Human Nature In The Great Gatsby

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“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and entrances; and one man in his life plays many parts. . .” William Shakespeare, “As You Like It.” The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this novel Fitzgerald candidly depicts human nature at its worst, and the corrupted version of the American Dream. The metaphorical stage is set in the “Roaring Twenties,” a time period in which America experienced peace, prosperity and partying. The U.S. had just come out of World War I victorious and was enjoying the spoils of war. Worldwide peace had settled into the hearts of every man woman and child and American’s were in the mood for celebrating. The economy was booming, the stock…show more content…
He is the innocent bystander of this book that is somehow involved in everything that takes place one way or another. He is a cousin to Daisy, a peer to Tom and a companion to Gatsby. He knows everyone’s dirty secrets but feels that it is not his place to reveal them. He is the neutral party, the “Switzerland,” that everyone comes to and trusts. He has a strange fascination and curiosity with Gatsby’s shady past, and hangs around him to try to discover more about him. Fitzgerald uses Nick as innocent bystander that gets needlessly caught up in the drama of others. He is the only morally solid character in the book and has only good intentions in his heart. “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’” (5) This is Nick’s worldview. He is not judgmental of anyone, is very open-minded and is friendly to most people. In the end, he is so dispassionate that he stands for…show more content…
He has amassed all of his wealth for one purpose: to impress Daisy Buchanan. He and Daisy had a romantic past before the war but while he was fighting for freedom in the army, she found a new lover. He began to think of ways to win her heart back and tried several things. He threw magnificent parties very often in the hopes that one day she would end up at one of them and he could have another chance with her. When he finally does win her heart back, he is almost disappointed in a way partly because the chase was over and partly because she had not lived up to the expectations he had created in his fantasies. Fitzgerald casts Gatsby as a people pleasing manipulator. In one chapter of the book, a girl describes her one encounter with Gatsby: “‘When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address—inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown in it.’” (47) It almost seems as if Gatsby is only generous to avoid negative attention. The “Roaring Twenties” was an extremely immoral time in the history of this country. The play Fitzgerald has casted is fated to end in sadness, because following the desires of the flesh never ends well. This book can be used as a warning to all to not play the part of a bad character in their lives, and to leave the crowd clapping when they make their
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