Literature
The events of the novel took place at summer time in 1922 when Nick Carraway went to New York where he worked as a bond salesman. This was the time when he came back from the war and graduating from Yale. This was the time when he met Jay Gatsby in West Egg. It was then when he witnessed the rise and fall of Gatsby, as he made a reflection of his life by saying: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 65). Nick met Gatsby during one of the parties he attended one Saturday night in the Gothic mansion where Gatsby lives. Nick views Gatsby as a man who started out from a poor family and eventually became wealthy over the years. However, he also saw the downfall of Gatsby when he killed by George who had mistaken him as his wife’s paramour. This was illustrated in Nick’s statement when he said “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly” (Fitzgerald 47).
Although Gatsby was a self-made man and became prominent in society by being the host of lavish, he carried a mysterious past before his fame and glory. Gatsby’s wealth, power and success came from illegal activities. Gatsby was a man who is made from crime by doing criminal activities such as bootlegging of alcohol (Bloom 48). He achieved his dream and became successful by accumulating riches and wealth. However, Gatby’s only failure is when he could not be with the woman he loved with all his heart because his old flame Daisy was already married to Tom (Gross and Gross 23). Gatsby is the reflection of the American dream because as a young man, of thirty years he rose from poverty and became to envy of other people. He achieved wealthy by engaging himself in an organized crime group that traded illegal alcohol and sold stolen securities (Fitzgerald 4).
Even if Gatsby became a millionaire with massive wealth and properties but his past continued to haunt him. His humble beginnings came back to him even if he reached the peak of his career as a criminal. When he was still young, he despised poverty and yearned to become part of the upper crust. He did not finish college degree because he loathed his janitorial job in order to finance his tuition fee. His motivation in becoming rich and successful was his great love for Daisy Buchanan. In 1917, when he was still a young military officer during the World War I, he met Daisy and fell in love with her instantly because of her beauty, grace, and sophistication (Fitzgerald 45). He pursued Daisy and had to deceive her of his true background to prove that he worthy of her love. Daisy loved him back and swore that she will wait for him after the war. This was the biggest failure in the life of Gatsby because Daisy married Tom Buchanan in 1919. At that time, Gatsby returned from the war to complete his education. Gatsby was devastated when Daisy married Tom and he swore that he will do everything to win him back.
Gatsby worked hard to earn his millions to impress Daisy and win her back when he bought the mansion in West Egg where he will hold his fancy parties. Through the help of Nick he achieved his dream of rekindling his relationship with Daisy. When they had an affair, his dream became a reality. After five years, Nick narrated that there were “moments during that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of Gatsby’s dreams, not because of her fault, but due to the colossal vitality of his illusion” (Fitzgerald 65). Daisy kept their affair from Tom, Daisy’s husband, Gatsby met his inevitable end when he was killed by George. It became a tragic end for Gatsby since despite the fame, fortune and luxury he achieved in his life, his past came back running after him that caused his own death. He engaged in criminal activities to amass wealth (Bloom 49). This represents Gatsby’s boat which he used to ride to protect himself from the current. However, despite having the strongest boat, the current still swept him away back to where he originally came from. The means that he used to gain his fortune was by committing crimes. Gatsby disregarded the law and was not afraid of the consequences as long as he amassed his money. The rationale behind Gatsby’s desire to earn more wealth is to impress his lady love, who was already married to someone else. The fact that he can no longer spend the rest of his life with Daisy shattered his dreams and became his motivation to rise above the rest. He became friends with powerful men and sophisticated women by working his way to become a celebrity in town. Despite becoming a famous celebrity in town and earning the respect of high society, his dark secret soon was exposed. It was made known to all that the source of his wealth was derived from criminal dealings. Analyzing his life, Gatsby can be perceived as an innocent, young man who was full of hope and was willing to do everything to achieve his dreams no matter how hard it will take. Gatsby invested all his efforts by wanting to be with Daisy for the rest of his life. Daisy became his ultimate dream and became blinded by his great love for her and gave in to corruption and worldly desires. The dream of Gatsby was disintegrated since he used unlawful means to achieve his goal. The morale of this story is that no matter how hard a man tries to achieve his goal, the end will not justify the means if it was done through corruption and wrong doing since man becomes undeserving of his goal (Bloom 48).
Works Cited:
Bloom, Harold. The Great Gatsby. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. Print.
Fritzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Urban Romantics, 2012. Print.
Gross, Dalton and Gross, Mary Jean. Understanding the Great Gatsby. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1998. Print.
Lathbury, Roger. The Great Gatsby. USA: Gale Group, 2000. Print.
