Characters of The Great Gatsby Literature Essay Example

 F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel The Great Gatsby. The novel includes multiple main themes and numerous types of unique and lifelike characters. Jay Gatsby is the protagonist, a wealthy man who sets his life around for one desire, one goal, that he truly wants; to reconnect with Daisy Buchanan who he loved five years ago.

At the start of the novel, Gatsby is introduced as a mysterious character since people make rumors, his frequent absences of leaving mid-conversations, and the missing parts of his background. Nick, a character who is being introduced about Gatsby, hears rumors about Gatsby, such as “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once”(pg 44). Nobody knows much about Gatsby or knows where any of his wealth came from. Hearing rumors about Gatsby makes the characters in the novel not have any trust in who he is. But his wealth and power overcame his mysterious personality by reason of his success in his life. “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away”(pg 2). People view Gatsby as a successful man who is living the life. The characters admire Gatsby for the fact that he seeks what everyone else desires. There is not enough information about Gatsby apart from him being a wealthy and successful person but deeper into the novel, Nick finds out about Gatsby’s love relationship.

Throughout the novel, Nick and Gatsby build growth with their friendship and later on finds out that Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Deeper into the conversation it is revealed that Gatsby and Daisy were in love with each other five years ago. "I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night," went on Jordan, "but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found. It was that night he sent for me at his dance, and you should have heard the elaborate way he worked up to it”(pg 79). Gatsby's reason for his fancy parties was to re-meet Daisy. He is obsessed with trying to look for Daisy so that he can rekindle his past with her. After the two eventually meet each other, Gatsby gives Daisy a tour of his mansion to show her his vast wealth. “I adore it,” exclaimed Daisy. “The pompadour! You never told me you had a pompadour — or a yacht.” “Look at this,” said Gatsby quickly. “Here’s a lot of clippings — about you. They stood side by side examining it. I was going to ask to see the rubies when the phone rang, and Gatsby took up the receiver.“Yes… . well, I can’t talk now… . I can’t talk now, old sport… . I said a SMALL town… . he must know what a small town is… . well, he’s no use to us if Detroit is his idea of a small town… .” He rang off”(pg 93). Daisy is in awe at Gatsby’s wealth. Gatsby ignoring calls and wanting to spend time with Daisy shows that he might be obsessed with Daisy. Meaning that Gatsby cannot live his life without Daisy seeing that she is an aura of perfection to him and that he has been in love with her when they were younger. As the novel progresses the truth about Gatsby finally comes out.

Furthermore, Nick discovers that Gatsby’s background was false and finds out the truth about who he is. “He might have despised himself, for he had certainly taken her under false pretenses. I don’t mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself — that he was fully able to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities — he had no comfortable family standing behind him, and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to be blown anywhere about the world”(pg 149). He lied about who he was for the fact that he was ashamed of his past and tried to keep it a secret from everyone. He lied about his wealth to convince Daisy that he deserved to love her. Nick also finds out where all of Gatsby’s money was made illegally through bootlegging, someone who makes/sells alcohol illegally. “I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong” (pg 133). Tom sees Gatsby as a deceitful person who has been telling people lies about himself. Gatsby created illusions about his success and has been hiding his true reality. These character traits are what define Gatsby’s image in the novel.

Gatsby was a damaged character that was living a lie for the majority of his life. He had an optimistic life, but his refusal to live in reality, later on, led to his death. Jay Gatsby’s character trait was unique and lifelike.