Jay Gatsby: Second Lead Syndrome

Hello! I am once again here to whine about The Great Gatsby, and while I think talking about how rich kids have severe parental issues is cool, I don’t exactly think I have an opinion about that (sorry Annabella).  Let’s be real – if I could grow up filthy rich, with the condition being that I see my parents once a year, I would take it.

Instead, I want to talk about Gatsby. I get that, in the story, Gatsby is supposed to be the hero, but I prefer to think of him as a second lead - the one who went from rags to riches, who almost got the girl, then had everything ripped out of his reach. Obviously, this would make Tom the main character of the story and while the man is despicable, I don’t think I would mind too much.  At the end of the story, it’s again Tom who gets Daisy, not Gatsby, despite everything he sacrificed for her. In fact, I was glad that Daisy ended up with Tom.

Fitzgerald really emphasized the idea that the past is the past. Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship was doomed from the start – the broken clock symbolized that – neither was the same person they had been when they were young. Daisy now needs Tom to keep her grounded so she can continue to live her life carelessly like she already does, not Gatsby who is just as reckless as her. Its really a pity since Gatsby really loved his idea of Daisy.


Signing off for now,

Reality Sucks 

Comments

  1. Janav SalujaOctober 15, 2023 at 1:47 PM

    Your blog was good and it provided several examples to support your claim. But I still do not get how Gatsby is the second lead. If the story is all about him and his sacrifices (even though he lost Daisy at end), Gatsby is the main lead of the story. I think it is kind of unclear how your evidence supports your claim, but I might be missing something. Please clarify my doubt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Katharina ZakOctober 15, 2023 at 2:19 PM

    First of all, you for sure have some interesting opinions, first with the rich parents and especially regarding Tom, me personally I despise Tom, but oh well, it was interesting to read a different view point. But is Gatsby really supposed to be the hero of the story? If anything I think that Gatsby is the one that needs the saving. He needs to unfortunately realize that his time with Daisy (as you mentioned as well) is over, and that he should move on with his life, even though I am a strong Daisy x Gatsby shipper. In my opinion he is the damsel in distress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mithun NandhakumarOctober 15, 2023 at 5:45 PM

    I really agree with your point on their relationship being doomed from the start and gatsby portrays what happens when a person can’t move on from the past.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin JeongOctober 15, 2023 at 11:42 PM

    I agree that Gatsby and Daisy's relationship was never meant to be revived years later. But I also still believe that Gatsby is the main character because of how many conflicts he faced. The fact that their relationship was so unconventional and never meant to work out makes him the perfect main character to me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 16, 2023 at 7:20 AM

    I really liked how you established Tom as the main character instead because he’s basically like the anti-hero. It creates this really nice contrast.

    ReplyDelete

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