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Charlotte Cotter

Mr. Pace

English

04 May 2024

The Truth About Jay Gatsby

Many times in life people make bad decisions, but isn’t life supposed to be about giving

second chances and forgiving those who have made mistakes? My most significant takeaway

from reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is that you never know who genuinely cares

about you until something bad happens. We can see this happen in the book when Gatsby makes

one-sided attempts to enter unsuccessful relationships throughout the story. When Gatsby passes

away at the end of the book, it becomes clear that everyone he has attempted to become friends

with is just nice to him because of his wealth. This is exposed when none of Gatsby’s “friends”

came to his funeral. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the main

characters in the book, Jay Gatsby, can be seen as the most redeemable person in the book. This

is because of his friendly and generous personality, and his loyalty and love for Daisy.

It is clear from the beginning of the book that Jay Gatsby is a social and friendly man.

We also can point out that he is heavily rich, yet still is generous towards others. He makes

consistent efforts to win people over and build deep connections with those he knows. Gatsby

tries to make generous efforts to build these relationships, even though most of the people in the

book take advantage of him because of his wealth. In only the first few chapters we can infer that

Gatsby is this rich and luxurious guy who loves to throw extravagant parties. Every weekend he

would throw these massive parties so he could please people and hopefully grab the attention of
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his one love, “At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet

of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden”

(Fitzgerald pg.44). Gatsby would have full orchestras, bars, dancers, food, and drinks at these

parties. They were so popular because they were fancy but Gatsby’s one of the meanings behind

this was to try and impress someone because he desperately wanted to get closer to his love

Daisy. But it was also because Gatsby felt lonely, and having people constantly at his home felt

better than being alone in his mansion. We also learn that when Gatsby got rich one of the first

things he did was buy his father a house. Before his fame and riches he was dirt poor and dreamt

of being rich he eventually got employed by a millionaire and worked on his ship for five years.

When the shipowner died Gatsby received money then started building his wealth. And when he

got rich he could afford to buy his father a house, “He come out to see me two years ago and

bought me the house I live in now. Of course we was broke up when he run off from home but I

see now there was a reason for it. He knew he had a big future in front of him. And ever since he

made a success he was very generous with me” ( Fitzgerald pg.181). This phrase suggests that

Gatsby was trying to be generous and made an effort to help those he cared about the most. This

consisted primarily of his father and Daisy, but he continued to make an attempt. Overall

throughout the book we can see that maybe Gatsby wanted not to be lonely anymore and just

wanted validation that he was in real relationships with people he cared for and he was just

trying to receive the generosity, and effort for relationships that he was putting out.

Another big reason why Gatsby is a redeemable character in this book is because of his

dedication, loyalty, and love for Daisy. Gastby's actions are all motivated by his intense love for

Daisy, and his loyalty to her is demonstrated throughout the course of the book. We can see that

almost every decision Gatsby’s ever made was because and influenced by Daisy. Towards the
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beginning chapters of the book, Gatsby is shown staring out to sea and extending his hands

toward an intriguing mysterious green light that appears to be coming from just across the water.

Later in the novel, it becomes clear that he was reaching for Daisy's house and the green light is

at the end of her dock illuminating the sea below. Even farther on in the book, Gatsby shows

Daisy around his estate and tells her that he frequently is looking and checking on her home, “If

it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,” said Gatsby. “You always have a

green light that burns all night at the end of your dock”(Fitzgerald pg.98). The main reason for

buying this mansion was so Daisy would be able to see it from across the water, and so he could

check on her. Gastby’s dedication and loyalty to Daisy are some of the best traits a partner or a

person could have. You can tell that Gatsby truly cares and values Daisy because he has only

thought about her in the past few years that they were apart because of the war Gatsby was sent

off in. It also tells us more about Gatsby’s personality in which case he can be viewed as caring

and putting others first (mostly Daisy) before himself. Near the end of the book Daisy

accidentally kills Myrtle, by hitting her with a car, who is a mistress of Daisy’s husband Tom.

Gatsby, because he loves Daisy so much, takes the blame for this accident which ultimately leads

to the death of Gatsby by Myrtle's husband Wilson who shot Gatsby. Gatsby had the opportunity

to run and leave but he stayed because he was worried about Daisy, “He wouldn't consider it. He

couldn't possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some

last hope and I couldn't bear to shake him free” (Fitzgerald pg. 155). Gatsby knew that

something would happen to him, he knew that someone would trace his car and he would be

found guilty even though it wasn't him who was driving. Daisy made no effort to tell the truth or

even speak about it again, she didn't call him once to apologize or to tell him that she should take

the blame instead. Gatsby loved Daisy with so much intensity that even if she were to try and
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turn herself in she wouldn't be able to because Gatsby would have stopped her. Yet that was not

the case and because of Daisy’s lack of love and lack of goodwill a valuable life was lost that

day. Overall, Gatsby was a great redeeming character in this novel because of how much love

and dedication he had for Daisy.

Looking past rocky beginnings is difficult for some people, which is why people

may disagree with Jay Gatsby being the most redeemable character in this book. When he started

to build his wealth and fame he did illegal deals to earn his money. During the time of the

Prohibition Era the selling, distribution, and production of alcohol was illegal. This was because

the government thought that it would stop people from getting drunk and hopefully stop some

crime that was happening. This was also a time where many people chose to break the law

because alcohol was addicting, one of those people included Gatsby, “I found out what your

‘drug stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot

of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one

of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn't far wrong”

(Fitzgerald pg.141). Daisy's husband, Tom, discovered what kind of questionable behavior

Gatsby had engaged in when he initially began to earn his wealth and fame and accused him of

this. Although I agree that what Gatsby did was wrong and not needed to build his life, I do think

it's easy to forgive Gatsby for his past even though his actions were wrong and difficult to forget.

If you are able to see past his mistakes then you will be able to see the devoted, friendly, and

welcoming person that lies beneath all the little messy hiccups in his life.

Overall, throughout the book Jay Gatsby has proven and shown that he is the most

redeemable character in this book. Whether it be his welcoming and friendly personality or his

loyalty, devotion and love for Daisy he has shown to be a very forgiving character. Though most
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of his attempts at being the good guy failed because people only liked and hung out with him for

his money, he still consistently tried and tried to build these relationships with people who

couldn't look past the money and recognize the real person beneath it all. Though Gatsby has

made some mistakes throughout his life I believe that it was caused by his want to make a living

and make something out of himself so that Daisy could accept him and they could finally be

together. Because of his rocky upbringing he felt the need to go against the law so he could be

enough for Daisy and so he could be accepted and looked at with respect from others. So

ultimately in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the most forgiving

character in this book because of his desire to have relationships and real connections with those

around him.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Wordsworth, 2003.

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