Jay Gatsby is a Sympathetic Character in Fitzgeralds...

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him. Initially, Gatsby stirs up sympathetic feelings because of his obsession with wealth. Ever since meeting Dan Cody, his fascination for wealth has increased dramatically. He even uses illegal unmoral methods to obtain hefty amounts of wealth to spend on buying a house with â€Å" Marie Antoinette music-rooms, Restoration Salons, dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bath rooms with sunken baths.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦Ultimately, it is his obsession with wealth that leads to his tragic end. Secondly, the reason of the readers’ sympathy is Gatsby’s loneliness. Gatsby is perpetually enveloped by solitude . Despite the â€Å"Hotel de Ville† (11)mansion, the car and the luxuries that would overwhelm most people, Jay finds no sense of belonging amongst those objects. â€Å" Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another† (51) does not mingle with his guests. Even at his own party, surrounded by glamour and people, he is still alone. In fact, he is a stranger. Only handful of his guest knows what he actually looks like, to others, he is a mystery. Equally important, Gatsby enclose himself in isolation, â€Å"he [gives] a sudden intimation that he [is] content to be alone†¦ he [is] trembling.†(25) He has a whole mansion to himself yet he chooses to stand outside and ponder. Perhaps he is trying to find a way to unlock himself from the life of solitude. Finally, Jay Gatsby’s delusions draws more pity for him. Daisy comes from a rich family and chances of her ending up with Gatsby, a poor soldier, is totally unrealistic. Furthermore Gatsby wants Daisy to â€Å" go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you’† (105) but Daisy asserts that â€Å" [she] can’t say [she] never loved Tom†¦It wouldn’t be true.†(126) Jay cannot grasp the present reality that Daisy could not leave Tom permanently, especially when the fruit of their love is already three years of age.Show MoreRelatedF. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby1518 Words   |  7 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, (1925) depicts the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, who has moved to West Egg, New York to reunite with his former love, Daisy Buchanan. Through the novel, the representation of class and gender embody the social views on either subject during the 1920’s. Fitzgerald has used the charac ters within the novel to exemplify the social stratas and also the decades view on men and women. 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