Characterisation: Jay Gatsby

One of the major characters and possible protagonists of Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby is
the man who gives his name to the book: Jay Gatsby. He is not introduced until chapter 3;
before, only his reputation precedes him. This makes him a very mysterious and enigmatic
person, who is not easy to see through. The following text will present an attempt to decode
Gatsbys character.
James Gatz was born to fairly unsuccessful farmer parents in rural North Dakota from whom
he estranged himself, unable to accept them as shiftless and easy people. He later leaves
home and attends college but drops out after two weeks since he could not bear the janitorial
work he was forced to do in order to pay his tuition. Then he meets Dan Cody who sets a
perfect example of opulence and prodigality to Gatsby while on his yacht. This was the
moment when James Gatz evolved into Jay Gatsby which represents the reinvention of
himself. In 1917 when in army, he falls in love with Daisy Fay later Daisy Buchanan but has
to leave for the Great War. In Europe he attends Oxford University in a military programme to
gain an education.
His past implies that his life was not always sparkling and rich but has changed drastically due
to his involvement in bootlegging during the Prohibition. During his friendship with Nick he is
approximately 30 years old and a man of wealth and neat appearance which he attaches
great importance to. Everything about Gatsby seems to be fancy: his cars, his stylish clothes
and his majestic mansion which is home to regular lavish parties. However, although his
appearance describes him as simply materialistic, people also perceive him as sophisticated
indicated by his language and manners but also by his non-fake book untypical for West Egg
, which already gives a little insight into his character.
When talking about Gatsbys main traits one realises that these are not easy to detect. On the
surface, he appears as a gentle and polite man who is friendly and well-known as a generous
host. Especially his handling with Nick stresses these superficial traits mentioned as he always
tries to keep things comfortable and to make friends with him. However, this is not the real
Jay Gatsby as the book reveals many other traits. When examining his parties it becomes
obvious that he is clearly set apart from the guests both mentally and physically. He remains
strikingly aloof and detached and seems to simply observe the situation but does not seem
interested in participating in drinking and flirting. He knows very little about his guests; in
fact, he does not want to know them since the only purpose of his lavishly catered gatherings
is to attract Daisys attention. Gatsby is terribly lovesick and disappointed as Daisy once
turned him down for him not being able to reach her strata, and driven by his inexhaustible
ambition he will not rest until his dream of Daisy is fulfilled. Every party, every purchase,
everything he does is part of the plan to be finally reunited with her again. On the one hand,
indeed, this is a very romantic gesture but on the other hand, it is a childish illusion full of
naivety. Bringing back Daisy into his life has become an obsession and makes him move
further into fantasy, which reaches its climax when he shouts at his only friend Nick that he is
able to recapture the past; an obvious loss of sense of reality due to his idealism that
everyone can reach his dream if he just tries hard enough. Even though his stubborn personal
pursuit of happiness might provide the reader with the impression that he is a very selfconfident young man, he is actually not. When going even deeper into his character one
discovers an insecure and vulnerable person who loses every faade of the strong new-rich
when meeting his object of desire although actually this is another successful step in his
calculated plan. He acts like a boy who is out of his depth in this situation. All in all, Jay Gatsby
is undoubtedly a multi-faceted and very complex character which needs to be examined
precisely because his surface is in complete contradiction to his real person. Unlike e.g. Tom

Buchanan, he represents a round character in this novel that is even more than he only seems
to be.
When having finished the book people might consider the term great in front of Gatsbys
name in the title. In my opinion, although his wealth is something of a questionable nature
and comes from organised crime, one has to take into consideration that every action was
taken for one purpose: being reunited with his love. The very fact that Jay Gatsby is able to
pursue his dream and to dedicate his life to only one woman, who scarcely deserves his love
at all, is truly great and admirable and stands above all his idealism and illusion which
eventually lead into his death.