VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
GRADUATION PAPER
THE ILLUSORY “GREATNESS” AND THE PATHETIC
TRAGEDY OF JAY GATSBY IN “THE GREAT GATSBY” BY
FRANCIS SCOTT FITZGERALD
Supervisor: Văn Thị Thanh Bình, M.A.
Student: Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Anh
Course: QH2010.F1.E4
HÀ NỘI – 5/2014
ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH
KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP
Sự vĩ đại ảo tưởng và bị kịch đáng thương của nhân vật
Jay Gatsby trong tác phẩm “Đại gia Gatsby” của nhà
văn Fransis Scott Fitgerald.
Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Thạc sỹ Văn Thị Thanh Bình
Sinh viên: Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Anh
Khóa: QH2010.F1.E4
HÀ NỘI – 2014
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ACCEPTANCE PAGE
I hereby state that I: Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh, being a candidate for the
degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirement of College relating
to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the
library.
In term of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper
deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and
research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the

chapter I present the overview of Literature with some literature knowledge
of literature, its genre – novel. In addition, this chapter provides some brief
historical background related to the novel to help reader have a general view.
In this chapter, Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s life and career are also taken into
consideration. Moreover, this chapter also devoted to a basis of the novel
“The Great Gatsby”: Setting, plot overview, themes and the main characters.
On the other hand, chapter II focuses on analyzing the main character - Jay
Gatsby into 2 different aspects: his illusory greatness and pitiful pettiness so
that readers can recognize the ironic implication of the author, hence, have a
more sympathy and tolerant opinion toward this character, who is just a
victim of the decay of the American Dream as well as Jazz Age.
The third part is the conclusion of my study which summarizes the
issues addressed in the whole thesis, and points out some limitations as well
as makes some recommendation for further study.
Last but not least, I give out all the sources that I have used in the
reference part.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………….…
I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………… …
1. Rationale……………………………………………… ….….
2. Scope of the study……………………………………………….
3. Working methodology………………………… ……………….
II. DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW….…………………… ……
1.1. Literature background……………………………… ….
1.1.1. Definition of literature…………………………….………
1.1.2. Literature genre: Novel…………………………….……
1.1.2.1. Definition of novel………………………….……

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2.1. Party guests………………………………………….…….
2.2. Business acquaintances …………………………….…….
3. Gatsby’s persistent love for Daisy ……………………….…….
II. THE PATHETIC TRAGEDY OF JAY GATSBY…….……….
1. Gatsby’s humble origin……………………………… …………
2. Gatsby’s misdirected moral compass………… ……………….
2.1. His misconstrued perception of money value…… …….
2.2. His blind love for Daisy………………………….……….
3. Gatsby’s meaningless and unremembered death…….………….

1. Rationale
Literature is an important component of a total language arts program
as well as the reflection of life through the subjective prism of the author. It is
also the bridge connecting the real life and the imaginary world. Therefore, it
is undeniable that literature enriches our spiritual life, nurtures our soul and
improves our language competence, especially in writing skills, as my
supervisor said. That is the reason researcher decided to conduct a research
on literature as my Graduation Paper.
As regards literature, the novel “The Great Gatsby” by Francis Scott
Fitzgerald is appraised as one of the greatest pieces of art work of all time.
The real – life reflective and artistic values of this novel has been proved for
ages by a lot of literature critics. The researcher herself is profoundly
impressed by the protagonist Jay Gatsby thanks to the author’s skillful
narrative style.
With clever narrative tricks, Gatsby is portrayed as a man who
succeeds in all he does at the very beginning of the novel. It is likely that F.
S. Fitzgerald wants all the readers to believe. However, at the end of the
novel, Gatsby’s unremembered death, in common with the disappearance of
his fame, shocks every single reader. Thus, although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
“The Great Gatsby” has received extensive critical attention for ages, there
remain some controversial questions that demand further exploration: what
makes Jay Gatsby “great?”, and what makes him pathetic? What’s more, does
this “greatness” is real or just illusory? All of them are clarified in this
Graduation Paper. Hopefully, this thesis can contribute a little help readers
comprehend and meditate more about one of the best literary works of human
kind.
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Interestingly, everytime researcher spends time studying her thesis, she
listens to the song “Young and beautiful” by Lana Del Rey that is the original
soundtrack of the movie - adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of

life.
1.1.2. Literature genre: Novel
1.1.2.1. Definition of novel
A novel is a long work of written fiction in which a complex story is
told with a number of different situations by a narrator. In a novel, the writer
has the freedom to develop the story slowly, surround the main plot with
subplots, and create numerous shifts in time, place and focus of interest. A
novel may celebrate great event as well as details of everyday life. In a novel,
the narrator can directly address the reader or stay outside to leave the events
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to flow naturally. These features differentiate a novel with other literary
forms like short story, epic poetry, drama or mythology, and so on.
1.1.2.2. Main elements of novel
1.1.2.2.1. Plot
A plot of a novel is a narrative and thematic development of the story,
which is a series of event that depend on one another, not a sequence of
unrelated episodes. Plot is “a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on
causality” (E.M Forster). In most stories, the plot arises out of conflict
undergone by the main character. When makes choices and resolves the
conflict, the story is shaped and the plot is generated. Plot consists of three
things. First, it is the work itself, the author’s arrangement of events from the
first page to the last. By reading the work, we experience the events as the
author has arranged them. Secondly, plot includes the linkage of events by
cause and effect. This is Forster’s concepts of plot. An inevitable byproduct
of cause and effect is conflict. Third, plot is the author’s presentation of
events so as to engage readers intellectually and emotionally.
1.1.2.2.2. Character
Characters of a novel are the fictional figures that move through the
plot. Invented by the author from words rather than blood, characteristics,
though, have hopes, fears, concerns and emotions that convince the readers

century
From the late 19
th
to the early 20
th
century, American experienced the
noticeable development in literature led by consequences of socio –
economic and political achievements. A number of new themes, motifs and
sorts of characters were introduced. The multiple contextual changes of
society heralded American cultural challenge and brought along new
redefinitions of literature, literary voices, and different considerations on the
writers place in the American society. The theme of disillusionment, along
with the downfall of some American certain ideals and values, is successfully
depicted in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
“The Great Gatsby” is set on Long Island of New York, in two areas
called “West Egg” and “East Egg” known as place of the rich and fabulous
people. Nevertheless, nobody seems particularly interested in politics, or
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religion, or even education; instead, they spend their time conforming to
certain standards, like not wearing pink suits. This setting matters, because it
means that a lot takes place through innuendo and suggestion. Rich people do
like to spend their time drawing subtle distinctions between types of wealth.
Nick tells us right away that East Egg is the wealthier, more elite of the two
Eggs. Despite all his money, Gatsby lives in West Egg, suggesting that he has
not been able to complete his transformation into a member of the social
elite. The distance that separates him from Daisy isn't just the water of the
bay; it's also class. The second contrast is between the city scenes and the
suburban ones. Like Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby
commute into the city for their respective lines of work, while the women are
left behind. This geographical divide ends up being a gender distinction, too.

job, they returned to St. Paul. There, he attended St. Paul Academy from
1908 to 1911. Here he published his first story. For the most part, Scott was
privately educated; he attended Newman School in Hackensack, N.J., from
1911 to 1913.
Fitzgerald enrolled at Princeton University in 1913 and struck up
enduring friendships with Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bishop. Because
of his health and low grades, he left college in 1915. He returned to Princeton
in 1916 but left a year later without a degree and joined the army with a
second lieutenant’s commission. Stationed in Alabama in 1918, he first met
Zelda Sayre, began an intense romance. Scott went to New York to make his
fortune, so they could be married. Zelda, at the same time, however, was
unwilling to wait or live on his small salary, broke their engagement in 1919.
Heartbroken, he quit his job and moved back to St. Paul to write. Finally, he
married her a few years later and their life embellished what Fitzgerald had
already called the Jazz Age. Zelda and Fitzgerald were celebrities, known for
their extravagant lifestyle. In 1924, the Fitzgeralds moved to France and
traveled Europe, where he wrote “The Great Gatsby”. Likewise, Scott
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became part of the circle of literary expatriates in Paris. He died at the age of
44.
1.3.2. Overview F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary career
Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose
works are paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is
widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20
th
century.
Fitzgerald is considered a member of the “Lost Generation” of the 1920s. The
point that marked his career as a writer was when he courted academic
trouble as he pursued success on the parallel tracks at Princeton. He wrote
lyrics for the Triangle Club’s shows and published poems and stories in the

money via shady schemes, and reinvents himself so much that he becomes
hollow, disconnected from his past. Yet Gatsby's corrupt dream of wealth is
motivated by an incorruptible love for Daisy. Gatsby's failure does not prove
the folly of the American Dream—rather it proves the folly of short-cutting
that dream by allowing corruption and materialism to prevail over hard work,
integrity, and real love. And the dream of love that remains at Gatsby's core
condemns nearly every other character in the novel, all of whom are empty
beyond just their lust for money.
1.4.2.2. Class (Old Money, New Money, No Money)
The Great Gatsby portrays three different social classes: "old money"
(Tom and Daisy Buchanan); "new money" (Gatsby); and a class that might be
called "no money" (George and Myrtle Wilson). "Old money" families have
fortunes dating from the 19th century or before, have built up powerful and
influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority
behind a veneer of civility. The "new money" class made their fortunes in the
1920s boom and therefore have no social connections and tend to
overcompensate for this lack with lavish displays of wealth.
The Great Gatsby shows the newly developing class rivalry between
"old" and "new" money in the struggle between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy.
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As usual, the "no money" class gets overlooked by the struggle at the top,
leaving middle and lower class people like George Wilson forgotten or
ignored.
1.4.2.3. Past and Future
Nick and Gatsby are continually troubled by time—the past haunts
Gatsby and the future weighs down on Nick. When Nick tells Gatsby that
you can't repeat the past, Gatsby says "Why of course you can!" Gatsby has
dedicated his entire life to recapturing a golden, perfect past with Daisy.
Gatsby believes that money can recreate the past. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby
as "overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons

butler’s thumb.” (Fitzgerald 43) and “On buffet tables, garnished with
glistening horsd’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of
harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the
main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and
liquors and with cordials” (Fitzgerald 44). Additionally, champagne
exemplifies excess of Gatsby's party, in quantity and cost: " champagne was
served in glasses of finger-bowls" (Fitzgerald 51). Especially, many of the
guests come to his parties by his own Rolls-Royce: “On week-ends his Rolls-
Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between
nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon
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scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains” (Fitzgerald 43).
Obviously, one of the reasons that this New-money has become so famous
around New York is because of his unbelievably glamorous parties held
every weekend at his mansion as well as his outstanding hospitality.
1.2. His outstanding enigma property
Along with the extravagant parties, Chapter III is devoted to the
introduction of Gatsby and the lavish, showy world he inhabits from the
mansion, to the countless dress shirts and expensive cars.
At the first place, Gatsby’s mansion is part of Gatsby's lavish display
to show off his wealth and status in order to attract attention from others,
specifically Daisy. Not only does the author mention the enormous mansion
which is home to this “new- money”, but also the site of many extravagant
parties attracting guests of all kinds. It is “a colossal affair by any standard—
it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower
on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble
swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 7)
or “the halls and salons and verandas are gaudy with primary colors and hair
shorn in strange new ways and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile. The bar
is in full swing and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside

too-perfect facade, which he wants others to see. “It was a rich cream color,
bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with
triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a
labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns” (Fitzgerald 69). Another
interesting detail is Gatsby’s car is yellow instead of the standardized black
of the era stresses the thought that he is engrossed with the obsession of
displaying his material wealth to get the love of Daisy. The Death car is
yellow, and in the novel yellow symbolizes money and corruption in the
novel. The creamy color of Gatsby’s car also symbolizes decay of corruption;
therefore Gatsby’s car is like a bulging piece of fruit that is overripe and has
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started to rot. In addition, even though vehicles in this novel act as the
identity through which characters appear in public, they are disposable
amusements for the characters, who exhibit carelessness and frivolity with
them: "he [Gatsby] was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with
that resourcefulness of movement" (Fitzgerald 68). It seems that Gatsby uses
it only as an accessory and treats his expensive car carelessly like a toy. That
is again adds to portrayal of well-to-do as careless, wasteful. In summary, his
car symbolizes his vulgar materialism and conveys his newborn affluence.
The symbolism of the house, clothes and cars is perhaps stressed and
used to suggest to the readers that a dream rooted in materialism which
overestimates the money value alone will in the end always be disparaging.
1.3. Gatsby’s illusory self – reputation
The following part is what shatters the glimmering illusion and
ultimately conveys that Jay Gatsby, contrary to the book's title, is not great
after all.
On one hand, in order to execute his plan to reunite with Daisy, Gatsby
intentionally gives an explanation to his personal background. Gatsby spins a
series of tales about his background: “‘I’ll tell you God’s truth.’ His right
hand suddenly ordered divine retribution to stand by. ‘I am the son of some

had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in the world”
(Fitzgerald 49). The rumours strengthen Gatsby’s mysterious image; nobody
knows who he is or where he has come from, and people are intrigued.
Indeed all the rumours about this illusory reputation are included through
Carraway’s narrative, which may be his way of demonstrating what a
phenomenon Gatsby has become. In doing so, he adds to the mysterious
atmosphere. The reader is inclined to believe that Gatsby is untouchable, an
illusion which is shattered along with Gatsby’s dreams in the end.
The talent for self-invention is what gives Gatsby his quality of
“greatness”: indeed, the title “The Great Gatsby” is reminiscent of billings for
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such vaudeville magicians as “The Great Houdini” and “The Great
Blackstone,” suggesting that the persona of Jay Gatsby is a masterful illusion
(Sparknote.com, p.1).
2. Gatsby’s social relations
2.1. Party guests.
For all intents and purposes, Gatsby maintains having a wide range of
social relations to achieve recognition from the contemporary society in
general and Daisy in particular.
Initially, regardless the party guests, there is a clear combination of the
people that went to the party, from high society people with lots of money to
people with much less money and new rich people. “From East Egg, then,
came the Chester Beckers and the Leeches and a man named Bunsen whom I
knew at Yale and Doctor Webster Civet who was drowned last summer up in
Maine. And the Hornbeams and the Willie Voltaires and a whole clan named
Blackbuck who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like
goats at whosoever came near. And the Ismays and the Chrysties (or rather
Hubert and Mr. Chrystie’s wife) and Edgar Beaver Clarence Endive was
from East Egg […] From West Egg came the Poles and the Mulreadys and
Cecil Roebuck and Cecil Schoen and Gulick the state senator and Newton

because they’re not being allowed to talk to the hot young things, and the
women are mad because their husbands are trying to talk to the hot young
things: “Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said
to be their husbands. … One of the men was talking with curious intensity to
a young actress, and his wife, after attempting to laugh at the situation in a
dignified and indifferent way, broke down entirely and resorted to flank
attacks – at intervals she appeared suddenly at his side like and angry
diamond, and hissed: ‘You promised!’ into his ear”” (Fitzgerald 57).
Likewise, what might have seemed as the dream party was just an illusion
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because what really happen at the party is hiding in an underworld of lies.
Some people take advantage of his parties as a matter of fact dirty business:
“The number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking
a little hungry and all talking in low earnest voices to solid and prosperous
Americans. I was sure that they were selling something: bonds or insurance
or automobiles. They were, at least, agonizingly aware of the easy money in
the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key”
(Fitzgerald 46). For all the uninvited guests, Gatsby’s party is the perfect
place for people to show all their finest suites “already the halls and salons
and verandas are gaudy with primary colors and hair shorn in strange new
ways and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile” (Fitzgerald 44), “the number
of young Englishmen dotted about; all well-dressed” (Fitzgerald 46), it is the
place where lights and colors gleam until daylight, when the last guests leave
the party. This emphasizes the hollowness of the exaggerate parties which
put forward material aspects.
To summarize, Gatsby’s buying expensive things and entertaining
large groups of society reflects his incommunicable desire for something
greater. In spite of throwing lavish parties for countless people in order to
draw Daisy’s attention as well as broaden his social acquaintances, yet he has
no real friends.