This characteristic of a noble stature can also be related to his character or quality about him. This feeling of Gatsby’s greatness is seen on page.25, before Nick even meets him he says, “Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of himself, come out to determine what shares was his of our local heavens.” Nick here presents Gatsby almost godly, and therefore great in character and stature. Nick as well on page.6 speaks about Gatsby’s personality remarking that, “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life.” Nick on Gatsby’s smile describes it on page.52 as, “…understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it…It understood you as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” The representation of Gatsby in this quote is of an understanding and friendly nature and as Nick later on the next page confides in Jordan of his surprise for he thought Gatsby, “would be a florid and corpulent person.” On the next page, page.54, he sees Gatsby standing alone on the marble steps and observes that he, “could see nothing sinister about him…he grew more correct as the fraternal hilarity increased.” Nick notices here Gatsby’s correctness in comparison to the party-goers with no limits and therefore his character is also of a noble manner.
Although, Gatsby is seen as a mysterious and wealthy party giver, he is really a lonely and reserved man in search for a past love that he cannot attain: Daisy and in this his tragic flaw. Nick at the beginning of the novel on page.26 first sees Gatsby, “stretched out his arms toward the dark water…he was trembling” Nick looks seaward and, “distinguished nothing except a single green light.” At that time Nick is unaware of Gatsby’s hopes and obsession to be with Daisy, hence the symbolic meaning of the green light, her. Later in the novel, on page.8, when Jordan tells him of Gatsby’s past with Daisy Nick states about Gatsby that, “He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor.” The house, the parties, and the green light all came alive to him and he sees the importance of Daisy in his life. Jordan, on that same page, states that, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” The parties, as also stated by Jordan on the next page, were in hope that Daisy would, “wander into one of his parties, some night, but she never did.” And the wonder of the green light was as previously showed by the quote on page.26 consuming Gatsby’s life and purpose, and that is seen with the body language of his trembling hands stretched outwardly. Furthermore, Gatsby’s love for Daisy is not for the living one but for the 18-year old one back in1917. He is stuck in the past and refuses to leave it, this is seen, on page.117, when Nick notes that Gatsby, “talked a lot about the past and I gathered he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy.” Another instance is after the party that Daisy goes to Gatsby asks Nick to stay and wait until he was free, then he proceeds to tell him about what he wants from Daisy, on page.116, “Gatsby wanted nothing less than that Daisy should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’…and after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago.” And when Nick tells him, further down that page, “You can’t repeat the past.” He answers incredulously, “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!”
Consequently, this love for the old Daisy leads to the twist in faith and the downfall of Gatsby. The beginning of the chain reaction occurs on page.136 when Gatsby finally reveals to Tom that, “Your wife doesn’t love you. She never loved you. She loves me.” In the beginning of this altercation, Daisy agrees with Gatsby stating, “Why—how could I love him—possibly?” on page.139 and when Daisy consents to Gatsby’s proposal of leaving Tom, on page.140, Tom yells, “She’s not leaving me! Certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger.” Thereafter, Daisy retracts her words just wishing for everything to go back as it was, and that is when everyone except for Gatsby himself realizes Daisy will never leave Tom. Feeling this success Tom has Daisy ride with Gatsby on the way home and that is when the major twist of faith takes place, the death of Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Everyone assumes it was Gatsby driving and when Nick sees him waiting outside Daisy’s home, on pag.151 he thinks to himself, “I disliked him so much by this time that I didn’t find it necessary to tell him he was wrong.” Although as Gatsby is asked to explain what happened it becomes apparent that he wasn’t the one driving, as Nick asks on page.151, “Was Daisy driving?” which to this Gatsby replies, “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was.” This conscience decision on Gatsby’s part to take the blame directly connects to downfall. He even stays all night outside Daisy’s home to watch over her stating on the same page, “I’m just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her.” The fact that if Gatsby would not have taken the blame for the crash and let the truth that Daisy did it be known he would not have been killed makes his downfall a free-choice in connection with the tragic flaw.
Sadly, the punishment for his choice, death, follows the classic tragic hero and is not wholly deserved by Jay Gatsby. His choice for the protection of the girl he loves results in his demise even though Nick tells him, on page.162 that, “They’re a rotten crowd, you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” This statement supports that he did not deserve his punishment for he was a better person than any of them put together. The fact that he did not deserve death and that his dream to get Daisy never is met makes his death provoke feelings of pity and sadness for Gatsby’s life surrounds around Daisy and she leaves him without remorse. At Gatsby’s funeral, on page.183, Nick, “could only remember, without resentment, that daisy hadn’t sent a message or a flower. Dimly I heard someone murmur ‘Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on.’” This is very true considering all that Gatsby did for her in his lifetime it is heartbreaking even in death that she did not send her grief for him. It also applies to all the people that attended his parties and although Nick tried very hard to get people to come nobody arrived at the funeral. These factors increase the solemn emotion felt for Gatsby.
While, Gatsby follows 5 out of the 6 characteristics of the tragic hero there is one he does not follow: An increase in self-knowledge. On page.155, this can be made out when Nick tells him to leave because he privately understands that Daisy is not going to leave Tom for him, but Gatsby will have none of it, it states, “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.” This last characteristic is not achieved as I believe because Gatsby’s love for Daisy is a specific version of the American Dream to Gatsby, and therefore I think it is a conscious decision on Fitzgerald’s part for the larger and connecting symbol of the American dream never ceasing, as stated on the last page of the novel, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther….And one fine morning------So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Thus, to make Gatsby “Great” Fitzgerald utilizes the Aristotelian characteristics of a tragic hero in his construction of the character Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby.
