The Not So Great Gatsby Essay Research

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The Not So Great Gatsby Essay, Research Paper The Superficial Gatsby In the novel entitled The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is at times made out to be better than us. At first glance he is sophisticated, using big words and claiming that he is an Oxford man. But when we look closer we can easily see that this man is a farce. Much of this man has been shrouded in mystery. We know very little about his past until later in the book. We don t know where he was born, who his parents are, or where all of his money came from. He frequently disappears form Nick s view seemingly without a trace. All of these things make him out to be somebody of real importance but by looking closely we can gather an abundance of evidence to the contrary. We see that he is just a man

looking for the lost love of his life, Daisy. He is a man looking for the American dream and when he does not find it, we see at last that he is just like the rest of us. The word great is somewhat vague in meaning. Whether someone is great or not often times depends on the person judging them. My personal beliefs as far as greatness are concerned are not very complicated. When I think of someone who is or was great, I think of Jackie Robinson, Louis Armstrong, and Albert Einstein. These are all people who affected the way we live and have changed our society as a whole for the better. My parents are great; my teachers are great, and my coaches are great. All of those people have a lot of influence directly over me and they are always changing me for the better. A truly great

person has to make sacrifices and be very brave. Jackie Robinson was the first black person to enter the major leagues. To face the kind of racism that he faced and still perform the way he did is a feat hat I don t think I could do. His bravery and grace under pressure has earned him a place among the greats. He is a wonderful example of greatness, and there are many more like him. Not everyone has the same kind of standard for greatness as I do. Another part of being great is growing up from an impoverished background. Some people, like the two kids who murdered thirteen kids at Littleton High, think that Hitler was a great man. Some people think that Stalin and Milosevic are great. These dictators did not rise to power without support from other people. People fought and died

for these tyrants because (most times) they thought they were great. It is my belief that Daisy led Gatsby on. She turned out to be a contemptible person who only used to love him but lacked the strength of character to tell him that. In chapter seven Daisy tells Tom that she never loved him but she ends up ditching Gatsby for him. She is too easily pushed around by Tom. If she had told him that earlier maybe he would have listened to her and done something else with his life. He has the potential to be very great. He had the character traits of a good leader. He was very charismatic, and thought things out carefully before jumping into them. We know he could have been a good leader because of his experience in the army. If he d lived on he d have been a great man. A man like

James J. Hill. He d of helped build up the country (176). But when he really thought that he could get at Daisy, he went after her and in the process changed some lives but not necessarily for the better. Daisy will never forget what Gatsby did for her in taking the blame for Myrtle s death. Nick found out that perhaps it is impossible to achieve that American dream. There are a lot of places where Gatsby could be considered a great man. In chapter three we find out that he throws parties for people he does not even know on a regular basis. He gives them food and wine and something that will make their lives a little more enjoyable if only for for one night. He also buys a girl he does not know well an evening dress to wear to his parties.He is for the most part a very kind