Teagen Curran Mrs. Rose period 3 Phony? Essay 2 March 2023 True identity is an assembly of traits, characteristics, and experiences that make an individual who they are, instead of the persona or, in Gatsby's case, facade they present to the world. Jay Gatsby is a very complex person with a mysterious past and a larger then life persona. Jay gatsby's entire life is built on a lie; fabricating a new identity and persona to escape his humble beginnings. He is a truly flawed and tragic character who struggles to reconcile his dreams. His visualization of achieving wealth, status, and love embodies the American Dream, and his willingness to risk everything to make it a reality is testimony to his determination and ambition; despite all of this, by definition, Jay Gatsby is a phony. Gatsby's identity is rooted in his humble beginnings as "James Gatz - that was really, or at least legally, his name"(Fitzgerald 80) the son of poor farmers in North Dakota. he denies this identity, creating a new persona as Jay Gatsby, a wealthy, powerful man with a past veiled under mystery. Gatsby's identity is buried beneath this forged image and only is it throughout the novel that the reader gets to learn more about Gatsby's true identity and his past. One of the clearest examples of his fraudulence can be seen in his extravagant parties. Gatsby throws these parties every weekend, inviting hundreds of people to his home but he himself does not attend these parties, as he is more partial to remaining hidden in another part of the house. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, notes that Gatsby's parties are lavish, extravagant, and intended solely to impress his guests. Nick comments that the guests at Gatsby's parties "conducted themselves
according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks"(Fitzgerald 33) and that they "believed in him as they would have believed in a deity." On the other hand, it can be argued that Gatsby is not a phony, but a tragic, flawed, and complex character. His obsession with Daisy Buchanan is genuine and heartfelt going as far as saying that "in his heart, he loved her all the time" (Fitzgerald 101) and he is willing to go to great lengths to win her back. Furthermore, Gatsby's generosity and kindness towards others, such as Nick Carraway and his guests at his parties, suggest that he is not entirely selfish. With all of this in mind, in the first six chapters of The Great Gatsby, there is ample evidence to support the idea that Jay Gatsby is a phony. His extravagant parties, false identity, and manipulative behavior toward Daisy all suggest he is not the person he attests to. While Gatsby's motivations and desires are complex and nuanced, it is clear that he has created a false persona to gain wealth, status, and the affection of Daisy.