Is Jay Gatsby A Bad Man?

Is Jay Gatsby really such a bad man? Many people find the main character of The Great Gatsby hard to like when they are first beginning to read the book. This may be contributed to by the fact that the story, from the narrator Nick’s eyes, almost paints Gatsby as a rich “better-than-you” kind of guy in the first few chapters. He lives next door to Nick in a big fancy house where he throws huge parties every weekend with dozens of people staying out really late. Nick tries not to judge him, but says that his lifestyle is the result of everything that Nick hates. With Nick being the first person we meet in the story, we are inclined to agree with him about this, but is Jay Gatsby really that bad of a person? I believe Jay Gatsby is simply …show more content…
Throughout the first few chapters of the book, Jay Gatsby is surrounded by an element of mystery. Nobody knows anything about his history or how he became this mysterious rich man. Nobody evens knows why he invites everybody, often even people that he doesn’t really know, to large parties at his house every week. People around town, and even guests at his parties, often spread rumors and gossip about who he really is. I really like this idea actually. He is a wealthy, enigmatic man that does whatever he wants. While reading the book I kept thinking that if I was a wealthy man living somewhere away from my roots, this is honestly how I would like to live my life, and the best part is that you don’t even have to try hard to do it. When he moved away from North Dakota, and changed his name, he …show more content…
He has a pretty serious problem. He started out life poor, but ended up meeting a wealthy girl, Daisy, right before he was sent off to war. While he is away at war, he gets a letter from her informing him that she has given up on waiting for him, and has married a wealthy man. When he returns from his service, he decides to take advantage of the prohibition. Through bootlegging alcohol, he makes himself into a wealthy man. He uses his money to transform his life into a rich wealthy version of himself that he believes can win back Daisy’s love. He has a large mansion right across the bay from where she lives, and throws these large parties every weekend, with the idea that she might happen to come to one of them, or someone that knows her will. At this point, it is obvious that this lost love is a big problem for him. Honestly, going through the whole life transformation isn’t a bad thing, as even though he did it illegally, he is a successful self-made millionaire. If I was in his situation I wouldn’t have any problem with my life. Having some ties to organized crime from my bootlegging days might be a little problematic, but Gatsby manages to live his life of luxury without any problems springing up from his past life. In this situation I would be able to do the exact same thing.