The Great Gatsby

The greatest scam ever known to humanity, has and always will be the American Dream, and if
anyone knows this best, it’s Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby which was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was
published on April 10th, 1925, and is often depicted as one of the greatest pieces of literature of all time. The
Great Gatsby follows the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man living in the West Egg. Gatsby’s
widely known for throwing lavish and extravagant parties- though no one is really sure of who he is. Gatsby
is a mystery to people, as not many have met him. The story of Jay Gatsby is told from one of the few people
who have met him; Nick Carraway, who is a humble man who meets Gatsby at one of his parties.

The story of Jay Gatsby is tragic. Throughout the course of the novel, Gatsby reveals to Carrawy
several details about his life, one being that he fought in World War I, earning a medal of valor, as well as
his attendance of Oxford University for a brief 5 months, and then later on, his romantic history with
Carraway’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby reveals to Carraway towards the end of the novel that he was
not born into wealth, but was actually quite poor at a time of his life, and he worked his way up from there.
Gatsby for a majority of his life at West Egg has fooled all of its inhabitants into believing that he was born
wealthy, however in Chapter 7, Tom Buchanan contradicts Gatsby’s claim; "I found out what your 'drug-
stores' were." He turned to us and spoke rapidly. "He and this Wolfsheim 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, and I wasn't far wrong.” This revealed that Gatsby has been
lying to everyone for a majority of him being ‘Gatsby’. He made his money illegally. He achieved his wealth
by soliciting alcohol- which was prohibited at the time, and selling fake stock. This is important for many
reasons, as Fitzgerald could have meant to convey many different messages with the way in which Gatsby
achieved his wealth. The message that could be conveyed from the Author’s purpose is that Gatsby has yes
in short achieved the American dream, he achieved the fantasy of ‘rags to riches’, but he did this by
scamming people and selling prohibited goods. Fitzgerald could almost be implying that it is impossible to
achieve the American Dream without breaking the law to an extent. Gatsby also reveals to Carraway that his
rise to riches was motivated by his infatuation with his cousin, Daisy. He reveals that he was aware that due
to their different classes, they would not be able to be together, and therefore he used the longing to be with
Daisy as a form of motivation. Gatsby’s dream was to be with Daisy. He reveals that his decision to move to
West Egg in the first place was to be near Daisy, and as long as he is able to see the green light at the end of
the dock, he knew there was still hope.

The Green light is a reoccurring symbol in the novel. Though located on East Egg, which is the
Island Daisy lives on, in Chapter 1, Gatsby is stood in the darkness, reaching out for the light; “[H]e
stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have
sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green
light, minute and far away, that might have been at the end of a dock.” The green light is associated with
Daisy, and Gatsby’s dream to be with her. The green light almost served as a form of reassurance for Gatsby.
The light reassured him that even after all the years they have spent apart, Daisy was still in love with
Gatsby- just as he was with her. However, as the novel progresses, the green light begins to lose its meaning.
After finally meeting Daisy, Carraway describes the encounter; “Possibly it had occurred to him that the
colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had
separated him from Daisy it 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.” Carraway wonders on the thought of whether Gatsby was truly in love with her, or in love with the
yearning and longing for Daisy. In love with the fascination of ‘what could be’. However, the green light can
also serve as a symbol for something much deeper than Gatsby’s love for Daisy. The green light served for
Gatsby what a carrot on a fishing rod serves for a donkey; a boost and nothing more. The donkey, by now,
must know its not going to get the carrot- but it keeps going anyway. It’s not about the actual carrot, it’s
about the dream of getting the carrot. That’s what keeps the donkey going. In this case, the green light serves
as a symbol for the hope that comes with the American Dream- something that seems so achievable, and so
close, but yet so far away. It acts as nothing but a motivator to keep going and not give up, even when you
have realized that it’s unachievable.

Ultimately, Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, as well as work to be with Daisy again is proven to be
useless. All for nothing. And that is where the tragedy lies. When Daisy finds out the way in which Gatsby
achieved his wealth, she is no longer interested in him, and goes back to her husband; Tom Buchanan.
Gatsby is killed and dies in his home. Alone. All his riches, and all his fame. The mysterious persona he
created for himself proved to be worthless. It seems that the only person that was interested enough in him
was, the narrator of his story; Nick Carraway. Nick paints Gatsby in a very picture perfect light, he paints
him in a light of pure admiration as well as curiosity. Gatsby meant a lot more to Nick, than Nick meant to
Gatsby. As Gatsby’s dying, he hears the phone ring, he picks up believing it’s Daisy, but it isn’t. He dies on
the phone with Nick Carraway. He doesn’t die on the phone with the woman he loved- he dies with the man
he suspected would care the least. The humble man that moved in next door from Massachusetts. And sure,
after Gatsby’s death, he was remembered. He was remembered as the mysterious man on West Egg who
threw extravagant parties and would always reach out for the green light, but to Carraway he was much
different. Gatsby was a real person. Throughout his narration, Carraway pays great attention to Gatsby’s
thoughts, Carraway is a clearly biased narrator, however he seems to be the only character in the story who is
able to see beyond Gatsby’s riches, as well as flaws. He was able to see him as the man Daisy could not. But
more than that, Gatsby served as a symbol. Gatsby was the creation and the death of hope. A man who
fought long and hard to get what he wanted, who overcame any obstacle, and in the end it did not matter.
Gatsby died a persona and nothing more. Perhaps, what F. Scott Fitzgerald was criticizing through Gatsby
was a materialistic society. And this is heavily supported by the story taking place in a high-class society in
New York, during the Jazz-Era and extravagancies of the 1920’s. The story of The Great Gatsby almost
serves as a rhetorical question to its readers- almost as if Fitzgerald is asking his audience what they want to
be remembered for. Do they want to be viewed in the same way Carraway viewed Gatsby? Human, flawed
but goodhearted? Or did they want to be viewed as a persona? Material and nothing more. It’s almost as if
Fitzgerald was encouraging his readers to stop chasing the “American Dream” as it does not exist. Almost as
if he was telling his readers instead, to search for theirselves. To make a significant impact on their loved
ones- one beyond material possessions. The Great Gatsby certainly taught its readers to improve for
theirselves, and use their own self improvement and legacy as motivation, rather than do what Gatsby did-
using unrequited love as motivation, and ultimately being disappointed.

Jay Gatsby was the failure of the American Dream. A man who achieved, what seemed to be a
picture-perfect life- money, parties- everything he could ever want, but ultimately he was still unable to get
the one thing he truly wanted; Daisy Buchanan. His death was almost nearly as tragic as his life, and his
legacy lived on as material possessions. Gatsby was known for wealth. Gatsby was not known for anything
else after his death, and that, was ultimately the result of his American Dream, which is why F. Scott
Fitzgerald wrote this novel to convince his readers to stray away from it, as to avoid reaching Gatsby’s fate.