Greatness is a trait that one achieves through honesty and self-fulfillment. Illustrious people are usually those who leave a legacy in a positive way, allowing individuals to obtain morals from those great people’s lives. In this way, the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a contradictory title for the novel because the character being described as great, Jay Gatsby, does not satisfy the requirements to be judged as a great man. Fitzgerald ironically creates a character that opposes the entire essence of obtaining prominence in the high living society of the 1920s. Since Gatsby is the antithesis of greatness, he represents and possess all the features of failure. As the story progresses, Gatsby becomes entangled with the idea …show more content…
In order to complete the dream of having Daisy, he had to “convince Daisy of his worthiness” by being a “dandy who buys expensive merchandise” (Bloom). Ultimately, this newly rich man uses his possessions as a way to mislead Daisy into loving him. In turn, the love he receives is materialistic; it is only for his appearance as a wealthy man. Gatsby’s house is one way in which he becomes infatuated with wealth, and loses his focus upon what really matters in his life, which is love. Greatness is achieved through the fulfillment of one 's ambitions, which Gatsby fails at accomplishing. (Not …show more content…
From the beginning, Gatsby divulges himself to be a phony even before the reader encounters him. Descriptions from party members at his own party make assumptions of him, and fabricate false rumors about him that reach the extent of how “they thought he killed a man once”(44). This is one of the extreme rumors that gives the aura of the kind of man Gatsby is. Even though the reader does not yet meet Gatsby, his identity proves to be suspicious for the extremity of the rumor. To further the supposition, one of the party members claim that Gatsby said “he was an Oxford man” (49). Even if this possible lie is true, it seems that he wants others to think that he is a highly educated, intelligent man. Finally, no one in Gatsby’s house has ever met him, which arises skeptical thoughts about Gatsby. No one at the party is aware of where this man has come from, leaving the reader to ponder upon the hidden motives of this “great” man. Because Gatsby engenders a fake identity for himself from the start, he is already considered as a liar, and therefore, he is unappropriated for the label of being