What's So Great About Gatsby?

Why the title ‘The Great Gatsby?’ Who was the real person – James Gatz or Jay Gatsby ? Was he great? How should we interpret this? What was Gatsby’s Dream? The American, Daisy or himself? Something else?


     I believe that the name of the book "The Great Gatsby" is titled that because of the different ways that people viewed Gatsby. Nick pictured him as a great friend that would always be there for him. Daisy saw him as a man of great love towards her. The people that came to Gatsby's parties viewed him as a man with great wealth, great music, a great house, and great parties. The 'great' isn't always good though, some people see Gatsby as a great liar or bootlegger. This 'great' was sarcastic.
     James Gatz wants himself to be someone else; someone with a big house, a large amount of money, or a man that has Daisy Buchanan by his side. So James Gatz invents a vision for himself, which later becomes Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby no longer has a mind of his own, he is consumed with thoughts of Daisy, money, and success. He fuels these thoughts with his extravagent parties and the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.
     In my opinion, the man which James Gatz used to be could have been great if maintained he right priorities in becoming great. In this book we see a schedule that James had as a young boy which told him what to do everyday in order to acheive greatness. What James Gatz turned into was someone he thought was great, but in reality, was no more than a fake and a liar.
     Some people might think that Daisy is Gatsby's dream. Others might think that repeating his past with Daisy in his future was his dream. I believe that Gatsby's real dream was to be the Gatsby he longed to be. He pined to be this great man with all the pleasures of life, but once he had them, was he really happy? Once he and Daisy were reunited, he no longer had a dream when he looked at her dock and saw the green light. It has no more significance to him anymore. He had nothing to fuel his dream with, but he actually had nothing at all.
     When Gatsby died, two people showed up to his funeral. This to me does not sound like the funeral for a man so great. this just proves that Gatz's vision of Gatsby was not a good vision. After he got everything he wanted, he had nothing. Daisy left, his dream left, and a few days later, his life was gone. His vision that he spent 5 years feeding left him with nothing. Jay Gatsby doesn't seem so great now.