Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby believes he can buy happiness; and this is exhibited through his house, his clothes, and through Daisy. He owns a large portion of finances due to some mysterious source of wealth, and he uses this mystery source to buy his house, his clothes,and Daisy, for awhile.

Gatsby's house, as Fitzgerald describes it, is "a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden" (9). This house is an immaculate symbol of Gatsby's incalculable income. It has its own entrance gate, and is big enough to hold hundreds of people at a time.

His careless use for money to impress others is portrayed through his clothes. The shirts and clothes that are ordered every spring and fall show his simplexes in expressing his wealth to his beloved Daisy. His "beautiful shirts . . . It makes me sad because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before" (98). It seems silly to cry over simple shirts, but they symbolize an American Dream which people desire. These shirts represent the opulent manner of Gatsby's wealth and his ability to try and purchase Daisy's love, this time through the use of extensive clothing.

Fitzgerald wisely shows how Gatsby uses his riches to buy Daisy. In the story, we know that "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things . . . and then returned back into their money" By this, we know that Daisy's main (and maybe only) concern is money. Gatsby realizes this, and is powered by this. He is driven to extensive and sometimes illegal actions. He feels he must be rich and careless for his five year love. All these enlighten us to Gatsby's personality, therefore we know Gatsby is willing to use an unlimited source of income to actually buy trifles to prove his worth to Daisy. He will buy a house that takes, even him, three years to pay for and purchases clothes every Spring and Fall. He does all he can in order to buy, what he feels is his only happiness, the woman he has watched for five years, the woman who's only concern is money, the infamous, Daisy.

Gatsby's obsession is with the buying power of money, however, this obsession does not limit itself merely to possessions, but also to physical attributes. Jay Gatsby attempts to recapture his past with money. He also implies he has a past at Oxford, he entices Daisy with wealth, and sometimes spins absolute obvious lies. However, Fitzgerald candidly avoids saying forhow long, for what reasons, or why he has indeed

attained entrance at Oxford. Being misplaced by the Military at this local prestigious college unfortunately serves as a hindrance. Gatsby shows Nick a picture "A souvenir of [his] Oxford days . . . " (Fitzgerald), as if to imply that he was there. In realization, Gatsby had only dreamed of attending a school such as Oxford, and even a small, dishonest taste of this makes him dream of changing his past. With a photograph, Gatsby effectively, and almost unmistakably, recreates his past. Not only does Oxford involve lies, but most of this recreation involves numerous obscene and unbelievable lies. Nick even jokes about it and says that Gatsby, "live[s] like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe . . . With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter". These and numerous other lies prove how “James Gatz” tries to recapture the past through the use of deception. There is only one reason only why Gatsby tries so desperately to alter his past: his pursuit of Daisy.

Not only does Gatsby buy many material items to impress her, but he continues to accumulate as much money as he can in order to physically buy her. As Jordan states, "He wants her to see his house, and you live right next door" ( ). Perhaps the only reason he does is to show how much money Gatsby possesses. When Daisy finally realizes this, a problem occurs. Clearly Gatsby has the money, unfortunately he does not have the right type of money, he comes from the wrong class of society. Due to the dream of attaining