How Fitzgerald Reveals Each Characters Personality Flaws - Book Report/Review Example

This novel is considered to be one of the best novels in American Literature. It is a satire and Fitzgerald has mocked the hypocritical tendencies ofAmerican people, which proved to be destructive to the American Society. He has used Nick Carraway, the narrator of this Novel for revelation of various characters. We learn about various characters through his perceptions. Nick being very honest has described the characters in an unbiased way and has put them forth as they are. He has done justice to Gatsby by making him a hero and by calling him 'The Great Gatsby'. The setting of this novel is in the East Egg district of Long Island in New York. The newly rich people who have not established social contacts yet inhabit this area. The story in this novel revolves around two main characters, Daisy and Gatsby. Fitzgerald has very beautifully portrayed these two characters. Nick being a cousin of Daisy knows her very well. She is a woman who lacks maturity and is very vulnerable. Daisy represents the typical aristocratic American society. She possesses all the qualities, which are expected of a high-class socialite. She is popular among the military officers as a beautiful charming lady. She always craves for love and attention. Being from a wealthy aristocratic family she is attracted towards rich people. Knowing her interests, Gatsby lies to her about his wealth. She falls in love with him. They also make love before his departure to fight in the First World War. She promises to wait until he comes. But the moment she is proposed for marriage by Tom Buchanan, a wealthy person from strong aristocratic family, she agrees to marry him and conveniently forgets her commitment to Gatsby. In the first chapter, from Daisy's statement one can guess what the value of a woman was at that time in the American Society. She was treated as a mere showpiece and was meant to satisfy men's desires. She was not expected to be intelligent at all. And this is quite evident from her statement, which she makes about her infant daughter. She says, "I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." She means that if a girl is beautiful and simple she can enjoy her life to the fullest, the same way as she is living. Although she is unhappy in her heart about the way her life is going, she does not rebel against the cynical views of people or the unethical norms of the society. On the contrary she opts to be a part of that stream and tries to find happiness in the world of uncertainties. Although she is very well aware of her husband's infidelity, she does not object his behavior. When Tom receives a call from his love, Myrtle Wilson, Daisy hurriedly follows him, but she is helpless and can do nothing to stop him. Her outward charm and beauty are deceptive. Her behavior is unpredictable. She has always deceived Gatsby. When she kills Myrtle Wilson, she shows no remorse. When Gatsby shows the readiness of taking the blame on himself, she does not stop him from taking the blame. This shows her careless attitude and fickle mindedness. She is least bothered about him and goes to the extent of not attending the funeral of Gatsby and quietly leaves West Egg along with her husband. This shows she had no affection for Gatsby. Thus the character of Daisy has multiple shades. Although she possesses beauty, grace and charm that are synonymous with a beautiful woman and a high-class socialite, she also has gray shades. She is not a perfect woman at all, because she is neither a faithful lover nor a faithful wife. She is also not a loving mother to her infant daughter. She has no firm values and has mercurial nature. Her ultimate passion is wealth and she chooses wealth over her love. She also cannot be a called a responsible citizen or socialite as she takes the abuses of her husband without complaining. She is more interested in her financial security for lifelong rather than being involved in a relationship, which would ultimately give pain. Contrary to Daisy and other characters in this novel Nick has a soft corner for Jay Gatsby, who is the protagonist of this novel. The narrator introduces us to Gatsby in the very first chapter. Although Gatsby appears to be a hypocrite initially and a kind of so called big shot which normally Nick loathes, we start empathizing with him as we get to know more and more about him. We hear a lot about Gatsby in the first few chapters from the other minor characters in the novel and also from the narrator who has seen him from distance standing with his hands stretched in the direction of green light on one end of the dock. But Nick actually confronts with him only in Chapter III in a dramatic way. Gatsby's Chauffeur gets an invitation to Nick for a party. Nick meets Jordan and her friends. They are gossiping about the host of the party. Lucille a friend of Jordan remarks that Gatsby was a German spy during the war, when she hasn't ever met him or does not know him personally. Nick also learns that Gatsby is an Oxford graduate and that he has even killed a person. Both Nick and Jordan are very curious to know about their host. It is when Nick and Jordan go outside to watch the entertainment in the party; they sit at a table with a handsome man. He strikes a conversation with Nick saying that Nick seems familiar to him and they both understand that they had served in the same division of Army. The young, handsome man introduces himself to be none other than Gatsby. Nick is awestruck when he sees Gatsby, a man, just in his thirties contrary to his image of he being an old man. He observes that Gatsby speaks in a very elaborate and formal manner. The most remarkable thing about him is that he does not drink and also does not mingle among the guests. He prefers watching the guests by standing on the marble steps, totally aloof from the guests. Nick has made a very vivid description of Gatsby, his lavish parties and about his Gothic Mansion in West Egg. He is fascinated by the unique smile of Gatsby. He describes his smile by saying, "one of those rarer smiles with the quality of assurance in it". But despite of the lavish exhibition of wealth, Nick finds something absurd in his personality. His accent is affected and he also has a habit of calling people as "old sport". It is very strange, that he invites guests for the parties whom he does not know at all. Sometimes people feel that he is a bit showy and whatever he has in his mansion is a mere showoff of his wealth. We can hear one of his guests, Mr. Owl Eyes saying that he is surprised that the books in his Library are real and that they are not mere empty covers used to create an impression of a big Library having great collection of books. So we understand that there is a kind of mysterious aura around Gatsby and we get curious to know more about him. The purpose of Gatsby behind throwing parties is not merely to show off his wealth but he hopes, someday his lost love Daisy will surely attend his party and he will be able to meet her. We come to know more about Gatsby when he takes Nick to New York for lunch. At this time he discusses about his past with Nick. He tells him that he was born in a wealthy family and his parents are dead. He also tells Nick of his education at Oxford. He very elaborately describes how he collected jewels from various regions of Europe, about his winning of medals in the War for his valor. When it appears that Nick does not seem to believe in his story, he produces a medal and also shows Nick his photograph in which it shows himself playing cricket at Oxford. The fact that Nick does not believe in him is proven from a few quotes in this book: "I was brought up in America and educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition". He looked on my sideways - and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying. He hurried the phrase "educated at Oxford", or swallowed it or choked on it as though it had bothered him before (pg. 44, Chapter - IV). After their lunch in New York, Jordan tells him the truth about Gatsby. She tells him that Gatsby had told her about his crush on Daisy, during the party. It is at this time, we come to know about his past life. Jay Gatsby was actually James Gatz. He is not rich by birth, but comes from a very poor family. He hailed from North Dakota, which was considered to be a rather uncivilized area where poor people like that of Gatsby resided. Right from his childhood, Gatsby always felt ashamed of his poverty and dreamt of becoming a wealthy and sophisticated man some day in the future. He falls in love with Daisy when he meets her in Louisville. Fearing that she wouldn't accept his love, for being a poor man, he changes his name and tells her that he comes from a wealthy family. Before leaving for War, he takes promise from her that she will wait for him until he returns. But she deceives him by marrying Tom Buchanan. Unable to digest this Gatsby decides to earn lot of wealth and get Daisy back. And with his utter determination he is successful in acquiring lot of wealth by engaging in criminal activities like distributing illegal alcohol and also trading in stolen securities. He is condemned as a bootlegger by Tom Buchanan. His main aim of having so much wealth is just to impress Daisy. This shows how much he loves Daisy. Although being deceived by her once, he still hopes to get her back. In his pursuit of getting back her love he requests Nick through Jordan to arrange a meeting of himself with Daisy. He is successful in winning her love, but unfortunately meets tragic end. He is so committed to her that he is ready to take the blame of killing Myrtle, when the fact is that she is killed by Daisy who is driving the car at that moment. Gatsby is a lovable character and we really feel sorry for him. He is left all alone in death too. The people who attend his funeral are Nick, Mr. Owl Eyes, few servants and his father. The novel is symbolic. The valley of ashes stands for the decadent American society, which has given up the moral and ethical values for the sake of money. The people have no control on themselves and they shamelessly exhibit their illicit behavior in public. The people have no respect and regard for each other. Every character has flaws, which not only ruins their lives but the American Society as whole. Sources: Book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott. Fitzgerald Website: http://www.sparknotes.com/ Read More