The Great Gatsby

English Essay

In the The Great Gatsby, Gatsby's mysterious persona and illegal 'gonnegtions' depict him as one who holds material wealth in higher regard than moral decency. However, despite such corrupt ways, Gatsby was able to see the American Dream for what is was supposed to stand for. He always kept the symbolical green light in front of him and believed in promise and unlimited hope for equality and spiritual happiness. Gatsby was able to envision equality and sacred happiness through dreaming, as exemplified through the given quote. Nevertheless, Gatsby failed in his efforts to end up in that ÐŽ§secret placeЎЁ of wonder with Daisy, his ÐŽ§pap of lifeЎЁ, and it is possible that his immorality contributed to this.

GatsbyÐŽ¦s relentless pursuit of his desires contributed to his development as a character in the book, as he occasionally lost sight of the morality that should go into fulfilling his desires. Even though his dream was a valid one, to one day be with Daisy, he pursued his aspiration in an immoral fashion, without consideration of the integrity of his actions. As Gatsby proves on page 80, ÐŽ§I run a little business on the side, a sort of sideline, you understand.ЎЁ Tom Buchanon then clarifies the gravity of this business for the reader on page 127, ÐŽ§He (Gatsby) and Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter.ЎЁ Evidently, GatsbyÐŽ¦s side drug stores were illegal and, by owning them, Gatsby lacked a sense of morality. Undoubtedly, Gatsby would have had a more difficult time luring Daisy from Tom if he had not become wealthy, but by illegally attempting to fulfill his dreams, those dreams were never going to lead to true happiness from the start.

Gatsby envisioned himself in a place with spiritual and monetary comfort. In the present setting of the novel, he did have monetary comfort, but not the spiritual comfort he coveted. This is why Gatsby flaunted his belongings for Daisy in hopes of achieving this fulfillment of his desires. There were many instances in the book which show that Gatsby used his wealth to lure Daisy towards him. On page 87, Daisy asks, ÐŽ§That huge place there?ЎЁ („Ñ-referring to GatsbyÐŽ¦s house) It seemingly swept her off of her feet. On page 90, she makes another argument proving that GatsbyÐŽ¦s wealth actually did benefit him in courting Daisy. She says, ÐŽ§I adore it. The pompadour! You never told me you had a pompadour or a yacht.ЎЁ It is clear from these quotes that GatsbyÐŽ¦s plan of using wealth to woo Daisy truly worked. Noted later on in the book, Daisy admits that ÐŽ§a rich girl