Theme Of Invention In The Great Gatsby

The great Nelson Mandela said, “There is no passion to be found playing small--in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”. Reinvention is possible for anyone willing to try and is what some might say keeps them interesting and content with their lives. Throughout The Great Gatsby, many of the characters like Gatsby, Daisy and Nick undergo changes in order to reinvent or better themselves. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the idea that reinvention is the key to happiness and success in one’s life.

Firstly, Gatsby tries to completely reinvent himself in order to improve his life so that he can gain his one true happiness, Daisy Buchanan. Foremost, everything Gatsby did including reinventing …show more content…
Namely, Nick comes from pretty much nothing, and even his family tried to reinvent themselves in order to get ahead in life. When Nick describes his family he says, “The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather’s brother, who came here in fifty­one, sent a substitute to the Civil War, and started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on to­day” (3). Clearly, Nick is not proud of where he comes from and wants to change himself. Next, Nick wanted to improve his life by moving out of the mid­west and changing his occupation. Nick expresses his motive by saying, “Instead of being the warm center of the world, the Middle west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe­ so I decided to go East and learn the bond business” (3). Evidently, Nick believes that in order to achieve personal happiness he must move and start a new life for himself. Finally, when Nick attends a party at Tom and Myrtle’s apartment, he gets drunk, which is something very uncommon to his past life. He describes his condition at the party as, “ I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon” (29). This shows that Nick is trying to fit into the fast paced city lifestyle which is previously unknown to him, as he is from the midwest. To sum up, Nick reinvents himself in order to forget his past and assimilate to his new life in West Egg.

In conclusion, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the idea that reinvention is the key to happiness and success in one’s life. Gatsby reinvents himself in order to forget his past and be with Daisy. Daisy reinvents herself to maintain her wealth and Nick reinvents himself to conform to the people of East and West Egg. In the end, all three characters realize true