meaning today. II. The story of Gatsby takes place in the 1920’s, a time that began with the closing of the bloodiest conflict the world... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby Color symbolism is really popular in novels written during the 1920's. One such example is Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. There is much color symbolism in this novel, but there are two main colors that stand out more than the others. The colors green and white influence the story greatly. Green shows many thoughts, ideas, attitudes, and choices that Gatsby has throughout the story. White represents the stereotypical faà §ade that every character is hiding behind. The green light is the vision of his goal: to have Daisy. In a world where Gatsby could essentially obtain anything with his money, Daisy presented a challenge to him, because even she could not be purchased. But when, at last, Gatsby believes that Daisy is his, he no longer idolizes her. Now that he realizes he has her, she is no longer desirable. We come to this presumption when Gatsby states, " Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy (the green light) had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." Therefore the green light has no more symbolic meaning to him, and neither does Daisy. I don't believe that in our world today that we have an object that universally symbolizes the same meaning as the green light did. The green light was physically close to him but he thought he could never actually have it, "it" meaning Daisy. Money could be viewed in the same sense. In our society money is everywhere, but for most of us it is difficult to acquire all that is wanted. It is like the saying, "So close but yet so far away." There is money everywhere we go, but it's hard to get it. We can't just rob a bank, we have to earn our own assets. And in the same context, Gatsby could not go kidnap Daisy, he had to woo her and win her love. The color green, as it is used in the... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby (chpt.5) The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel about the American Dream, and the different effects it has on people in the 1920’s. For Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in the novel, his dream is to find his true love, Daisy, through wealth and power. Through their appearance there remains an empty space that only love can seal. As dazzling and attractive Gatsby and Daisy may seem, beyond their clothes and wealth lies an unexplainable feeling of love and remembrance. In the passage selected, Gatsby and Daisy encounter a whole new meaning to clothes. Which consumes them into a time they have once lost. In this chapter the reunion between Gatsby and Daisy arouses uncomfortable emotions between them both. This is the first time we see them together. We can see how their characters start adjusting to an odd situation. There is a mutual anxiety between the two. When Daisy catches sight of Gatsby for the first time in years, her reactions are somewhat awkward. Her gestures are those of excitement, yet of fear. Daisy was surprised, as well as, excited to have been, once again, in the eyes of Gatsby. I believe she was afraid of what might come after this encounter. On the other hand, she seems delighted of what will occur between her and Gatsby. As Gatsby is near Daisy, his movements are jittery and uncontrollably incapable of calming his emotions. His character drastically changes from a captivating man with swift moves to a child suffering an anxiety attack. He knocks down a clock and luckily grasps it before it hitting the ground. As he puts the clock in place, he apologizes t! o Daisy. Once Nick leaves, they start to fall in love again. Gatsby begins to feel at ease with Daisy’s presence. He invites her, along with Nick up to his room. As he recollects himself from his emotions, he opens his closet towards Nick and Daisy. They seemed to be surprised over the quantity of clothes he had stacke... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the corruption of the American Dream and the downfall of those who attempt to attain its illusionary goals. As the novel shows, the 20th century is a moral wasteland and a corruption of the original idealistic American Dream of the past. This is done through Fitzgerald’s Fitzgerald's moral wasteland is shown physically in the "valley of ashes" scene of the novel. The imagistic style creates a depressing view of life in this 'dismal' and 'desolate' wasteland existing side-by-side with the white and unreal dream of Daisy and her world. Even the colors of this landscape have correlations to Daisy: the "yellow" of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's spectacles and the brick of the houses on the street is a color of decay, but also of riches like sunlight and gold. Also, the ashes in the valley form figures (to Nick) which disintegrate at the slightest puff of wind. Gatsby is incapable of recognizing the "ashes" of what Daisy represents and takes her emptiness for substance. As Nick tries to wrestle with the meanings behind the events he has witnessed the style becomes dense, intellectual, and almost deliberately difficult. Through this he sees the moral desolation of the Buchanans' world, but Gatsby cannot and tries to find in this world a dream worth holding on! to. As shown in Gatsby's parties, nothing is linked to reality; there is laughter without amusement, 'enthusiasm' between strangers, "friends" without friendship, and life without meaning. Gatsby's dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness (Daisy). Throughout the novel we see that Gatsby cannot see that the past is over and done with and he therefore can have no chance with Daisy. He is sure that he can capture his dream with wealth and influence. Nick attempts to show Gatsby the absurdity of his dream and tells him that he cannot relive the past, but Gatsby confidently replies, "Yes you can, old sport." The... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby Llamas – By Sam Llamas are the ancestors of great war beasts known as the Mastodons. Evolving to the peak of their existence they became great grazing mammals and conquered rough paddocks on mountainous hillsides around the world. Armed with their advanced spitting capabilities they defend their territory with an aggressive suppressed rage that makes them dangerously unpredictable. I suspect in the next millenium that evolution will take over and they will become super beasts and become the next rulers of the jungles in South America. Ancient Indian History suggests that in prehistoric times there lived several carnivorous giant llamas that were named the tyrannollamas. These giant cousins of the llamas were about 8 metres long and 10 metres high from foot to head. It was said that they could bend down and pick up large saber tooth tigers and swallow them with a single bite. Their distant cousins the Giant Camel Squad often came to town and took their sleeping bags resulting in large fights and cons equently the end of all the dinosaurs. After the great wars between the camels and llamas casualties became apparent. Great Aunty Maureen of the Tyrannollamas was lost and so was her son Lameface. Soon after, Mother Nature became very angry and struck them all dead instantly and the men in black came out of their black cars and memory flashed everyone at the time who was watching. Evidence was destroyed and all records lost. I however, found this information when I bought Will Smith. He currently resides in a cell in Mount Albert Prison where no one will ever find him to make another bad movie again.... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby Does Fitzgerald portray Gatsby as the one who is ‘Great’ or is Nick Carraway the true hero of the novel? Nick Carraway provides the eyes and ears with which Fitzgerald shows us a period ‘described as a corrupt, amoral and violent time, in which loneliness, frustration and lost spiritual values are typical.’ Within this bleakness Fitzgerald has chosen to write about Jay Gatsby, a man who symbolizes the American Dream, who has ‘an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I (Nick) have never found in any other person.’ Nick lives in this bleakness too but Fitzgerald brings him in closer to it, all the while showing us a hero of the time. Despite the flaws shown, I believe Fitzgerald still wants us to view Gatsby as a hero. Nick aspires to be a hero but he cannot due to the reality of his character and despite his admiration for the finer qualities in man, he lacks the fervor to obtain these himself. One critic claimed: â€Å" Without the gloss given to him the story of Gatsby is merely that of a bootlegger killed by a garage owner.† This is true. Gatsby is a bootlegger, a mysterious figure and newly rich. His fortune unlike that of the Buchanans, did not come from family, he wasn’t born into it. It came from criminal dealings, the full details of which are kept hidden from us, the readers. The first time Gatsby is met in person he has to excuse himself ‘almost at that moment’ due to the ‘phone call’ from Chicago. Meyer Wolfsheim ‘the man who fixed the Worlds Series back in 1919’ is the next clue to the life of Gatsby and the ‘friends’ he keeps. The novel is punctuated with ominous phone calls and vicious rumours such as â€Å" Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once,† and â€Å"he was aGerman spy during the war.† All of these lead the reader to believe Gatsby is involved in criminal a ctivities. The full details are always kept hidden however as Fitzgerald doesn’t wish u... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby Nick the Neutral Character In today society, many people like to â€Å"go with the flow†. Which mean, it does not matter if things were good or bad, right or wrong, they just follow and do them without any thinking. There are not too many people would like to not go with the flow or be a neutral person that does not take sides. However, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, one of the character name is Nick Carraways, he was the good and neutral narrator. In the novel, he analyzes all of the things with regard to accuracy of observation. In The Great Gatsby, when Mr. Gatsby told Nick he wanted to return the past over again with his lover- Daisy, Nick Carraways warned him to give it up, because it was impossible. Unfortunately, Mr. Gatsby did not believe it. Mr. Gatsby was close but his dream still had not come true because Daisy did not break up with Tom and go with him. It can be seen in the last chapter on the novel, when Gatsby was murdered, Daisy went to somewhere else with her husband, and did not go to Gatsby's funeral. â€Å"I called up Daisy half and hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.†(172) This proves Nick Carraways's was right but Mr. Gatsby didn’t listen to him. Nick Carraways is always there when there is an interesting situation or good conversation going on. When Nick went to Gatsby's party, he described the drunken lady telling everyone Gatsby killed a man before. â€Å"Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.†(48) Also, there is another lady said that Gatsby was a German spy. Once Nick got to know Gatsby, he knew all those rumors were false. Gatsby told Nick that was an Oxford man and showed him that fought in World War One. Nick was there with Tom when he visits Myrtle and when he hits her. He was even there at the table when Gatsby told Tom that Da... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about American lives amongst society in the 1920’s. American lives that are full of limitless possibilities of being everything they dream of. Materialistic values and the power of money mislead the characters throughout this novel. Fitzgerald presents the main character, Jay Gatsby, as a romantic who embodies the American dream. Gatsby only has one motive in being wealthy and that is to win Daisy’s heart. However, he develops into an idealization of the American dream. His outlook on life is full of faith. He lives a lifestyle having nothing to do with life itself but with an illusion of his own reality in pursuit of his perfect dream, Daisy. Gatsby lives a life of unreality almost as a mythical character because he has no private life; he does not participate or know half of his guests present at his parties. It is as though his whole existence is mythical because he drowns himself in his illusion of being the perfect candidate for Daisy. In doing so, Gatsby tries to recapture the past through pursuit of rich and materialistic living that leads to the withering of the American dream throughout the novel. The Great Gatsby exemplifies how materialistic living from day to day is idealistic in pursuit of happiness. The possibilities that life offers are centered on whom have money and what money can buy. Gatsby hosts many large, wild, and costly parties in hopes of having Daisy present at one sooner or later. Gatsby will do anything to have Daisy. He could try to gain her heart by using his charm and romance. Instead, Gatsby has full intentions in regaining Daisy through the most prominent way possible, money. He buys an expensive house and a new yellow car. When Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time in five years; Gatsby tries to surprise her with his wealth by having piano music in the background and crisp new clothes in his closet, w... Free Essays on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby Characters in books can reveal the author feeling toward the world. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald suggested the moral decline of the period in America history through the interpersonal relationships among his characters. The book indicates the worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America's moral values had diminished. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby's monitory means could not afford his only true wish, therefore he cannot buy everything which is important to Daisy. (Fitzgerald, -page 42) What you wish for is not always what you want or not all that glitters is gold. The wild lavishness of Gatsby's parties and the shallowness and purposelessness of the lives of the guests all kills Gatsby on the inside. All Gatsby wants when he chooses to be rich is to get Daisy. Daisy, who is wealthy and beautiful, symbolizes a way of life which is remote from Gatsby's and therefore more attractive because it is out of reach so he changes himself. (Fitzgerald, -page 54) Myrtle and Gatsby both want to be part of the same elite crowd. They play a reflection of each other in the book by wanting the same thing but they have different methods of achieving it. Gatsby wants Daisy, and Myrtle just wants to be higher in society. Gatsby plays the god-like character in this book so his means are good but both him and Myrtle do bad things to get higher in a crowd that will never take them in. To make themselves appear better to the other crowd, they lose some of the moral fiber that was there to begin with. (Fitzgerald, -page 83) Loss of morals in the 1920' in America caused the American dream to vanish. The god-like character of the book was a good person but he did bad things like bootlegging and joining in organized crime. Affairs happened in the elite crowd between Tom and Myrtle. Dishonesty reared its ugly head when Daisy killed Myrtle by running her over then bla...