At the age of seventeen, James Gatz stood on a beach by Lake Superior and saw a boat drop anchor. The young man knew the dangers of that part of the lake, and headed out towards the yacht in a rowboat. However, Gatz never left the beach. Instead it was Jay Gatsby, a reinvention of Gatz, who rowed out to the boat and warned the captain. For the majority of the rest of the man’s life, he was known as Jay Gatsby. This, of course, is the backstory of Jay Gatsby, the title character of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. After a series of unfortunate events, Gatsby was found dead on an inflatable mattress in his own pool. He was wrongly thought to have been the man who had an affair with Myrtle Wilson, the wife of a garage owner, as well as
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However, this behavior was very unlike Jay Gatsby. While Gatsby was a man of action, this new man was content to float around in the pool all afternoon. James Gatz, however, displayed similar behavior in the beach scene. Gatz is described as having been “loafing along the beach that afternoon” (98). The lounging on the beach is repeated here as he lounges in the pool. Also, the air mattress that he floats upon is not something that Gatsby would use. It is stated that the mattress “had amused his guests during the summer” (161). Gatsby was nothing like his guests. Whenever he had thrown a party, Gatsby was tucked away inside, away from the craziness of it all. Gatsby would not be interested in anything that his guests would do, so he would not use the mattress. However, James Gatz might, as he was more laid back and willing to relax. The behavior displayed immediately prior to his death is unlike Gatsby, and is more similar to James …show more content…
One of these parallels is the wind. At the time of Jay Gatsby’s creation, a boat on Lake Superior was anchored in a seemingly safe spot. However, the young man knew otherwise and “informed [the captain] that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour” (98). In the death scene, there was “a small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface [of the water]” (162). The wind of the death scene is following the large gust mentioned in the beach scene; in the end it was the man on the beach who was broken up, not the boat. Also, the death scene has the image of “little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves” (162). Shadows often trail behind whatever is casting the shadow. When the gust of wind came on Lake Superior, there were waves in the lake. The shadows of waves in the pool follow those in the lake, representing the end of Gatsby and return to Gatz right before his death. Furthermore, the birth of Gatsby parallels the death of Gatz. Gatsby left the shore and was born in the water, while Gatz died in the water and was pushed towards the end of the pool. Also, the rowboat was the vessel in which Gatsby was born whereas the pneumatic mattress was that in which Gatz died. Finally, Gatz was alone on the beach until the captain of the boat appeared and prompted the birth of Gatsby. After the image of Gatsby was
However, this behavior was very unlike Jay Gatsby. While Gatsby was a man of action, this new man was content to float around in the pool all afternoon. James Gatz, however, displayed similar behavior in the beach scene. Gatz is described as having been “loafing along the beach that afternoon” (98). The lounging on the beach is repeated here as he lounges in the pool. Also, the air mattress that he floats upon is not something that Gatsby would use. It is stated that the mattress “had amused his guests during the summer” (161). Gatsby was nothing like his guests. Whenever he had thrown a party, Gatsby was tucked away inside, away from the craziness of it all. Gatsby would not be interested in anything that his guests would do, so he would not use the mattress. However, James Gatz might, as he was more laid back and willing to relax. The behavior displayed immediately prior to his death is unlike Gatsby, and is more similar to James …show more content…
One of these parallels is the wind. At the time of Jay Gatsby’s creation, a boat on Lake Superior was anchored in a seemingly safe spot. However, the young man knew otherwise and “informed [the captain] that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour” (98). In the death scene, there was “a small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface [of the water]” (162). The wind of the death scene is following the large gust mentioned in the beach scene; in the end it was the man on the beach who was broken up, not the boat. Also, the death scene has the image of “little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves” (162). Shadows often trail behind whatever is casting the shadow. When the gust of wind came on Lake Superior, there were waves in the lake. The shadows of waves in the pool follow those in the lake, representing the end of Gatsby and return to Gatz right before his death. Furthermore, the birth of Gatsby parallels the death of Gatz. Gatsby left the shore and was born in the water, while Gatz died in the water and was pushed towards the end of the pool. Also, the rowboat was the vessel in which Gatsby was born whereas the pneumatic mattress was that in which Gatz died. Finally, Gatz was alone on the beach until the captain of the boat appeared and prompted the birth of Gatsby. After the image of Gatsby was