Jay Gatsbys Inability to Life to the Fullest - Essay Example

English 101 25 May Jay Gatsby: Inability to Life to the Fullest “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” (Fitzgerald 41). This observation of Gatsby’s character from the viewpoint of Nick Carraway in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the mysterious nature of Gatsby’s character. To Nick, this quote dissects Gatsby’s personality and makes sense why the external world perceives him the way they do. Gatsby’s smile shows off his magnetic nature as well as giving the person receiving that smile the power of feeling special. Anyone who meets Gatsby cannot help to see only the good in him. What Gatsby does not realize is that his present life can never be fulfilled if he continues to live in his past. Gatsby puts overwhelming pressure on himself to live a certain way as a means to capture his true love’s heart, but ruins any chance of having a future in the meanwhile. A rags-to-riches story, Gatsby pulled himself out of the slums and now lives a life of luxury, throwing lavish parties in hopes to draw Daisy to one so that he can have a chance to win her love again. Anyone who is anyone knows of Gatsby’s lavish parties. He is notorious in New York as the man who has everything. Unfortunately, the means in which he was able to do it by was through bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities, according to Tom, when he tells Daisy, “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong,” (Fitzgerald 282-290) as a desperate plea to convince her to stay with him. The truth is that Gatsby is a criminal. In fact, his real name is James Gatz. This criminal past trying to be erased by a new persona adds to the illusion that Gatsby lives a better life that he created for himself and also reinforces that it is one that can never lead to a lifetime of happiness. Gatsby’s “front” of being this person that he is not has backfired. Even when Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy “never loved” him and only married Tom because he was “poor and tired of waiting” for him (Fitzgerald, 146) in front of Daisy, Daisy isn’t too quick to agree. Gatsby’s delusion that Daisy never loved anyone else but him goes to show that Gatsby could never live in reality. Gatsby’s misconception of Daisy’s love for him is holding him back. Nick sees that Gatsby has hope and loves Daisy. But the world is not perfect for the relationship to exist. Nick is able to see the flaw of hope the first time he meets Gatsby and accepts this as part of his personality when he “got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (Fitzgerald, 51). Gatsby is concerned with having a fulfilled future and chooses Daisy to try to achieve that aspiration he has for himself. However, Gatsby is just an immature boy who has become infatuated with Daisy. Gatsby is stuck in his young years when he is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s dramatic aspect of his personality is self-created as a way to prove to Daisy that he has the capability to be a man of substance. His perseverance allows him to go to far extremes but it is still a false impression, not worthy of a future. Gatsby has already proved to himself and to Daisy that he is successful and he shares this with Daisy by showing her his possessions, including luxurious English shirts. While it appears that Gatsby wins Daisy’s affection, it’s only for a short time, further proving that it is merely hope for her that exists. This is not enough to keep her and for him to live a full life. Gatsby’s love for Daisy made him be a better person- he is loyal, charitable and a go-getter, but yet, he leads a life left in conflict because it is only material things that he has but no substance. Nick’s point of view of Gatsby both adores and criticizes him. Nick sees through Gatsby’s flashy lifestyle and lying and cheating but on the other hand he can’t help but want to be like him and has a high regard for him. “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself (Fitzgerald, 104). Nick goes on to say that he “invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald, 104). Gatsby is motivated to succeed because he came from nothing, while Daisy has always had money. Nick comes to this conclusion and is aware that Gatsby could never get over the “old rich” as reckless because Tom and Daisy were “careless people” and “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that let them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made,” (Fitzgerald 180). This obstacle of never being able to bridge the coming into money gap is another reason why Gatsby would never be fully able to live a fulfilled life. Despite the fact that Gatsby is everything he despises, Nick cannot help but believe that Gatsby’s heart was in the right place when he says, “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock…his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him” (Fitzgerald 182). Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy is an illusion. Having the notion that Gatsby would someday live happily ever after with Daisy is Gatsby’s greatest character flaw. Perhaps the greatest illusion is why Gatsby is called “The Great Gatsby.” The life that Gatsby is living is based on the life that is necessary to win Daisy and by the same token is the one that Gatsby could never meet her standards on. Gatsby is “Great” because he has hope. This hope also disguises who he is. Gatsby’s life of illusion that he surrounds himself with and the lies of being an Oxford man to inheriting money from his father to Daisy never loving anyone else but him firms the conclusion that Gatsby can never live his life to the fullest. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F.S. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 2004. Print. Read More