Character Analysis of Jay Gatsby in F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby Paper
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is told from the perspective of one of the main characters, Nick Carraway. Nick tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, who is his neighbor in the West Egg. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a man who everyone wants to know and copy but deep down are very envious of him. Gatsby trusts few people and those whom he trusts know his life story. To everyone else, he is a mystery. Everyone seems obsessed with Jay Gatsby. For this reason the novel revolves about rumors of Gatsby rather than the truth. Nick Carraway and another character named Jordan Baker are two people whom Gatsby trusts. But even these two characters question some of the rumors about Gatsby. Carraway and Baker question whether Gatsby really attended Oxford University. It is not until another character, Mr.Wolfshiem, confirms it that he did attend Oxford that Nick decides it must be true. Gatsby is also one of those people who is often associated with a lot of rumors. Catherine, the sister of Tom Buchanan's mistress, says "Well, they say he's a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's. That's where all his money comes from"(pg.37). The guests of Mr. Gatsby's parties also suspect him of murdering a man. Many of the rumors have to do with a woman Gatsby is obsessed with named Daisy Buchanan. This shows that this book is either a love story or a character study of Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald not only makes Gatsby a mystery to the other characters in the novel but to the readers as well. He is not sure if the reader can be trusted yet, so by keeping Gatsby mysterious Fitzgerald can later decide if he wants to share the truth. This shows that there are two main types of rumors that the other characters spread around. The ones about strictly Gatsby's past life, and the ones about him and Daisy. Before Nick Carraway meets Gatsby, Gatsby and Daisy had a brief relationship. Gatsby unfortunately had to leave for war but begged Daisy to
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is told from the perspective of one of the main characters, Nick Carraway. Nick tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, who is his neighbor in the West Egg. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a man who everyone wants to know and copy but deep down are very envious of him. Gatsby trusts few people and those whom he trusts know his life story. To everyone else, he is a mystery. Everyone seems obsessed with Jay Gatsby. For this reason the novel revolves about rumors of Gatsby rather than the truth. Nick Carraway and another character named Jordan Baker are two people whom Gatsby trusts. But even these two characters question some of the rumors about Gatsby. Carraway and Baker question whether Gatsby really attended Oxford University. It is not until another character, Mr.Wolfshiem, confirms it that he did attend Oxford that Nick decides it must be true. Gatsby is also one of those people who is often associated with a lot of rumors. Catherine, the sister of Tom Buchanan's mistress, says "Well, they say he's a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's. That's where all his money comes from"(pg.37). The guests of Mr. Gatsby's parties also suspect him of murdering a man. Many of the rumors have to do with a woman Gatsby is obsessed with named Daisy Buchanan. This shows that this book is either a love story or a character study of Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald not only makes Gatsby a mystery to the other characters in the novel but to the readers as well. He is not sure if the reader can be trusted yet, so by keeping Gatsby mysterious Fitzgerald can later decide if he wants to share the truth. This shows that there are two main types of rumors that the other characters spread around. The ones about strictly Gatsby's past life, and the ones about him and Daisy. Before Nick Carraway meets Gatsby, Gatsby and Daisy had a brief relationship. Gatsby unfortunately had to leave for war but begged Daisy to
Bibliography: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925