Gatsby’s hero journey Jay Gatsby from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a remarkable character in American literature. Gatsby refuses to accept his fate and creates his fortune with his determinism. Many also fantasize over Gatsby’s sincere love for his first lover, Daisy Buchanan. Some published reviews of Fitzgerald’s protagonist claim that Jay Gatsby is a “romantic hero”; my argument is that Jay Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy turns romanticism into a distortion. Contrary to his later lavish lifestyle, Jay Gatsby is born into a poor family in the Midwest; This stage in his life is considered as his “ordinary world”. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents
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Posthumously, his “world” soon deteriorates and reveals the horror and fakeness of the upper class that Gatsby thrives to be part of. After using Gatsby as their scapegoat, Tom and Daisy immediately moves away from East Egg and do not even bother to attend Gatsby’s funeral: “But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (Fitzgerald 164). The Buchanan peacefully continues on in their life, without looking back at those that are sacrifice at their expense. This action reveals the attitude of the upper class, and how self-centered they can be in a deadly way. Despite the generous hospitality of Gatsby before his death, no one in New York City shows up as Nick recalls, “Nobody came” (Fitzgerald 174). Many people have used Gatsby’s benefits, but none of them bother to repay and respect this incredible man for the last time. It seems as nobody in the East remembers Gatsby and his legacy. The forgetfulness of the East greatly terrifies Nick as it reveals the superficiality of the booming East; “After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction” (Fitzgerald 176). Gatsby’s tragedy makes Nick sick of the East, as he moves away from this terrifying place at the end of the
Posthumously, his “world” soon deteriorates and reveals the horror and fakeness of the upper class that Gatsby thrives to be part of. After using Gatsby as their scapegoat, Tom and Daisy immediately moves away from East Egg and do not even bother to attend Gatsby’s funeral: “But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (Fitzgerald 164). The Buchanan peacefully continues on in their life, without looking back at those that are sacrifice at their expense. This action reveals the attitude of the upper class, and how self-centered they can be in a deadly way. Despite the generous hospitality of Gatsby before his death, no one in New York City shows up as Nick recalls, “Nobody came” (Fitzgerald 174). Many people have used Gatsby’s benefits, but none of them bother to repay and respect this incredible man for the last time. It seems as nobody in the East remembers Gatsby and his legacy. The forgetfulness of the East greatly terrifies Nick as it reveals the superficiality of the booming East; “After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction” (Fitzgerald 176). Gatsby’s tragedy makes Nick sick of the East, as he moves away from this terrifying place at the end of the