There are two ways to view the following statement; that’s great. Great could be truthful, referring to how good something was or it could be sarcastic referring to how it not as good as one had hoped. People have different views of this statement every time it is spoken. The title of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby seems to evoke this same question about the main character. While this is a question anyone could have an opinion on, there is a lot of evidence to point to why the titular character is not as “great” as everyone makes him out to be. This is why the title of Fitzgerald’s novel is more sarcastic than truthful. The entire basis of the novel is that Gatsby has gotten to where he is by lying and cheating his way
…show more content…
It is an interesting case at that, the story of a man who becomes everything he had ever hoped to be. Except, he still wants that which he cannot have; Daisy. This desperation to obtain Daisy for himself is what controls Gatsby’s entire being. He lives across from her, and every night he looks at the green light coming from the end of the dock. His infatuation with her is borderline obsessive and strikes the question does he really love her? The reader is brought to believe that everything Gatsby has done, in some ways, has all been for Daisy. For her affection, so that she will love him more than she liked the poor James Gatz. One article explains that Gatsby is a narcissist. This means that “the ego-ideal becomes inflated and destructive because it is filled with images of ‘perfection and omnipotence’” (Mitchell). Gatsby is explained in two different categories. He desires a perfect life which is why he is always throwing these big parties and having people come who he hardly talks to. Gatsby always wants to impress these people, he wants to come off as if he has the perfect life any person could imagine, even if he doesn’t associate with it completely. He’s infatuated with Daisy, the woman who he could not have years ago, but now with his perfect life he believes it to be possible. He buys people with …show more content…
There is even “no evidence in the novel that Gatsby feels any moral conflict about urging Daisy to marry him” (Mitchell). Not even just marry him, but to “marry into a life supported by criminal activities” (Mitchell). There is no logical reason Daisy, a woman who has married into the life of luxury with Tom, would want to leave him and go on to be with and live off of the money that Gatsby got illegally. Even though Daisy does not know that Gatsby’s money was made through illegal and criminal activities, there are many points in which it is alluded to that this is how Gatsby has made his money. However, one of the other points Mitchell makes is that it is of “crucial importance to note that Gatsby evinces no conscious sense of guilt for deceiving Daisy”. Despite the fact that Gatsby eventually takes the blame for what has been done with Myrtle, despite Daisy being the one who was driving, there is no reasonable proof that he actually felt bad for her so he took the blame. Gatsby is a character that people talk about a
It is an interesting case at that, the story of a man who becomes everything he had ever hoped to be. Except, he still wants that which he cannot have; Daisy. This desperation to obtain Daisy for himself is what controls Gatsby’s entire being. He lives across from her, and every night he looks at the green light coming from the end of the dock. His infatuation with her is borderline obsessive and strikes the question does he really love her? The reader is brought to believe that everything Gatsby has done, in some ways, has all been for Daisy. For her affection, so that she will love him more than she liked the poor James Gatz. One article explains that Gatsby is a narcissist. This means that “the ego-ideal becomes inflated and destructive because it is filled with images of ‘perfection and omnipotence’” (Mitchell). Gatsby is explained in two different categories. He desires a perfect life which is why he is always throwing these big parties and having people come who he hardly talks to. Gatsby always wants to impress these people, he wants to come off as if he has the perfect life any person could imagine, even if he doesn’t associate with it completely. He’s infatuated with Daisy, the woman who he could not have years ago, but now with his perfect life he believes it to be possible. He buys people with …show more content…
There is even “no evidence in the novel that Gatsby feels any moral conflict about urging Daisy to marry him” (Mitchell). Not even just marry him, but to “marry into a life supported by criminal activities” (Mitchell). There is no logical reason Daisy, a woman who has married into the life of luxury with Tom, would want to leave him and go on to be with and live off of the money that Gatsby got illegally. Even though Daisy does not know that Gatsby’s money was made through illegal and criminal activities, there are many points in which it is alluded to that this is how Gatsby has made his money. However, one of the other points Mitchell makes is that it is of “crucial importance to note that Gatsby evinces no conscious sense of guilt for deceiving Daisy”. Despite the fact that Gatsby eventually takes the blame for what has been done with Myrtle, despite Daisy being the one who was driving, there is no reasonable proof that he actually felt bad for her so he took the blame. Gatsby is a character that people talk about a