The Great Gatsby Title Meaning
The Fake Gatsby
Titles come to be one of the most important parts of a book; it is the first thing we read and what gives us an overall sense of what the book will be about. Though the title of the book reads The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Gatsby is the opposite. As we view Gatsby through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator, we understand that he masks himself to be a “great” character. In reality he spends his time chasing one single dream and wasting away his life. Although he starts from not being so rich and built himself up, he deceitfully poses to be someone else and even changes his name. So Gatsby’s “greatness” is only a mask people see. All the elaborate parties, the mansion, and his whole character, only hides a very desperate version of himself yearning to reach a high status. Along with this we know that Gatsby creates lies and is involved in sketchy business. Throughout the book Gatsby lies about his identity and caters his life …show more content…
around impressing Daisy and this makes him not great, rather fake.
Gatsby is a liar, and he stretched the truth repeatedly.
One of the countless lies is that Gatsby claimed to have been schooled at Oxford, “I was … educated at Oxford because all of my family members have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition” (Fitzgerald 65). Later, it is revealed that Gatsby lied about this and countless other things. In chapter four, when Nick asks Gatsby what part of the Midwest he comes from, Gatsby answers, “San Francisco” (Fitzgerald 65), however San Francisco is not apart of the Midwest. Gatsby even changes his own name to be more appealing, “James Gatz – that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career – when he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior” (Chapter 6). Gatsby uses all of these lies to fabricate his own story. He made himself seem so interesting that it was hard not to believe
him.
We are very aware that Gatsby is madly in love with Daisy, and we are even informed that “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Chapter 3). He seems to be doing everything he can in order to impress Daisy and get her back even when she is married. He even uses Nick for his own advantage and manipulates him in order to get closer to her. Nick is the cousin of Daisy, and with this information Gatsby sends Jordan Baker to ask Nick to set up a meeting between him and Daisy. Nick asks “why didn't he ask you to arrange a meeting?' ‘He wants her to see his house,’ she explained. "And your house is right next door" (Chapter 4). Once again this proves that Gatsby does everything in his power to chase after Daisy, all his materialistic possessions were not for himself but for Daisy. Gatsby associates with foul people and does unjustified things in order to achieve what he thought was “greatness”. While there is little known about Gatsby, Tom abruptly says "He and this Wolfshiem 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"(Chapter 7). Others speculated the truth about him and many rumors circulated “ …He’s a nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his money comes from” (Fitzgerald 35). Along with this other rumors circulate about him, “He killed a man once… He was a German spy during the war” (Fitzgerald 44). Given this information we know that there are many speculations about Gatsby and that he is not actually great and his character is doubted by many. Gatsby isn't the self made millionaire that he poses to be.
Someone who creates lies about themselves in order to appeal to others is not someone I can consider to be “great”. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby, or should I say James Gatz seems to be a mysterious character and little is known about him. As rumors circulate around how he got his money, we understand that he is involved in the bootlegging business. The life he was living was purely fiction, and he created it himself in order to make it seem like an elite and appeal to Daisy. With this, he is not great, all the lies he creates makes him fake. Especially in today's world, we come across many people who have money but are not the great people they appear to be. They seem to hide in their lies and convince people and manipulate them in order to get what they desire, just as Gatsby did.
Titles come to be one of the most important parts of a book; it is the first thing we read and what gives us an overall sense of what the book will be about. Though the title of the book reads The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Gatsby is the opposite. As we view Gatsby through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator, we understand that he masks himself to be a “great” character. In reality he spends his time chasing one single dream and wasting away his life. Although he starts from not being so rich and built himself up, he deceitfully poses to be someone else and even changes his name. So Gatsby’s “greatness” is only a mask people see. All the elaborate parties, the mansion, and his whole character, only hides a very desperate version of himself yearning to reach a high status. Along with this we know that Gatsby creates lies and is involved in sketchy business. Throughout the book Gatsby lies about his identity and caters his life …show more content…
around impressing Daisy and this makes him not great, rather fake.
Gatsby is a liar, and he stretched the truth repeatedly.
One of the countless lies is that Gatsby claimed to have been schooled at Oxford, “I was … educated at Oxford because all of my family members have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition” (Fitzgerald 65). Later, it is revealed that Gatsby lied about this and countless other things. In chapter four, when Nick asks Gatsby what part of the Midwest he comes from, Gatsby answers, “San Francisco” (Fitzgerald 65), however San Francisco is not apart of the Midwest. Gatsby even changes his own name to be more appealing, “James Gatz – that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career – when he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior” (Chapter 6). Gatsby uses all of these lies to fabricate his own story. He made himself seem so interesting that it was hard not to believe
him.
We are very aware that Gatsby is madly in love with Daisy, and we are even informed that “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Chapter 3). He seems to be doing everything he can in order to impress Daisy and get her back even when she is married. He even uses Nick for his own advantage and manipulates him in order to get closer to her. Nick is the cousin of Daisy, and with this information Gatsby sends Jordan Baker to ask Nick to set up a meeting between him and Daisy. Nick asks “why didn't he ask you to arrange a meeting?' ‘He wants her to see his house,’ she explained. "And your house is right next door" (Chapter 4). Once again this proves that Gatsby does everything in his power to chase after Daisy, all his materialistic possessions were not for himself but for Daisy. Gatsby associates with foul people and does unjustified things in order to achieve what he thought was “greatness”. While there is little known about Gatsby, Tom abruptly says "He and this Wolfshiem 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"(Chapter 7). Others speculated the truth about him and many rumors circulated “ …He’s a nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his money comes from” (Fitzgerald 35). Along with this other rumors circulate about him, “He killed a man once… He was a German spy during the war” (Fitzgerald 44). Given this information we know that there are many speculations about Gatsby and that he is not actually great and his character is doubted by many. Gatsby isn't the self made millionaire that he poses to be.
Someone who creates lies about themselves in order to appeal to others is not someone I can consider to be “great”. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby, or should I say James Gatz seems to be a mysterious character and little is known about him. As rumors circulate around how he got his money, we understand that he is involved in the bootlegging business. The life he was living was purely fiction, and he created it himself in order to make it seem like an elite and appeal to Daisy. With this, he is not great, all the lies he creates makes him fake. Especially in today's world, we come across many people who have money but are not the great people they appear to be. They seem to hide in their lies and convince people and manipulate them in order to get what they desire, just as Gatsby did.