The Not So Great Gatsby: The Downfall of Jay Gatsby
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was released in 1925 and depicts the illusion of the American Dream at the time when the country was going through the Great Depression. Fitzgerald’s story is a depiction of crash and burn. It is a dysfunctional love tale that does not have a happy ending, with characters serving their selfish interest slowly making their way to a finale full of broken promises, shattered dreams, wasted sacrifice, abandonment, and death. The story focuses on Jay Gatsby as he moves across the social classes in the search of his American dream. The protagonist’s greatness lies within his illusions and his determination to grasp it which ultimately led to his down fall.
Ever since he was a child, Gatsby was always keen on greatness. Gatsby originates from North Dakota. In the initial chapters of the novel, Gatsby is described as a dream who is gracious, charming, and somewhat mysterious. As the tale moves on, however, the audience increasingly learns what induces the mystery; everything that Gatsby has done in his life as an adult with the single objective of realizing the most unrealistic of ambitions, that is, to recapture history. In many ways, Gatsby, as suggested by the title, great, but when one observes him critically, some of his actions are not so admirable. In one sense, the protagonist’s rag-to-riches tale makes him a symbol of the American dream. He began life with not much, as the son of largely poor farmers. By the time he reached his youth years, he had even less, after he willingly estranged himself from his family, unable to path form the fate that he had to deal with. When he was alone, he had the chance to transform himself, and because of his resourcefulness, Jimmy Gatz transformed to Jay Gatsby. As such his life became completely different due to his ambition to become great.
After getting rich, Gatsby fell in love. He fell in love with Daisy because she was the personified version of greatness which he wished to achieve –she had influence, more importantly she had money. It was a fateful occurrence that would transform forever change the course of his life. After getting to know daily, everything that Gatsby did was with the sole intention of winning her affection. Money, was fundamentally, the barrier that restricted them from being together, and therefore Gatsby ensured that he would never again be without money. Gatsby’s perseverance and drive in meeting in his objective, in numerous ways, commendable. He is a self-made individual in all respects; therefore, this determination is admirable. Nonetheless, if one puts aside all of these positive characteristics, there are features of Jay Gatsby that call his admiration into question. His wealth did not originate from inheritance, as he would prefer other people to think; rather, it came from organized crime. The tale occurs during the period of prohibition and the protagonist profited highly from supplying illegal liquor. In addition, whereas people come to his parties in large numbers, he does not know much about them. Indeed, he does not want to know many things about them, simply whether they are familiar with Daisy. Lastly his friendship with nick only starts to blossom only after he discovers that Daisy is Nick’s cousin.
In examining Gatsby, one should analyze his blind chase of daisy, every action he takes, everything he buys, every event he holds, is all part of his large plot to bring back daisy to his life forever. In a sense, this is a beautiful romantic gesture, however in another sense, it induces a childish fantasy. By being so absorbed in his fantasy of Daisy, Gatsby increasingly moves into a world of illusion. His inaptitude to handle to handle reality firmly places him outside the norm and, in the end, his holding to this fantasy leads to his demise. By the time chapter seven ends, Gatsby is posing outside of Daisy’s home on a vigil that is not warranted. He is totally not able to acknowledge that his fantasy is far from reality and so stays alert to wait for a gesture from Daisy. He views that his actions are noble, purposeful, and respectful. However, the audience can completely perceive that his actions are in vein as he becomes a shadow of his former self. Quite literally, Gatsby is idealistic in a fatal way. He cannot wait to space himself from his past in regards to his family, however, he lives his life as an adult attempting to recapture the history he had with Daisy. To make matters worse, he is in love with notion of Daisy, rather than Daisy for who she is. It is a fallacy that eventually leads to his death.