The Great Gatsby1

A detailed Summary of The Great Gatsby1


Everyone wants to be successful in life, but most often people take the wrong ways to get there. In the 1920's the American Dream was something that everyone strived to have. A spouse, children, money, a big house and a car meant that someone had succeeded in life. A very important aspect was money and success was determined greatly by it. This was not true in all cases however. The belief that every man can rise to success no matter what his beginnings. Jay Gatsby was a poor boy who turned into a very wealthy man, but did he live the American Dream? Money is actually the only thing that Gatsby had a lot of. Jay Gatsby tries to live the life of The American Dream, but fails in his battle. From his early years Gatsby has his eye one Daisy and throughout his life he is deeply in love with her, but he never marries or even has a life with her. Another one of Gatsby's goals in life was to be an extremely successful, just like his model Dan Cody, but that plan ends up failing as well. As a part of what Dan Cody taught him, Gatsby attempted to go into business with a man named Meyer Wolfsheim, but failed at that also. For such a long time Gatsby has had his eye on Daisy and has been in love with her, but this doe


s not. Gatsby has always gazed at the green light on Daisy's porch. Jordan Baker says,"Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be across the bay."(page 79). The color green is traditionally a symbol of hop and youth and that is what Gatsby is hoping to find beyond it. When Gatsby and Daisy meet, he tells her about how he has watched the green light that burns at the end of her dock. For so long that light has been a symbol of his dream, of something he has wanted more than life itself. Gazing at it so much, Gatsby must have believed that if he could only have Daisy he would be eternally happy. In chapter four he suddenly has her and the light is just a light again. It doesn't seem that Daisy could ever be as wonderful as Gatsby's dream of her. Dreams, sadly for Gatsby are most often longed for rather than made a reality. Gatsby never ends up getting with Daisy his shining star in life, much of what he lived for. In his younger years, Gatsby worked on the south shore of Lake Superior earning room and board by digging clams and fishing for salmon. One day he saw the beautiful yacht of the millionaire Dan Cody and borrowed a rowboat to warn Cody of an impending storm. Cody took the seventeen-year-old boy on as a mate, and secretary. When Cody died, he left the boy, now Jay Gatsby, a legacy of $25,000. Unfortu

Some common words found in the essay are:
American Dream, Dan Cody, Gazing Gatsby, Series Wolfsheim, Jay Gatsby, Meyer Wolfsheim, Jordan Baker, Gatsby Daisy, Lake Superior, Unfortunately Gatsby, american dream, dan cody, jay gatsby, meyer wolfsheim, love gatsby, gatsby eye daisy, business dealings, gatsby believed, money house, green light, dream money, american dream money,

Approximate Word count = 888
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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