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Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby Essay

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“A man’s dreams are an index to his greatness” -Zadok Rabinwitz

Jay Gatsby lives for his dreams. His dedication to making his dreams a reality, self-made fortune and social prestige, and the unquestionable love for Daisy Buchanan result in Jay Gatsby’s greatness. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, one can determine the world’s view of what greatness truly is. Jay Gatsby is not born great, nor is greatness thrust upon him, but he achieved greatness. Jay Gatsby represents the American Dream: life, loyalty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Jay Gatsby dedicates his life to make his hopes and desires real. Jay Gatsby started his life out in the mid-west, as an ordinary, lower class citizen. However, Jay Gatsby did not grow up …show more content…

Gatsby was employed by Dan Cody doing various jobs and during that time, became close friends with one another, and each had a trust with one another (Fitzgerald 100). Cody showed Gatsby the lavish things in life, and Gatsby held a tight grip on them and made them his lifelong aspirations. Dan Cody evokes in Jay Gatsby the appreciation for wealth. “To young Gatz, resting on his oars and looking up at the railed deck, that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world” (Fitzgerald 100). Jay Gatsby stares in amazement at Cody’s possessions, in Gatsby eyes, being corpulent in wealth and power causes bigger and better things for one’s self. The greatness of Gatsby comes through the willingness he has to make his dreams a success. Jay Gatsby’s dreams are the reason for his existence, and his purpose in life. Jay Gatsby’s is well known throughout New York for being wealthy and powerful. When somebody mentions Gatsby’s name, everyone knows who they are talking about. Gatsby throws extravagant, factious, lavish parties for people of high social status. Gatsby has servants, gardeners, caterers, and live music. Superficiality ran through the veins of those who attend Gatsby’s soiree. The men, known as the Mr. Mumble’s, have girls, barely of age, hanging off their arms, husbands and wives fighting, people getting roaring drunk, men flaunting their wealth

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