阅·思|【2023级9班】Character Analysis in The Great Gatsby

The Author

The classic novel,The Great Gatsby,is like an art temple of characters, where the characters are vivid and deep, like a mirror reflecting the diverse characters of the era. Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Nick, etc., their individual personalities, dreams, and relationships are a depiction of American society in the 1920s.

About the Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald (Francis Scott Fitzgerald, 1896~1940) was one of the most outstanding novelists in the United States in the 20th century.Born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, he was the son of a furniture dealer.

As a young man, he attempted to write plays but dropped out of Princeton University due to poor health.

He gained fame after publishing his novel This Side of Paradise in 1920.

The publication of The Great Gatsby in 1925 cemented his position in modern American literature, making him a spokesperson for the Jazz Age of the 1920s and one of the representative writers of the Lost Generation.

His major works also include Tender Is the Night (1934) and The Last Tycoon(1941, published posthumously).

His works vividly reflect the disillusionment of the American Dream in the 1920s and the spiritual landscape of the Wasteland Era among the upper class in the United States during the Great Depression.

Next, we will analyze some of the representative characters in Francis Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.

Gatsby: Chasing the Miracle

 1.   Gatsby's heroism

One of the biggest traits of Gatsby's  is that he shows an unprecedented and incomparable spiritual trait:heroic spirit.But, the "hero" does not refer to great achievements, just refer to the courage that sacrifice himself for the pursuit of pleasure and love.

Moreover,  in the end, Daisy killed Tom's lover Montel, she and Tom together planned to blame  on Gatsby, but Gatsby stood up for Daisy, compared with Tom and his wife, Gatsby shows his responsibilities.he showed a desire and enthusiasm, which different from the vulgar society, a passionate, jumping emotion, a heroic character that does not capitulate easily.

  2.   Gatsby's romantic 

Gatsby also had a romantic trait.In Fitzgerald's novels, Gatsby is a romantic  person from beginning to end.He set his life goal and starvie with his own life and put the full of passion and passion for his life.It shows in two fields:life and love.

In  life, although he is a poor boy, he firmly believes that as long as he work hard, he will become the rich.This ideal has taken root in his heart and become the motivation for him to pursue his ideal.

In love,When he meets Daisy, he finds Daisy is the most perfect woman in his life.She is  everything of his life.Although he was  betrayed by she, he still sticks to the end, until the end of life.In this "jazz age" of chasing fame and wealth, the money is only an external thing for Gatsby, and  he yearned for was just to get together with Daisy and find the lost true love.

  3.   Gatsby's  struggle

Gatsby shows an important trait: struggle.In Gatsby's whole life, from his birth to his death, he goes alone,without anyone.He did the decisions for his life by himself, most of his life is hard, he always struggles with a sense of tenacious.Although, the life was hard.Although there are no one supposed him.He still persisted in and never gave up.

Gatsby ignores the limitations of reality, and believes that money can change everything.As he said, although his conception of life was not correct, his single-minded purpose shows the struggle to the socuety, to the life.

  4.    Gatsby tragedy

When we knows the traits.Of Gatsby, we should find the tragedy of Gatsby.Gatsby's tragedy has a great relationship with his  background, his values, his psychology, his heroism,and his romantic feelings.This society has lost faith, spiritual degradation and material desire make everyone become cold, selfish and heartless in this world.So that Gatsby, who wants to stand out by his own strength, was traveled by isolation, helplessness and final failure from the beginning.

A symbol of beauty and elegance: Daisy, with her outstanding appearance and elegant temperament, has become the eternal goddess in Gatsby's heart. Her appearance is like a beam of light that illuminates Gatsby's gloomy world and inspires his infinite yearning and pursuit of a better life. Daisy's image not only represents the ideal love in Gatsby's heart, but also symbolizes people's desire for a better life in that era.

Weakness and contradiction of human nature: In the face of Gatsby's affection and wealth, Daisy has wavered and struggled in her heart. On the one hand, she was moved by Gatsby's sincerity and enthusiasm, but on the other hand, she could not let go of her dependence on material life and nostalgia for old love. This ambivalence made her hesitate between Gatsby and Tom, and finally chose to return to the rich but mediocre Tom. This choice not only reveals the weakness and dependence of Daisy's character, but also reflects the complex attitudes of people in that era towards material and emotional things.

Moral dilemma and reflection: Daisy's hesitation not only hurts Gatsby, but also puts herself in a moral dilemma. On the one hand, she enjoys the love and passion brought by Gatsby, but on the other hand, she can't get rid of the sense of responsibility and guilt for Tom. This inner contradiction and struggle made her finally choose to escape and remain silent, thus exacerbating Gatsby's tragedy. Daisy's image is not only a profound critique of the corrosion of human nature by the materialism of the American "Jazz Age", but also a deep reflection on love, morality and responsibility.

To sum up, Daisy is a complex and fascinating character, and her image not only enriches the connotation of the novel, but also provokes deep thinking about human nature, love, and morality.

Through the character traits of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, the novel uncovers various phenomena in American society at that time, including the aspiration for success, inner emptiness and unease, hypocrisy and self-packaging, vanity and the pursuit of materialism, as well as indifference, selfishness, and moral decay. These phenomena collectively shaped the social landscape of that era and reflected people's struggles and confusion as they pursued their dreams and confronted reality. Additionally, the novel serves as a warning, urging individuals to reflect on the true meaning of wealth and desire, and to consider whether the pursuit of success is worth sacrificing one's authentic self.