The Great Gatsby Essay

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The Great Gatsby Stories and novels such as “The Great Gatsby” interest us because they involve people whose lives are as complicated as our own; otherwise they wouldn’t hold our attention like they do. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, even the great Gatsby himself has many character flaws that are exploited throughout the novel. Throughout the novel Gatsby goes through the peaks and troughs of life, from hosting the most elegant and spectacular parties New York has ever seen, to having his heart broken by the women he loves which ultimately leads to his death. In the novel, Gatsby portrays the dangers and the willingness a man would take to find ever lasting peace and happiness with the women he loves, the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Although the story is about Jay Gatsby and his pursuit for Daisy, the narrator of The “Great Gatsby” is a young man from Minnesota, named Nick Carraway. He not only narrates the story but address himself as the book’s author. He begins by expressing himself, stating a quote that his father told him; “I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many

curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.” (5) This mentality makes him the perfect narrator because it gives us a true perception of Jay Gatsby opposed to a biased one. Even though nick isn’t biased for or against Gatsby, he does admire who Gatsby is, stating that Gatsby’s personality was nothing short of “gorgeous”. Nick Carraway moves from Minnesota to New York in the summer of 1922. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a newly rich area but nothing compared to the East egg, which is even a more wealthy and established district. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is non-other than the mysterious man Jay Gatsby, who lives in a gigantic Gothic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night. As the summer continues, Nick eventually receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties. As nick strolls around admiring the greatness of the party he is approached by Jordan Baker who escorts him to Gatsby himself. Nick is confused as to why Gatsby throws these legendary parties but is not out there enjoying it with his guest. This is where nick learns the reasoning for all the parties. Gatsby tells Nick that he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is still after all these years deeply in love with her. He spends most of his nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion thinking about Daisy. Gatsby’s marvelous lifestyle and outrageous parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him if she knows that he still loves her. This exploits the flaws of Gatsby, even though he is a handsome, intelligent, and extremely wealthy man, he cannot find the courage to speak to daisy without Nick. The fear of rejection is stopping Gatsby from truly being happy, which something we can all relate to.

Nick complies with the request of Gatsby and invites Daisy to come over for a cup of tea without telling her that Gatsby is waiting. After the initial awkward reunion, they rekindle the flame and are once again in lust for each other. The only problem with this is that Daisy is now married with a man by the name of Tom Buchanan. Tom is a wealthy man but extremely arrogant, racist, sexist, and hypocritical. Tom has no moral doubts about his own improper affair with Myrtle Wilson, but when tom begins to become suspicious about Gatsby and Daisy he becomes extremely outraged. Myrtle Wilson who is married to George Wilson both own a run-down garage shop who are both struggling to make ends meet. Tom has always been extremely suspicious about the relationship of Daisy and Gatsby, but he realizes that Gatsby is in love with Daisy at a luncheon in the Buchanan’
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