Essay Sample: Theme Of Ambition In The Great Gatsby

Ambition is a motivator for future hopes and dreams, although too much ambition may lead to a loss of sight in reality. This is demonstrated in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, which tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway. In the novel, Jay Gatsby is the product of achieving the American Dream during the Roaring Twenties, using his determination to pursue his dreams of becoming a self-made wealthy man. His ambitions start to shift over to a girl from his past whom he loves, Daisy Buchanan. He will not stop at anything to gain Daisy’s affection once more and live his American Dream at the same time. Thus, Gatsby’s determination indicates that great ambition blurs the lines between perception and reality.

Despite Gatsby wanting to meet Daisy again, he’s suddenly disillusioned with the real Daisy when they reunite. He was in disbelief that he was finally meeting her once more, but her real self did not fit into the ideal person he thought she was. As Nick sees Gatsby’s sudden disillusionment, he says, “It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way”(Fitzgerald 95). Over the course of five years, Gatsby kept adding to this illusion of Daisy and believing that she has no flaws. He was building an idea of her in his head to the point where Daisy and his perception of her contrast with each other. Gatsby’s ambition solely focuses on his single goal of winning Daisy back, unaware that Daisy will never become the person he thought of in his head. In all, great ambition results in the disillusionment of a person’s goals and dreams when their head is in the clouds for too long.

 Not only does Gatsby want to win Daisy back, but he also desires to bring their whole past to the current time. At the end of one of his lavish parties, Gatsby is disappointed that Daisy did not like the party. Nick advises him that it’s impossible to repeat the past. Nick witnesses as Gatsby desperately asks, “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’ He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby’s determination to get Daisy back has made him believe that he’s able to start all over again with Daisy by erasing five years of her life. He disregards the life that Daisy built on her own by begging her to leave her husband Tom and her child, and move back to Louisville. Gatsby’s objective twists his perception of reality by desiring to bring back the past and goes too far into his ideas when he wants Daisy to leave her whole life behind. Therefore, ambition can twist people’s view of reality when left unchecked.

In brief, Gatsby’s altered perception of reality as a result of his unattainable dream of winning Daisy’s heart. His dreams overpower reality, which changes his perception of life. This results in Gatsby’s belief that he can achieve anything with just enough ambition. Gatsby’s ambition and determination will make him stop at nothing, which starts a chain of events that leads to his death. Ambition can be a double-edged sword, motivating people to achieve and go far beyond their dreams. Though ambition can corrupt one’s perception of reality by becoming single-minded to their sole goal in life, passing on any other opportunities that come up. Having excessive ambition will only result in viewing reality far from the actual truth.