Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel, is a self-made successful man who tries to prove that one can achieve wealth through determination and hard work. He spends all his energy and time to capture the American dream.
Coming from a poor and unsuccessful family, and being the son of “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”(p. 63), Gatsby overcomes his origin and social barriers and tries to make the best of his personality, working hard on his character in order to become a great man, an American hero. Ever since he was young, Gatsby was obsessed with the idea to re-create himself, as he had an anti-sample in his mind, that of his parents. Owing to his perseverance, Gatsby succeeds. The absolute following of the program of self-improvement, which was taken in smallest detail from B. Franklin's Autobiography, bears its fruits - an ordinary poor boy finally turns into a millionaire. His father recalls later: “ Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he's got about improving his mind? He was always great for that' (p. 110) . Not being able to accept his parents and his roots, Gatsby changes his name, refining it and making it suitable for the modern life with new standards and values. Therefore, he leaves a poor boy James Gatz behind and starts a new chapter of his life named “Jay Gatsby”. By having created a new personality in his imagination, Gatsby visualizes his dream and becomes that hero, who is the invention of his imagination and who is purposeful, self-disciplined and, therefore, successful and wealthy.
The main reason why Gatsby strives to achieve material success is to conquer his lost beloved Daisy again. Once they had a love affair, but the difference in the social status prevented them to marry each other. Gatsby leaves Daisy but not the hope to once gain wealth and reach her standards, and by these means marry her. As soon as he