This paper will discuss the character of Jay Gatsby in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Specific attention will be given to the ways in which Gatsby serves as a mythical embodiment of the American dream. One way in which Gatsby represents the American dream is through his status as a self-made millionaire with a mysterious source of wealth. In addition, his quest for the love of Daisy Fay can be seen as a symbol of the quest for the American dream. In the book, Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy ends in failure because of his inability to deal with his past. Gatsby's failure in this novel can be seen as a lesson by analogy for all those in pursuit of the American dream. Thus, this paper, will show that the character, of Jay Gatsby and his quest for the love of the unattainable Daisy represent the ultimate failure of the American dream.
The Great Gatsby is a novel that takes place on two levels. On one level, it is the story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby as told through the eyes of his friend and neighbor, Nick Carraway. It is the story of Jay Gatsby's corrupt past, his efforts to win back the love of Daisy Fay, his taking the blame when Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle Wilson, and his death at the hands of Myrtle's husband. On another level however, The Great Gatsby is a commentary on the American dream as Fitzgerald perceived it in the mid-1920s. In this regard, the character of Jay Gatsby can be seen as a mythical image of the American dream. Jay Gatsby's mythical qualities in the novel include the fact that his past is shrouded in mystery. Fitzgerald indicates only that Gatsby rejected the rural lifestyle of his parents and created a new life for himself. As such, he writes that Gatsby "sprang from his Platonic conception of himself . . . 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" (99).
In th...