Fail to succeed
Imminent success abounds in well thought out opportunities. Attempting to reach success extemporaneously will end drastically. Balance in aspects such as relationship, wealth, health, and intelligence are the key to success. On the contrary Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby is the perfect example of success masked by pretense, failure. Viewing mistakes of finding success will lead to an understanding of true success.
Social success should be reflected by the size of parties in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is known for his elaborate parties he hosts in West Egg, Long Island where people from all around New York come to visit. The aim of his parties is to attract the love of his life, Daisy, but in consequence he invites people who he is not familiar with. Lacking in proper healthy relationships, his guests spread false rumors of him. One of his guests even mentioned that “he killed a man once’”, without even knowing his true past (Fitzgerald 42). Rumors that would not occur unless he spent time and energy towards social life instead of wistfully looking for Daisy.
Wealth made Gatsby the most renowned person in all of New York, but masked in what looked like success, was a superficial sense of life. Wealth hid the ugly truth of an unsuccessful individual. At Gatsby’s funeral an infinitesimal amount of people came compared to the tremendous amount of guests at all of his parties. His death marked and reflected on an unhealthy way of life that resulted in an unsuccessful end. Money could buy him luxuries that fascinated and attracted guests. Unfortunately wealth could not buy loyalty, a mistake that Gatsby committed in the search for Daisy. A lavish lifestyle drew in people that looked at Gatsby for his wealth instead of looking at him as an individual (Lifehack RSS). There needs to be a balance when exploiting wealth. Unlike most aspects of success, money is extremely tied psychologically to humans. When this aspect is abused a falsity is created and people are not known for who they are but for their money.
Stupid in love, Gatsby followed Daisy, convincing her to leave her husband Tom in return for his care and benevolence. A long argument between Daisy’s true love, resulted in the splitting of Tom and Daisy. Gatsby convinced that he could break apart a marriage of three years returned to his home, knowing that Daisy would move in with him. The avenged death of Mrs. Wilson, left Gatsby dead and promises unkept. With further investigation to Gatsby’s death, it was discovered that Tom and Daisy “had gone away” “and taken baggage with them” from the area (Fitzgerald 164). Undoubtedly it was foolish and ill minded for Gatsby to believe that in just a few nights he could break apart a relationship. The maturity and intelligence to cast away a relationship that only lasted months was not apparent in Gatsby’s judgement. The lack of intelligence clouded his mind and created a superfluous image of his life.
Jay Gatsby lives a superficial life filled with lies of success. What started out as a search for the love of his life, he created a world that was not loyal to him. Blinded by memories, fake relationships, and misuse of money led to the unsuccess of Jay Gatsby. Life is the big picture and there are no second chances but in the smaller scale achieving success is acquired by knowing what failure is.
Bibliography
"50 Money Quotes by Famous People That Can Change Your Attitude Towards Money."Lifehack RSS. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner Trade Paperback ed. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.
Social success should be reflected by the size of parties in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is known for his elaborate parties he hosts in West Egg, Long Island where people from all around New York come to visit. The aim of his parties is to attract the love of his life, Daisy, but in consequence he invites people who he is not familiar with. Lacking in proper healthy relationships, his guests spread false rumors of him. One of his guests even mentioned that “he killed a man once’”, without even knowing his true past (Fitzgerald 42). Rumors that would not occur unless he spent time and energy towards social life instead of wistfully looking for Daisy.
Wealth made Gatsby the most renowned person in all of New York, but masked in what looked like success, was a superficial sense of life. Wealth hid the ugly truth of an unsuccessful individual. At Gatsby’s funeral an infinitesimal amount of people came compared to the tremendous amount of guests at all of his parties. His death marked and reflected on an unhealthy way of life that resulted in an unsuccessful end. Money could buy him luxuries that fascinated and attracted guests. Unfortunately wealth could not buy loyalty, a mistake that Gatsby committed in the search for Daisy. A lavish lifestyle drew in people that looked at Gatsby for his wealth instead of looking at him as an individual (Lifehack RSS). There needs to be a balance when exploiting wealth. Unlike most aspects of success, money is extremely tied psychologically to humans. When this aspect is abused a falsity is created and people are not known for who they are but for their money.
Stupid in love, Gatsby followed Daisy, convincing her to leave her husband Tom in return for his care and benevolence. A long argument between Daisy’s true love, resulted in the splitting of Tom and Daisy. Gatsby convinced that he could break apart a marriage of three years returned to his home, knowing that Daisy would move in with him. The avenged death of Mrs. Wilson, left Gatsby dead and promises unkept. With further investigation to Gatsby’s death, it was discovered that Tom and Daisy “had gone away” “and taken baggage with them” from the area (Fitzgerald 164). Undoubtedly it was foolish and ill minded for Gatsby to believe that in just a few nights he could break apart a relationship. The maturity and intelligence to cast away a relationship that only lasted months was not apparent in Gatsby’s judgement. The lack of intelligence clouded his mind and created a superfluous image of his life.
Jay Gatsby lives a superficial life filled with lies of success. What started out as a search for the love of his life, he created a world that was not loyal to him. Blinded by memories, fake relationships, and misuse of money led to the unsuccess of Jay Gatsby. Life is the big picture and there are no second chances but in the smaller scale achieving success is acquired by knowing what failure is.
Bibliography
"50 Money Quotes by Famous People That Can Change Your Attitude Towards Money."Lifehack RSS. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner Trade Paperback ed. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.