Downfall Of The Great Gatsby Essay

When Nick says “ you can't repeat the past”and Gatsby says “ Why, of course you can!” ( 110) and with that Gatsby refuses to accept that and tells him he can repeat the past, but the thing is you can't repeat the past and you can end up losing yourself in the process. Although we can see through the character Gatsby we are able to see the fact that time never stops for anyone and whoever wants to repeat their past ends up losing their future. furthermore we can tell that gatsby is very obsessed with his past and his love for daisy, that he ends up taking the blame for daisy which causes him to die waiting for her. And as you grow and get older, your experiences start forming who you are and the decisions you make in life.

The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, is one of the most prominent books in American literature of all time. The book is narrated by Nick Carraway, but the events of the book already happened, and he is just recollecting those events and telling it to the reader. It’s a story set in the 1920s that follows Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, two people who live on opposite sides of the economic spectrum. In this era, there were many illicit activities that people participated in. In this story, Fitzgerald uses the historical context of the 1920s to portray how this era was corrupt.

All these claims and rumors and gossip show how people can tell something is up with where Gatsby is on the good and bad spectrum. Nobody is really sure about Gatsby’s background, which makes him morally ambiguous by the fact that his true self is distorted by these rumors and gossip. When Tom and Gatsby argue in the apartment over Daisy, Tom brings up how Gatsby has a shadier side that Nick hadn’t realized: “He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him

Rumors that stated, “...he’s a bootlegger…” or that,”... he killed a man.” (pg 61). With this information, he could have easily judged Gatsby and viewed him differently. But he didn’t and waits until he knows him and then at the very end makes the decision that Gatsby is great.

The Great Gatsby is a classic novel of a man’s infatuation over a past lover and his hopes for their rekindled romance, and future together. However, at its core, F. Scott Fitzgerald is depicting the corruption during a time of wealth and economic prosperity, the 1920s. The idea of the American Dream is that through hard work and determination, anyone can become successful and wealthy. Several characters in the Great Gatsby demonstrate how the desire for wealth and power corrupted the American Dream for many during the roaring 20s. Jay Gatsby is a prime example of how the American Dream can be corrupted by the yearning for money and status.

The exhilarating, yet tragic story of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald addresses the topic of materialism and the fabrication of the “American Dream” and the people living in it. The novel also questions the validity of the American Dream and if it could provide the happiness and freedom that it appeared to flaunt . The novel is set in New York, West and East Egg specifically, in 1922. It follows the story of Nick Carraway, an honest and loyal man who befriends his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who also reveals to be in love, or rather obsessed with Nick’s Cousin, Daisy Buchannan. Gatsby has been longing for Daisy ever since he had first kissed her in 1917.

Gatsby displayed towards the end of chapter six his unorthodox view of time. As he babbled on about the past where Daisy used to listen to him for hours on end, Gatsby explains to Nick how he seeks to bring back the old Daisy. However, Nick is distraught claiming that Gatsby “can't repeat the past” to which Gatsby replied “of course you can” (110 Fitzgerald). Thus, Fitzgerald has depicted that Gatsby has truly lost his touch with reality, emphasizing how his disillusionment with his dream for Daisy has skewed his thinking. That his mindset which has brought him to his prestigious social position and his great wealth believes that nothing can stand in their way even time itself.

Gatby finds this ridiculous and can not believe that someone would think he “‘Can’t repeat the past?’” and responds to Nick ‘Why of course you can!’” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby’s memories of his past with Daisy are linked to his feelings of hope and optimism. He associates Daisy with a time in his life when he was full of potential and believed that he could

The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on showcasing the dark side of the so-called “American Dream”. The novel tells the tragic tale of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire with his lifelong goal to be with the girl he had lost five years ago, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby constantly finds himself wanting to reach that green light, his goal to be with Daisy. To feed upon this eager desire, Gatsby constantly throws away his identity to obtain some form of validation from Daisy. He goes as far as taking the blame for Myrtle’s death when Daisy was at fault, this resulted in Gatsby’s death.

The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays timeless themes and issues that were prominent in the 1920s, which can be seen to be still relevant in modern times as well. The simple description of the novel can be said to be of a thwarted love between two lovers, though the many inferences that can be made on the story go far more into serious topics than just a romantic plotline. Gatsby is the protagonist in this novel and showcases many of these themes himself with the decline of the American dream being represented by his failure of dream to win back Daisy and recreate the past. This reminiscences over the past are also displayed in the novel with most major characters displaying this quality representing the unrealistic dreams

Nick sticks out in the sense that he cannot buy into the manipulation of time. He says to Gatsby, “You can't repeat the past” as Gatsby passionately replies, “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald 110). This begins to reveal Gatsby’s obsession with getting the past back. He lives in the past, where he had Daisy, and refuses to form any new connections because they will take him away from his ‘reality’ with her.

Nick tried telling him what he was doing was crazy, because you can’t repeat the past. But Gatsby would hear nothing of it, “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously,” why of course you can!”. (Gatsby, 98) Gatsby was running around in circles trying to get Daisy’s attention, but there was no ending point in sight. Gatsby truly is a hopeless romantic stuck in a modernist world, a world that has no place for people like Gatsby.

After Gatsby's death Nick takes planning his friend's funeral into his own hands, “but all this part of it seemed remote and unessential. I found myself on Gatsby’s side, and alone”(Fitzgerald 172). After Gatsby was no longer throwing parties and handing out grand gifts, the people that once surrounded him lost all interest. The majority of people that swamped him at his parties no longer cared for him. Nobody felt obligated to give Gatsby their remorse and respect.

Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby illustrates and represents life during the Roaring 20s, a time marked by America’s mass consumerism. The Great Gatsby, narrated by Nick Carroway, revolves around Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, and his desire to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. The novel takes

Jay Gatsby is a product of 1920’s America and consumerist philosophies. He serves as both a celebration of the American Dream and a warning against its trappings. Through his rapid rise to the top of American society, and his eventual downfall, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the inherent problems with Gatsby’s ostentatious lifestyle and the constant desire for more. Gatsby, from his outward appearance and mannerisms, to his own name, is a self-made construct of an ever-restless philosophy.