Greed in "The Great Gatsby"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby", reveals much about the waste and wealth of America in the "Roaring Twenties." It shows how, through Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald weaves a tale of excess and passion that leads to the destruction of the human soul, since Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, embodies the exorbitance of this era and pays the ultimate price. It examines how the greed and endless desire of Jay Gatsby turned out to be more than he could control, despite his grandest efforts.

From the Paper:

"Jay Gatsby is a complex character because he has admirable qualities and despicable qualities. We admire him because he able to attain the wealth he desired despite the fact that he came from a poor family. We dislike him because he was driven by greed and materialism. Gatsby is wealthy, no doubt, but he flaunts it in ways that are tasteless. We know from Nick that Gatsby went to great lengths to redefine himself. For example, we know that his real name is James Gatz and he was from an unsuccessful farm family in North Dakota. He changed his name when he was seventeen--a change inspired when he laid his eyes on Dan Cody's yacht."

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