And The Band Plays On Essay, Research Paper

AND THE BAND PLAYS ON.

Time tells us that success often comes with a price. Often money will create more problems than it can solve. The richness of a person’s soul can be hidden in the folds of money. Such is the case of Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is constantly altering in the readers mind due to the various puzzling events that transpire in the novel creating a level of mystery.

First off, Gatsby is a man who feels secure in his privacy and allows very few people into his personal life due to lack of trust. Jay often throws parties at his lavish house, only to shrink away from contact with his various guests that frolic in his privately funded bashes. He does not drink, mainly because he has a high level of composure that cannot be compromised by the effects of alcohol. When the narrator, Nick Carraway, is allowed to venture into Gatsby’s personal life Gatsby tells Nick only what he feels is necessary to keep him from being suspicious. The eerie thing about this is that while doing this he is so guarded that Nick often questions how concrete and truthful the information is. When discussing his past Gastby is choppy and uncomfortable telling Nick about his education and war experiences. Only when Gatsby produces a metal of valor earned in the war does Nick believe in his war service stories. Even then Nick has a hard time believing Gatsby’s educational background because of his uncomfortable declaration that he attended Oxford, a very prestigious English university. Trust is not a strong point of Gastby’s makeup and lifestyle.

Therefore, when looking at Gatsby’s most impressive traits one thing that pops up is his energetic smile, vibrant personality, and loyalty to those who he respects or cares about. It is important to mention the fact that Gatsby always seemed to make every person feel important and at ease while conversing with him. It was his nature to express courtesy to any guest he came in contact with, no matter how insignificant they were or what their occupation was. As far as loyalty is concerned, it is best represented in his devotion to Daisy Buchanan. With his money and notoriety he could have easily have had numerous love opportunities. He sacrificed all openings for love as he stoked the coals trying to ignite a past flame with a married women. Even when Jay and Daisy’s relationship was over in the readers mind Gatsby still clung to a hope of having a life with her. He loyally stayed at her house to the wee hours of the morning, convinced her husband was a live wire that could erupt and physically punish his wife. This he displayed to a women that is impossible to love anyone but who faces the her in the mirror.

Further more, all the things that Gatsby had worked hard for in the end abandoned him and led to his unfortunate death. For all of the devotion he gave Daisy she couldn’t possibly love a man who was in shady business dealings, or could possibly taint her impeccably clean appearance in society. The money that he had accumulated and those who helped him accumulate it fell to wayside after his death. Meyer Wolshiem, who proclaimed that he made Gatsby in to the man he was didn’t even attend his funeral. Neither did Daisy or the numerous guests that roamed the grounds of his estate on numerous weekends. What a shame to think of all the people who had benefited on behalf of Gatsby not to even attend the funeral, even given the circumstances surrounding his wealth. The man who to so many was a mystery and of profound mystic died in a untimely manner which allowed others to keep up their destructive lifestyle’s with a lack of consequence.

Lastly, The Jay Gatsby that everyone caught glimpses will always be a mystery to many. His life was an example of the highs and lows of the American dream. The pitfalls and plateaus that he reached show deep insight into The United States in the 1920’s. All of his character traits represented different things to different people only to end in his own pointless demise. In the end it was, and will always be tragic for a life that it not yet lived to the fullest to be extinguished.