Tragic Hero Essay: Jay Gatsby

1063 Words5 Pages
The Greek Philosopher Aristotle was accredited to the phrase "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." This man watched his whole life unfold in front of him and his life ended in the most tragic way imaginable; with him being alone and unloved. All the tragic heroes studied portray these characteristics in terms of their downfall. There are many characteristics that identify Jay Gatsby as a tragic hero. Some of the characteristics of a tragic hero include greatness, a weakness or a flaw, an undeserved fate, and a punishment exceeding the deed committed. Jay Gatsby encompasses all of these characteristics as a tragic hero. The most tragic of the three protagonists studied is Jay Gatsby because all he wanted was to be loved by Daisy, although, there were few who actually liked him, and his fate was ill timed and one his actions were not deserving of. There are many characteristics that identify Jay Gatsby as a tragic hero. Some of the characteristics of a tragic hero include greatness, a weakness or a flaw, an undeserved fate, and a punishment exceeding the deed committed. Jay Gatsby encompasses all of these characteristics of a tragic hero. Although, the author tries to portray Gatsby as a perfect person, there are still some noticeable flaws. Gatsby’s great life unwinds with the death of the tragic hero. Gatsby was portrayed as esteemed by the way others spoke of him. Nick describes him as a well-mannered person and everyone who knew him looked up to him. He was not among the upper class who got recklessly drunk and he also did not act carelessly as displayed by some of the other wealthy people who attended his parties. Meyer Wolfshiem said of him “Fine fellow isn’t he?” (70) which shows that even the high-up criminal masterminds and highly successful men like Wolfsheim respected Gatsby. In addition, the title of the book is

More about Tragic Hero Essay: Jay Gatsby

Open Document