Saturday, August 3, 2019
How much do we learn about Gatsbys character and how is it revealed Es
How much do we learn about Gatsby's character and how is it revealed to us? Throughout The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby appears to be motivated by the pursuit of wealth and a life with Daisy, but how does this show up his character? What we know about Gatsby is severely limited by the information that Carraway, who himself only meets Gatsby at the start of the novel, feeds to us. During the short summer, in which the book takes place, our information is limited by the format of the story i.e. the first person viewpoint limits what we know about Gatsby. We can tell through the way that he acts in his pursuit of Daisy that he is ultimately a shy, reclusive person who will try anything in order to meet his old love. But the first knowledge of when Gatsby first met Daisy at Camp Taylor, before he went to Europe, was at the beginning of the chapter in which he was killed. During this period, he was in the company of many rich and successful officers who all wanted to be with her. In going out with Daisy, Gatsby had proved that he could have a relationship with a person from a more privileged background than he had. The fact that he falsified his wealth in order to become acquainted with her shows that he is longing for a trophy of success that capturing Daisy's heart will bring him. The way that he asks Carraway to arrange a meeting between himself and Daisy is strong proof of this link. Soon it becomes apparent that Gatsby wishes his relationship to return to the state that it was before he left to fight in Europe during the war. This is demonstrated by the quote, 'Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!'. These words from Gatsby demonstrate a very profound wish for his relationship with Daisy to be as i... ...e. As Carraway puts it, 'They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made'. Such a strong statement fully shows how these people could have taken in Gatsby. Trying to hide business dealings cast doubt for the reader but for any man to go to all the trouble of arranging to meet his true love shows his romantic side. One thing that this novel shows to the reader is that although Carraway is told some details by Gatsby, what we know eventually turns into a great deal of information. I believe that Gatsby is overall a good person trying desperately to achieve the two things that his life has desired - Daisy and the pursuit of money, which were denied to him earlier.
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