The American dream never died, it never existed in the first place. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, the rich and mysterious Gatsby is neither a terrible character nor a saint, he is simply human. But choosing whether he is really great or not so great would be difficult because he has both good and bad qualities. But its fatal flaws will eventually lead to destruction. Gatsby does bad things with good intentions, he is a criminal and a liar but all to achieve the American dream and pursue Daisy, the love of his life. Gatsby is not so great because he is a liar. From the beginning, Gatsby is seen as an Oxford alumnus, who fought in World War I, hunted big game, and whose parents were from the Midwest. He even justifies himself when Nicks asks and Gatsby pulls out a photo of himself at Oxford and a World War I medal he carried in his pocket. He even changed his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, but why? “James Gatz – that really, or at least legally, was his name. He had changed at seventeen and at the precise moment which marked the beginning of his career” (6). Gatsby is mysterious and mystifying, known for his big parties but no one knows why he throws them. Keep in mind that this is the era of Prohibition, but at Gatsby's parties there is always plenty of alcohol available and no one knows where it comes from or how they acquire so much, l one of the many mysteries. These parties were attended by people like Meyer Wolfshiem “the man who really fixed the 1919 World Series” (118), mayors and governors. Further questions arise in this endeavor as to how Gatsby is associated with gangsters and why they attend these big parties. It's completely ironic how many people attend these parties but no... middle of paper...... is described in the book, he is obviously nothing short of a gangster. All Gatsby wants is connections, connections to money. He needs people to help him achieve his goal of the American dream, he needs to make money, he needs his perfect rich Daisy, and he needs money from his perfect rich Daisy. Jay Gatsby really isn't that great in F.'s novel The Great Gatsby. Scott Fitzgerald, concluding in this essay that Gatsby is not the person he meets as in the novel. This novel is full of illusions that are difficult to see, but it is up to the reader to find them. Always keep an eye out while reading this novel; illusions appear out of nowhere in scenes so obvious and yet so simple that readers tend to overlook them. Gatsby does bad things with good intentions, he is a criminal and a liar but all this to achieve the American dream and pursue Daisy, the love of his life.Sources