Self-Made Man In The Great Gatsby

Born James Gatz, his economic turn began before the story even began; when Gatsby was 17. He was a poor, and ambitious boy, and a passing millionaire took notice of this, along with “James Gatz’s” first impression, he was hired. Gatsby’s tastes, and ideology remain fixed on his desires of wealth from here on out. Even as the modern Jay Gatsby, his ideology is ever present; to do whatever it takes to live lavishly. Of course, this dramatic change and ambition was met with a crushing defeat when his employer died, and his days of wealth were squandered.

Jay Gatsby, the business mogul himself, has his ways of bringing about his paycheck, “His methods of attaining his wealth are pretty shady” (Simpson The Problematic Gatsby). The unreliable state of Jay’s business brings to the demise of his wealth and his character around Nick and Daisy, “‘Young Parke’s in trouble... They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter’” (Fitzgerald 166). Events happen in the world of every business, but Gatsby’s line of work puts people in danger.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, it’s important to think about Gatsby and associate him with shame and grief. Shame for his lower class status unable to acquire Daisy at the time and grief for his constant reminiscing over her. The shame of being poor is a reaction to Daisy’s wealth. From this shame and grief he creates a new persona, he changes his name, leaves for the army and molds into a new self-made person. He changes his identity completely and his new upbringing starts with his display of wealth and extravagant lifestyle.

She chooses the extravagant lifestyle that Tom is capable of providing instead of patiently waiting for her true love. The self-centered desires she displays demonstrates the lack of authetic love she promised Gatsby. Instead, she marries Tom “without so much as a shiver”, demonstrating her hedonistic mindset (76). Since Tom treats Daisy with minimal care, she thoughtlessly dives into an adulterous affair with Jay Gatsby. With no severe intentions towards marriage, she always “ought to have something in her life” to fulfill her heart (79).

This is reinforced further with Gatsby “having one on those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it” (pg 49) with Fitzgerald’s diction of the word “rare” detailing how Gatsby’s words and actions further distances himself from the upper class. Unlike the rest of people at the party, Gatsby is not someone driven by “easy money in the vicinity” (pg 43) but instead is “concentrated on you… believed in you… assured you” highlighting his appreciation of others rather than the self-indulgent attitude depicted by the rest of the upper class. The words and actions of Gatsby reveal a character with a great deal more substance than others that surround him, emphasising further how Gatsby’s actions are polar to the philosophy of the upper class, even though his appearance is similar. The void between Gatsby and the rest of the upper class only expands further when we take the ending of the text into

With the death of Gatsby, Nick called some people to attend Gatsby’s funeral, in which he called Wolfsheim, a “friend” of Gatsby, however “by the time [Nick] had the number it was long after five and no one answered the phone.” The unresponsive call from Wolfsheim depicts that people will do anything to protect them and their wealth as shown by Wolfsheim, in which readers could infer he didn’t attend due to controversies that may surround him at the funeral full of paparazzis Another person Nick telephoned spoke badly of Gatsby, however “he was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly at Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby’s liquor” indicates the person Nick telephoned only cared for the liquor of Gatsby’s and the parties, not Gatsby, thus no one came to Gatsby’s funeral except a small group of people such as Henry Gatz and Nick. This reflects the theme Fitzgerald wants to expose---there was only attraction to the grand parties of Gatsby and his wealth---the greediness for money and the materialistic traits of the individual---but there was no indulgement to Jay Gatsby as a

As many know, Jay Gatsby is a very wealthy figure in the West Egg of New York. Gatsby was not always rich, being the son of farmers, he did not grow up in the lush lifestyle he is living now. His love and aspiration for Daisy was a constant motivation for him to become the rich and successful man that she wanted. He even “bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay" (Fitzgerald 78). This house was a step in the direction to capture Daisy’s attention.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that depicts the American Dream; however, the American Dream cannot be established without running over a few people in the process. Gatsby the protagonist of the novel is known to deceive others and himself; however, his lies are not meant to hurt anyone. Gatsby is lost in his desire to be rich and have Daisy’s love, and in his desire forgets about how his actions may harm others. In addition, Gatsby only wanted to be more than his parents who were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (98). Gatsby’s deception goes as far as fabricating who he is, his financial standing in the past; including how he makes his money, lying to Daisy, and allowing others to tell rumors about himself.

Gatsby is rich, powerful, and influential, but that was never enough for him. He has everything that everything that people covet and wish for but to him it is only the things that exist to enable him to get what he wants. It is because of his fantasies about the American Dream with Daisy that everything he tried to build for years has been destroyed by those bad things that he did. Gatsby’s desire for money and social status led him to exhibit his negative qualities such as involvement in crime, dishonesty, and delusions about his life with a married woman.

In an attempt to win Daisy back from her lifestyle of “Old Money”, Gatsby becomes excessively greedy with his money. While he himself may not care about wealth, he knows Daisy does. Therefore, when Daisy comes to his mansion, he flaunts his expensive shirts. “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.’”

The Great Gatsby presents its characters as having living the American Dream. However, it is only a belief; the behaviors they have and decisions they take only leave them with a false perception of life and lifestyle. The Great Gatsby relates to the corruption of the American Dream for those materialistic people who were after money. Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life.

Gatsby was a man who came up from essentially nothing by gaining his money through bootlegging and other illegal acts in order to gain a reputation in society. Gatsby’s constant desire to accomplish more in his life demonstrates the corruption of the American Dream. It is evident that Gatsby has had a thirst for the American dream since a young age, this is shown when Gatsby’s father says: “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind?

Even in the “Roaring Twenties, money does not come around easily to the poor; Gatsby tried to reach his American Dream, through illegal means, by selling alcohol as a bootlegger. Despite trying to keep up a façade, Tom exposed Gatsby’s identity in chapter seven when he stated: “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter”. Furthermore, Gatsby’s acceptance of criminal activity is abnormal. In chapter four, where a normal person like Nick was introduced to Wolfsheim, he was overwhelmed and asked: “Why isn’t he in jail?” Nonetheless, Gatsby answered nonchalantly: “They can’t get him, old sport.

“The Great Gatsby”, by Scott Fitzgerald, was set during the mid 1920s, in a postwar America, is the story of a young financer who, learns sad truths about the relationships between true and illusionary, between past and present. The narrative, written during the time in which it is set by an author who was part of the crowd within which the action takes place. Narrator Nick Carraway, a beginner in the New York world of finance, describes the circumstances of his arrival and of his discovery that his home is next to that of the wealthy, and mysterious Jay Gatsby (who throws incredible parties), and across a narrow bay from Daisy and Tom Buchanan, a distant relative and her husband. One evening, after returning from a meet with the Buchanans,

This was Gatsby’s final path to joining the prominent status of the upper class, but before World War I he had a different path, believing in the American Dream, which was the idea that everyone has the potential to achieve greatness through hard work. Born into a poor family, he loathed the life of the poor, later dropping out of college, because he could not tolerate paying his way through as a part-time janitor. Thereafter, he was involved in a ten year yacht odyssey but was cheated of twenty-five thousand dollars from his mentor’s will by his mentor’s mistress. He is then trained for the infantry during World War I, and during a party he falls in love with Daisy, who would only be wed to someone of a high status, but after the war Gatsby is still not in the vicinity of being in the upper class, despite being promoted to Major and honoured for his valour. Once again Gatsby is let down by the American Dream and he now understands that no quantity of work can change his past that he was born poor with no money, it ends up being a egotistical chase of gratification, as he illegally sells alcohol during the Prohibition as he also began to befriend criminals like Meyer Wolfheim, “the man who fixing the World’s Series back in 1919”