Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Gatsby, the Player -----Character Building of Great Gatsby Gatsby¡¯s greatness lies not in his prospect of his future, but in his uncompromising insistence to ¡°repeat the past¡±(116), when he irremediably fell in love with Daisy. The past life, to Gatsby, is the type that he can only conceive in romantic tales. The past happiness, however transient it was, is what Gatsby lives for. He wants desperately to retrieve the lost love and his most treasured values. Since no one can go back in time and relive the past, what Gatsby can only do is to make up a play, which involves practically all the dramatic elements: the fictitious characters, the dramatic plots which moves from beginning through climax to denouement, etc. But, unfortunately, no matter how Gatsby frets and struts on the stage, he is heard no more to the end of the play. His desolate funeral marks the fall of the curtain. Gatsby turns out to be ¡°a poor son of bitch¡±(183). Gatsby¡¯s tragic play isn¡¯t a tale told by an idiot. Rather, it is told by such a confidence man who tends to reserve his judgement, while keeping an observant eye on what is going on around him. Although Nick, the narrator of the novel, is of less importance in Gatsby¡¯s