Gatsby: The Tragic Dreamer
Jay Gatsby stands as literature's most famous example of the corrupted American Dream. He's literally reinvented himself from poor farm boy James Gatz into a mysterious millionaire, believing completely that you can repeat the past.
Fitzgerald presents Gatsby as almost mythological - "a son of God" who "sprang from his Platonic conception of himself". The rumours about him being a "German spy" or "murderer" only add to his legendary status. Yet this god-like image masks a fundamental tragedy: his dreams are too big for reality.
The famous quote about Daisy falling short of his dreams "not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion" captures Gatsby's essential problem. He's created an impossible fantasy that no real person could ever fulfil.
Key Quote: "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us" - this symbolises how the American Dream always stays just out of reach.











