The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, a man named Jay Gatsby dreams of winning the love of a Daisy Buchanan, an upper-class woman who is married to Tom Buchanan. Before the current time present in the novel, summer of 1922 in Long Island and New York City, Gatsby and Daisy meet during October 1917 when Gatsby was a military officer who was stationed in Louisville. They fell in love, but Gatsby had lied about his social class to present himself as someone who was good enough for her. Gatsby had to go overseas and Daisy said she would wait for him but by the time he came back, Daisy was already engaged to Tom. Five years later, Gatsby and Daisy meet again and the two lovers act as if the five years in between never happened. Daisy and Gatsby drive to Long Island and on their way, Daisy runs over Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress. Gatsby takes the blame for her leading to Mr. Wilson shooting Gatsby. Nick tells Gatsby, “You can’t repeat the past.” Gatsby responds saying, “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” Throughout the novel and the last five years, Gatsby tried to win back the love of Daisy but never rekindled the relationship they had in Louisville and although at the surface it seems as though Daisy loves Gatsby as he loves her, Gatsby never truly had a real chance of getting her back.

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the characters live in an illusory world and only some can see past this. In the novel, West Egg and its residents represent the newly rich, while East Egg represents the old aristocracy. Gatsby seeking the past, Daisy is obsessed with material things, Myrtle wanting Tom to escape her poverty, George believing that T.J. Eckleburg is God, and Tom believing he is untouchable because of his power and wealth are all examples of the illusion v. reality struggle in the novel and Nick, the only character aware of reality, witnesses the fall of all the characters around him to their delusions.

The greatness of an individual can be defined in terms far beyond tangible accomplishments. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's greatness comes from his need to experience success and his will to achieve his dreams. Nick Carraway narrates the story, and his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, is Gatsby's love. Daisy, however, is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, arrogant womanizer who despises Gatsby. Gatsby feels the need to be successful and wealthy, and his participation in a bootlegging operation allows him to acquire the wealth and social status needed to attract Daisy. In his narration, Nick focuses on Gatsby's fixation of Daisy and how he longs for her

The 1920’s embodied a people who strove for wealth with complete disregard to the moral disgraces committed in the process of becoming rich. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby portrays the general feeling of the 1920’s through complex characters such as Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald uses symbols such as the billboard, the green light, and the valley of ashes to convey themes and propel the plot forward.

Donald Trump once said, “My whole life is about winning. I don 't lose often. I almost never lose.” Jay Gatsby has a similar outlook on life. Gatsby and Trump view themselves as winners because their pockets are stuffed with cash. Jay Gatsby and Donald Trump can agree on one thing: money. Both men are ruthless, business tycoons, and measure their success in life based on their wealth. Jay Gatsby meets his demise towards the end of F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby, while Donald Trump is just getting started on a new business venture. Donald Trump is the modern-day Jay Gatsby. Donald Trump and Jay Gatsby find comfort in lavish lifestyles, are willing to go to desperate measures for a business deal, and attempt to win the hearts of the ladies they love.

How would you feel being in a part of a love story that you know can’t end well for one of your friends. You love your friends and you don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but you also don’t stop them from making foolish choices. This is the conflict the narrator of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carroway will soon find himself in the middle of. Nick Carroway opens Chapter 1 with a quote from his father. His father says, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone… just remember that all people in this world haven’t been given had the advantages that you’ve had.” The narrator uses this quote to foreshadow the conflicts that will occur between him and other characters throughout the book.

Jay Gatsby was a self-made millionaire, a mysterious figure among West Egg, and a man whose innocence and blindness for love led to his demise. In the beginning, Gatsby seemed to earn the title of ‘Great.’ Unfortunately, by the end of the story Gatsby no longer seems like a great man, but a naïve, paranoid man. The reason Gatsby seemed great at first was because of his portrayal of wealth and the American Dream. Eventually, the audience is introduced to Gatsby’s long lost love Daisy Fay, who is now a married woman whose new name is Daisy Buchanan. At this point, Gatsby starts to lose his greatness because he is now relentlessly pursuing a married woman. Gatsby is naïve and foolish in believing that Daisy is going to leave her husband, Tom, for him. Gatsby also loses greatness when it becomes obvious that nobody really knows where he got his wealth, when he makes up elaborate stories to his new friend Nick, the narrator, and when Nick and Gatsby meet up with a man Gatsby associates with named Mr. Wolfsheim, whom Nick thinks is the reason for Gatsby’s wealth. The story is called The Great Gatsby, but Gatsby eventually proves himself to be a man who is less than great.

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written in 1925. The 1920s, often called the "Roaring 20s" was a time in which prohibition was in order and a new era of women came to life. These women were considered Flappers, and they rebelled against their expectations of the time, which was risky because of the big role Social Class played at this time. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters in the novel living through the 1920s.Gatsby was born in a hard working farming family in the lowest social class, he learned how to present himself as a high class gentlemen by learning how to gain relationships with the wealthy. The American dream is a major underlying theme in the novel and Gatsby portrays this dream by dying while trying to successfully fulfill his goal by becoming what he was not born into. Although Gatsby thought that living in a high society and owning extravagant articles of clothing would help him be happy, his death proves that wealth was not what he needed, he needed true love.

A yearning for power, the thirst to become wealthy, intense cravings of lust, these examples of greed affects humanity in various ways, yet always seems to control a society. This constant longing for more is prevalent among most people, including the protagonists of beloved novels, often resulting in their gradual downfall. This corrupt behavior is addressed in Siddhartha Gautama’s ancient fire sermon, which discusses the important Buddhist idea of freeing oneself from desire. This ancient saying is among some of the most treasured and analyzed Buddhist compositions, and molds the values and morals of a culture. Its teachings illuminate the destructive qualities shown in society and throughout literature and its relevance can be examined in The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Macbeth written by William Shakespeare.

F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a scathing critique of upper class privilege in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby’s library in particular, illustrates his fundamental misunderstanding of the self-perpetuating class society in 1920s America. It is a novel about surveillance: the ruling class constantly monitors the system; Gatsby is identified as the usurping “Other” who threatens their status, and must be put back in his rightful place.

The lifestyle of the 1920s was much different than what it was like before. In the 1920s, World War I had just ended. After the war, people decided to live life more abundantly. The standard of living increased, and people were able to spend their money on items that they needed as well as more luxury items. The 1920s was called the “Roaring Twenties” because it was about having a “roaring” good time. Throughout the book The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the scenes of the 1920s and the characters within the novel to critique the values of the Jazz Age.

After The Great War concluded in 1918, America entered a state of prosperity and luxury throughout the 1920’s. This significant accumulation of wealth marked the start of the Roaring 20’s, a time the American economy grew to be the most powerful worldwide but in which people began exploiting their earnings on excess materialism. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, The Great Gatsby, accurately re-creates this time period yet criticizes the changes of societal attitudes and its values that occurred, making Fitzgerald the first “American writer to write seriously about money and the effects of money on character” (Bruccoli). The two main characters, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, both made the decision to reside in New York in hopes of obtaining their own fortune in order to achieve the wealthy, comfortable lifestyle they always desired. However, their growth and change of perspective as the novel progresses in response to the constant presence of immeasurable wealth reveals how the novel criticizes this time era as an “American social order delimited by patriarchal capitalism in which there is little possibility for authentic love or desire” (Froehlich). The two novel inspired poems “Changing Hours” and “Carried Away” express differing perspectives and reactions towards the idea of progressing into a carefree and extravagant lifestyle. While “Changing Hours” and “Carried Away” both illustrate the deceptive and futile nature of a luxurious lifestyle within The Great Gatsby, only

Imagine if the love of your life betrays you in a way that you would have never imagined. The pain that you feel may be forgiven but never forgotten. This is clearly represented in the novel and adaptation The Great Gatsby written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and directed by Baz Luhrmann. Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s novel appropriately portrays the Roaring Twenties, also known as the Jazz Age. Every individual’s goal during this time was to accomplish their own version of the American Dream. Luhrmann’s adaptation is both unfaithful and faithful through mise-en-scene in various scenes throughout the film adaptation.

Was Gatsby truly great? In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald a storyline unfolds throughout the book describing different characters, events, and gives us a glimpse through the window of the author 's life. The story takes place in the hot summer of 1922 where a charming young man named Gatsby tries to do everything he can in order to be reunited with a girl he has always loved. From being poor to becoming wealthy, Gatsby hosts many parties in hopes that the girl he has always loved will show up to one. Nick Carraway a neighbor of Gatsby, is the cousin of a girl named Daisy who Gatsby has always loved. Nick moved to West Egg, Long Island to seek his future as a salesman. Gatsby uses Nick to get Daisy and tries to arrange meetings with Daisy.

The American Dream has been a part of United States history since the country began. One can presume that the saying “all men…are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” from Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” is the first known American Dream (US 1776). Though this document says “all men”, this phrase did not include black people or white women. In 1776, it only meant the free, property-owning males that lived in America. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a famous literary piece that takes place in the 1920s in Long Island, which is the modern day New York. This novel gives the perfect impression on how the American Dream was obtained and how people act when they come into a great amount of money.