The Not So Great Gatsby Essay Example

The gold streamers and silver confetti falling from the ceiling. Girls wearing shiny flashy silver dresses, and alcohol getting sloshed around from corner to corner. The music has been blaring for hours and most people are starting to feel the alcohol kick in. This party was held in the biggest mansion in town, and the mansion was Jay Gatsby’s. Nick Carraway described Mr.Gatsby as great. The Great Gatsby is a book that was written in the 1920s era.  Jay Gatsby was not great. Gatsby was only famous for his wealth, parties, and alcohol. Mr.Gatsby was also a criminal. Jay Gatsby was also in love with his past lover Daisy. He was drowning in his love life. Daisy was married to another man but, Jay Gatsby wanted to be with Daisy. Jay Gatsby was ruining a marriage. Those are only some reasons why Jay Gatsby is not great. 

 Jay Gatsby was drowning in his love life. Gatsby was in love with his lover from his past. Since Gatsby and Daisy had been in love, Daisy has gotten married and had a child. Mr. Gatsby is pale as death, “with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes" (Fitzgerald) Nick says this when Daisy and Gatsby were about to meet for the first time since they left each other. This signifies that he is drowning in his love life because they are now just getting together. Gatsby had wanted incredibly long for one girl. Another quote from the text says, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion" ( Fitzgerald 132)  The quote is explaining that Gatsby dreamed of Daisy all of the time, but he had not seen Daisy for years. The quote also has Nick questioning if Daisy was that amazing. Gatsby has only focused on one woman for a long time. If Gatsby was great he would already have a lover, but he waited for Daisy and she is in love with Tom. It is quite sad that Gatsby relies on a girl for his happiness. He pretended to be someone he was not because he was so desperate for Daisy. Therefore Jay Gatsby is drowning in his love life and relying on Daisy for happiness. Jay Gatsby is not great.

Many people were getting cheated on throughout The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby was ruining a marriage. Gatsby was having Daisy cheat on Tom. Gatsby talked a lot about the pass “and I gathered that he wanted to recover something,some idea of himself perhaps, that gone into loving Daisy.” (Fitzgerald) Gatsby wanted to recreate the past love he had with Daisy. The problem is that Daisy had been married. Gatsby wed forever, “his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (Fitzgerald) This quote says that Gatsby had only ever dreamed of Daisy, but now he has a reality of her. It is sad that Gatsby had Daisy cheat on her husband with him. Cheating on on your husband was such a bad thing to do. A great person would have confidence and pride in themself to find someone else. Gatsby should have let Daisy be happy with Tom, but apparently Gatsby needed her all to himself. Daisy and Tom only got married because of wealth. I also think that Gatsby wasonly going to marry Daisy for wealth. If he truly loved her Gatsby would let her be happy, and stay in her family with Tom. This is why if Jay Gatsby was truly great he would not be trying to get with Daisy, and ruining her marriage along with that. For that reason, Jay Gatsby is not great.

Jay Gatsby is a criminal and people use him for his money. Not the type of criminal that is robbing banks, and then gets caught by the police. The rich criminal who gets away with everything and tips the police off. Gatsby took the white card, “from his wallet, he waved it before the man’s eyes.” (Fitzgerald) This quote is important because during this time in the book Gatsby was getting pulled over. He had shown the police officer a white card meaning that he would pay him, if he let him go. This is one of the crimes Mr.Gatsby committed. This is unfair because he should have got charged with the ticket for speeding. If Gatsby was poor he would have had to pay for the ticket, and he would have probably went to jail for it. Since Gatsby was rich and pribeliged he did not get anything for it. The way Gatsby was earning money was also a crime. Jay Gatsby was a bootlegger. In the 1920s prohibition was happening in New York. That is when alcohol was illegal to sell and drink. Jay Gatsby ran an illegal business and sold alcohol to the public. Gatsby would provide gallons of alcohol for everyone to drink because it was illegal. During the 1920s prohibition was happening, so alcohol was banned from any use. In Gatsby’s blue gardens, “men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” (Harvey) This quote shows that people would come and go all of the time. The quotes use moths as imagery as people swarm at Gatsby’s house. Everyone missed alcohol, so most people would go to Gatsbys’ to get drunk. Nick spent his Saturday nights, “in New York because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter, faint and incessant, from his garden, and the cars going up and down the drive.” (Fitzgerald) This quote is important because it shows how big these parties actually were. New York is quite a big city most of the residents would come to Gatsbys party. Gatsbys parties were huge you could see them all over town. The parties were an example of Gatsby’s wealth and a place where everyone could go and get drunk. People only came to the party because of all of the alcohol, not because they liked Gatsby. Gatsby would have some many things at his parties such as a live orchestra, swimming pool, tons of food, and the buffets being in tents. The guests only came to drink, dance,and listen to music. 

Jay Gatsby is not great. Great people have many successes and money. Jay Gatsby does have a lot of money to go around. Jay Gatsby does not have a lot of success. The  only thing he has succeed in is bootlegging. Gatsby was also trying to get in between of Daisy and Tom. Jay Gatsby is also out of luck with his love life. He relies on Daisy for his happiness. Gatsby wants to go back to Daisy, but he is in between a marriage Therefore, in the end, Jay Gatsby is not great. Another crime is that Gatsby committed was adultery. Jay Gatsby seemed like a great guy with all of his riches and fame, but in the end we see that he loses everything and then dies. Most people might say that James Gatsby is because of the bootlegging, but at the end of the day he is not.