Preview

Jay Gatsby

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1074 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Jay Gatsby
Eng. 116
TR 9:30-10:50
“Character Analysis”
Jay Gatsby
Jay Gatsby in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most interesting males in fictional literature, even though he is not a dynamic and changing character during the novel. In fact, Jay Gatsby has changed little since he was a teenager. He was born as James Gatz to poor farmers in North Dakota and he decided at an early age that he wanted more out of life than North Dakota could offer. He leaves home to find excitement and wealth. While lounging on the beach one day, he sees a yacht docked off the coast. He borrows a boat and rows out to introduce himself to the owner of the yacht; the owner takes a liking to young James Gatz and offers him a job. When he takes the job he leaves behind the identity of James Gatz forever; the rest of his life he will be known as Jay Gatsby, an incurable and idealistic romantic who fills his life with unrealistic dreams – to capture the past.
After the owner of the yacht dies, Gatsby joins the army and is stationed in Louisville, Kentucky, where he meets and falls in love with Daisy Fay, the most popular and wealthy young lady in town. She is also attracted to him and even thinks about marrying him and running away, but her parents stop her plans. When Gatsby is sent to Europe to fight the war, Daisy is faithful to him for a short while. She soon, however, tires of waiting for Gatsby and marries Tom Buchanan. When Gatsby receives her final letter, explaining her plans, he is crushed; he vows he will dedicate the rest of his life to winning Daisy back for himself. He is sure that if he has a large enough fortune, he will be able to manipulate time they have lost and replace daisy’s marriage.
Gatsby comes to the East Coast and makes a fortune in bootlegging and other questionable business activities. He buys an ostentatious mansion on West Egg, in order to be directly across the bay from Daisy Buchanan. He gives his wild, extravagant parties and drives

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    He soon gets a first person view of the lifestyles of the rich through contact with his rich, spoiled cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan. During his time with them he visits their friends and gets introduced to new people. He also attends parties hosted by his neighbor to whom he knows nothing about, Jay Gatsby. After finally meeting the man he learns of the connection between him and his cousin, along with his cousin’s true feelings. Also he tries to solve the mystery of Mr. Gatsby himself. After becoming close friends with Gatsby, Nick agrees to establish a planned reunion between Daisy and Gatsby. Gatsby has been obsessively trying to win back Daisy for as long as they have been separated. His sole purpose of acquiring a fortune was simply to impress Daisy and become of equal status. Gatsby is convinced that he can reinvent their past love and…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jay Gatsby Obituary Essay

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jay Gatsby was a beloved son and friend. He had been through a lot while he lived. Gatsby had served in the war. He had become a captain before he went to the front. He then got his majority and the command of the divisional machine guns following the Argonne battles. Before going to war he came from unsuccessful farmer parents. He tought he could better himself so he left his family. Gatsby had also met the love of his life, Daisy before the war. For five years his only dream was to be with Daisy again. In Gatsby’s younger years he met a man by the name of Dan Cody. He sailed with Dan Cody three times around the continent. Gatsby’s wealthy life began after meeting Cody. Gatsby was also known for throwing big extravagent parties that lasted the whole weekend. He had luxerious cars and a big mansion. Jay Gatsby had almost accomplised the American…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay Gatsby is the tragic hero in the novel. Gatsby is a rich man who falls in love with a woman from his past, but could not be with her; instead, he ended up alone and was killed.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Gatsby first met Daisy Buchannan in her hometown of Louisville, he was James Gatz, a young military officer leaving to fight in World War I. He fell in love with her aura of sophistication, of luxury, grace, charm and beauty, and consequently, lied to her about his background of poverty to convince her he was worthy of her. And still, when he goes to fight in the war, Daisy marries Tom, who is rich and powerful, everything Gatsby hopes for himself in the future. Gatsby, through various means is able to afford a luxurious West Egg nouveaux rich lifestyle, living in a mansion across from Daisy's own in East Egg. Gatsby longingly reaches out for the green light he sees on her dock miles away. "But I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone- he 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…

    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jay Gatsby

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us…” (180) James Gatz, the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, believes in the past and fantasy; these beliefs result in his death, making him a tragic hero. To resolve his internal conflicts, he constructs a new lifestyle with a new identity, a new look, and a new wallet, big enough to hold his bootlegged earnings; all for a girl he lost in the past, Daisy Buchanan.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Yes. The DMV record showed that the vehicle tag was registered to a “Nicole Shore”, 19 Anthony Lane, Boulder. After arriving at the investigation scene, I confirmed that the DMV record matched the plate on the car.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gatsby

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gatsby's gardener interrupts a conversation between Nick and Gatsby to tell Gatsby that he plans to drain the pool. The previous day was the hottest of the summer, but autumn is in the air this morning, and the gardener worries that falling leaves will clog the pool drains. Gatsby tells the gardener to wait a day; he has never used the pool, he says, and wants to go for a swim. I think significance of the pool is that it's the only thing that can cool gatsby off emotionally, and also it represents his last attempt…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the book of Proverbs, it is written that there are “six things the Lord hates, and the seventh His soul detests.” Those seven deadly sins are: lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, anger, envy, and pride. In contrast to the seven deadly sins, there are seven heavenly virtues. These virtues are: purity, self-control, charity, diligence, forgiveness, kindness, and humility. In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald designs the characters to reflect each deadly sin but also each heavenly virtue.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Great Gatsby

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The four settings in the Great Gatsby can changes the image on the overall plot. Each one of them makes a different tone and enhances the image of the story line. East and West Egg are both wealthy places but, since they are located on opposite sides, their ideals are different. The Valley of Ashes is what everybody looks at as a burned out Hell. Manhattan would be best described as the purgatory on earth. These settings represent the distance between the classes in this time period, from the wealthy class of the East and West “eggs”, the desolate “valley of ashes”, to the chaos of “Manhattan.”…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gatsby

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald the theme that is exhibited the utmost is “money does not buy happiness” Characters that will best exhibit the prosperity shown in story are Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick. Examples from the book help show how these people demonstrate how wealth will not make you happy as a main theme throughout the story.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    gatsby

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lynn Wharton’s “Tim O'Brien and American National Identity: A Vietnam Veteran's Imagined Self in The Things They Carried”…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Great Gatsby Failure

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages

    James Gatz is born in North Dakota to a family of farmers: people who have to work hard to survive. The life that Gatz lives is not one that he is proud of, “so he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald 98). With this new name and mindset, Gatsby dedicates himself to a life of higher superiority, a life of wealth and success. Gatsby is initially introduced to wealth through Dan Cody, a lavish man who Gatsby sees while fishing for salmon to earn his living. “To young Gatz, resting on his oars and looking up at the railed deck, that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world” (Fitzgerald 100), urging Gatsby to climb aboard the ship and befriend Cody. This taste of luxury is what makes Gatsby devote himself to this lifestyle. Gatsby works for Cody, becoming his assistant and even…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages

    magine the 1920's have been reenacted, a time of swinging parties and when things just did not seem to matter as much as they do now. This may not seem as hard as it sounds. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, paints a picture of what the time period was like. It was a time known as the "Jazz Age", where the economy was on an upswing and money was easy to be had. Prohibition was in affect, and bootlegging was a highly lucrative but shady business venture. Jay Gatsby most likely took part in bootlegging, which is how he accumulated his vast amount of money. Tom Buchanan on the other hand, acquired his wealthy status, by inheritance. He did not earn his money, but his family gave it to him. Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby each differ extremely much so on many views and situations that each of them came upon over the course of the novel.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby

    • 5619 Words
    • 23 Pages

    To her superficial appearance is all that matters, so beauty is a necessity. Intelligence, however, might be a hazard, for Daisy lives in a world that does not hold up under inspection, and if she really thought about her life, she might find it unbearable.…

    • 5619 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    American Dream

    • 3793 Words
    • 16 Pages

    with
Daisy
Buchanan.
Gatsby
has
a
passion
for
his
dream
so
fierce
that
he
pursues…

    • 3793 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays