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The Tragic Heroes Of The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Decent Essays

Comparative Essay: Exceptional Heroes

"Victorious living does not mean perfect living in the sense of living without flaw, but it does mean adequate living, and that can be consistent with many mistakes" (Jones). Usually a story of one hero whose story is one filled with suffering, calamity and disaster eventually ends in death. The hero posses a hamartia which leads them to make fatal mistakes. Both Macbeth and Gatsby are portrayed as tragic heroes in their respected text. Both characters are similar due to their tragic flaws such as, downfalls being caused by their over ambition, they both become isolated and finally both characters suffer and meet their deaths in the bitter end.
Firstly, Gatsby 's ambitious tendencies fuel him to pursue his past and now married lover, Daisy Buchannan. Gatsby is very persistent and hustles to make money whether legal or illegal in order to live the American Dream and to be viewed by his peers as a success. For instance, even during his youth, Gatsby had realized his aspirations and as a result refused to succumb to poverty. As Nick Carraway provides insight of the information which was forwarded to him, he grasps knowledge of his new friend, ‘James Gatz 's’ true and humble beginnings. "I suppose he 'd had the name ready for a long time, even then his parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people - his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all " (Fitzgerald, 98). Nick explains Gatsby 's true, humble beginnings

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