Jay Gatsby Selfish

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Kajsa Finnern Mr. Milford College English 5/13/24 The Great Gatsby Argumentative From education, wealth, and leadership to sociability, compassion, and honesty, the concept of greatness is ambiguous. The novel The Great Gatsby presents a character with a greatness open to interpretation. The trust was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a Son of God -- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that -- and he must be about his Father's business, the service of a vast vulgar and meretricious beauty. 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, 1925, p. 104). …show more content…
Growing up in a poor household in North Dakota and progressing to a wealthy and civilized man living in West Egg, Jay Gatsby earned the title of great. Jay Gatsby, originally named James Gatz, was born to two poor farmers but held high ambitions to become successful. James tries to attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota but despised his janitorial work to pay for schooling and dropped out after two weeks. Then he traveled up to Lake Superior where he worked as a clam digger and salmon fisher (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 105). After much defeat, James saves a yacht in Lake Superior owned by a wealthy man named Dan Cody. In appreciation he allowed James to work for him on his boat. They sail together for five years where James learns manners of the rich from Dan and decides to change his name to Jay Gatsby. Shortly after, Dan dies and a large fortune is left for Jay, but is taken by Dan’s family (Fitzgerald, 1925). Jay Gatsby is then called to serve in World War I where he is stationed at Camp Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. Here he meets and falls for Daisy Fay saying “He knew that Daisy was extraordinary... He felt married to her, that was all” (Fitzgerald, 1925,
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