Great Gatsby Flaws

Aristotle once said “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Throughout reading The Great Gatsby, Opedius the King , and as well as King Lear, each main character faces many tragic flaws throughout their life. A tragic hero can be defined as a character who commits an action which eventually led to their collapse. Typically, the aspect of an individual’s character plays a part in their downfall. Each main character faced many obstacles that shapes their outcome in life. In The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay Gatsby can be characterized as a greedy and ambitious man. Throughout the book, many characters revolved their life around the concept of money. Money can be viewed as an evil corruption that drives …show more content…
In it’s manifestation of flaw in Gatsby’s action lead to his death. In chapter four we as an audience see he cares about the opinion of others. “Look here old sport, what’s your opinion of me any how” (page 43). It’s quite obvious from the looks of his car, house and clothes he wants to please others, especially Daisy. Gatsby didn’t love daisy just the idea of her. She was symbolic to him, almost like a trophy wife and always saw the better side of Daisy. In his eyes she couldn’t do any harm. “They were careless people Tom and Daisy-they smash things and creatures and then retreat back into money”( page 114) but only Nick could see that. The consequence of Gatsby thinking Daisy was incapable of harm caused him to take the blame of the murder. “Was Daisy driving? Yes, he said after a moment but of course I’ll say I was” (page 92). Even though Gatsby took the blame for Daisy, she still picks to be with Tom. However he still upholds to it because he still has hope that one day Daisy will love …show more content…
In order for each daughter to get a share of the kingdom, they must put into words how much each one of them loved him. King Lear’s character traits ultimately lead to his downfall was naive and fool hearted. Lear based the perception of love each daughter had based on material things. He was naive enough to firmly believe the more that was said to express their love for him meant what they meant. The tragic flaw of Lear was the fact that he disowned the daughter who expressed her love for him in a few words, but was the only one that actually loved him. “Nothing my lord... How? Nothing will come of nothing speak again. I love your majesty according to my bond no more, no less,” page 6. The youngest daughter, Cordelia was disowned from the family for his lack of public display of love. King Lear was self obsessed with superficial means to get attention. He somewhat betrays the one daughter that genuinely loves him, for two other daughters obsessed with power. Lear’s flaw is his inability to recognize reality and only notices it once his daughter start to turn on him. “As full of grief as age, wretched in both. If it be you that stir these daughter’s hearts against their fathers, fool me not so much.” (Act 2, Scene 4). Lear realizes his daughters are turning on him but is in denial. Even though he attempts to assert his authority, Lear is powerless. It is