“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me”
–The Dark Knight
Many people wonder what exactly makes someone great. Moreover, a person may wonder what truly defines a person’s greatness, Is it his accolades, or what he’s currently doing?
I’ve made this blog special for you as a reader, to understand my perspective of Jay Gatsby, and what makes him great. I’ll be honest with you, he has some dirty history, but he still made it right? He’s probably as rich as Tom Buchanan in this story, and he did what he had to do to chase his American Dream. In this blog post, I’ll try to persuade you on why Fitzgerald made Gatsby the heroic figure that Daisy truly never deserved.
For those of you wondering why I put Gatsby in line with batman, it’s because they both shared similar perseverance in dream chasing. Sadly, one escaped a nuclear weapon explosion, and one ended up getting shot dead by George Wilson (who was like Harvey Dent, manipulated from a innocent man into a villain). However, their upcoming are similar, and what they were going after was greater than just their own legacy, but their dreams.
Gatsby dreamed of having Daisy for the rest of his life. She represented the “what if” possibility of him had he been wealthy from the start. Everything he did to move up the social class, was for Daisy. The parties, the money spending, the bootlegging business, all for her.
Gatsby chased his dream like a madman, like dogs chasing cars. He relentlessly faced challenges and overcame them one by one. He did them step by step, just to put himself in a position to be successful. He literally put his life on the line just for the sake of earning enough money to buy a mansion that is directly across Daisy’s. Why did I say this? If Jordan Baker said “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” (Fitzgerald 78), then I think it’s already a clear explanation.
And even though he failed in the end to secure Daisy’s love, the effort there was enough to show him as a hero with a great sacrifice (tho arguably stupid). He persevered, he overcame the odds as a typical American who started from nothing. He putted in the work, fought in a war to earn money, worked as a clerk to earn money (inherited the wealth), went into the dirty business all for money. All the work, just for Daisy. Like how he sacrificed himself for Daisy to take the responsibility of Myrtle’s death, “‘Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was’”(Fitzgerald 143).
And Batman? Well, Bruce Wayne was a orphan as a kid, forced into handling an excess amount of wealth without a sense how to use that wealth. As he matured, he began to realize his American dream: to make Gotham a better place. He donated billions to child orphanage hoping those kids could live somewhat better life than his childhood, he began combating the most dangerous terrorists within the city and trying to restore proper justice. He even went head to head with the Joker and Bane, some of the most dangerous life threatening challenges that he overcame, he did all of these, just for his Gotham. And, he was a philanthropist, donated almost all of his wealth to the city for orphanage centers, just to make sure the same orphans can live a slightly better life than his younger years.
What we see from here is a concept of being great. The concept of dying for your dream. It’s what many people hope they have the will to do but fail to grasp most of the time. We learned to appreciate Batman as a character because of his selfless sacrifice for Gotham, and his eventual ending of barely escaping with his life to save his city from being nuked. We saw that with Gatsby, except, he died to save Daisy. So, are we as collective human beings going to ignore all the things Gatsby did for Daisy just because he’s dead? He died for Daisy! He’s a martyr in my opinion, he taught me that if it’s your dream, you go get it, period.
Gatsby had a bad upcoming, yes. But, so did Bruce. Nobody liked Bruce, in fact, everyone was jealous of him. Bruce was once a small teen with excessive wealth and spent it for himself and his pleasure like there was no tomorrow. But what he turned into as he matured, was nothing less of a miracle and nothing short of heroism.
And, that’s why I say It’s not about a person’s underneath. By that underneath, I meant by the person’s past and their history. Both had dark pasts, but what they did for others was definitive of their character, of the American dream. To become successful, then use the success to give back to people around you. Gatsby actually gave back, hosting the parties and things like that, but he failed at his ultimate goal. Even then, he shouldn’t be punished as a result of that. And, like being successful, he should be respected, especially when it was for a greater cause (like Batman). Gatsby was a hero Daisy needed but doesn’t deserve.
And so, now you understood my perspective of Gatsby. He was Daisy’s batman, always there to protect her, doing everything for her. I hope this blog post persuaded you to appreciate Gatsby’s greatness. He may not have had a noble past, but he fought a noble cause, like The Dark Knight. And that about sums it up for this post, I’ll see you next time!
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