Gatsby and the Wells of Wealth
Kanade Suzuki
Mr. Pangier
American Literature
27 April 2017
Success; is it all about the end?
What is wealth? Does having money automatically make you wealthy? The answer is a definite yes. Although many could argue against the statement above, this is my definition of “wealth” and is how I perceive it. Then what is success? Success and wealth is something totally different. Success is not all about being wealthy; it’s about doing what you want to do.
Jay Gatsby, is described as a rich man who strives to get back his lost love, Daisy, but at the end gets murdered. Many see this story as a failure of a man who only focused on one aspect of life and learns that wealth is not all about money. But are they actually? Gatsby once was a poor young man, and as a result, Daisy was taken by another rich guy “She only married you because I was poor...” (Fitzgerald 100).That is when Gatsby realized that wealth is everything; without money, no dream could be achieved. This is not just a fictional story that tells how people could be driven insane by love. Great Gatsby teaches us a lesson, a sad reality; money is wealth, without it, there is no such thing as success.
What is something that makes one’s life “successful”? The key here is that definition of success differs by people, and so whether they define themselves as successful depends on them. One claims that to live with someone they truly love is success. Others say that being rich and having a higher social status is what makes them successful. However, there is something all the people share in common; making most out of their situations, doing what they want to do, is definetly success. It is just that “most” and “what” differs by people. Gatsby for instance, was successful since he did his best to get Daisy back, which was what he wanted to do. He made the best out of it, and it is something we all should admire. To me, Gatsby was a successful man who ended up dying young, unlucky. He got money, fame and glory, but just lacked one aspect of life: love. But does lacking something mean one’s life isn’t perfect? I don’t think so. Life is never perfect, and thus lacking some component of life doesn’t make your life unsuccessful.
Success is not all about what you get at the end. It is the pathway that determines success. Just because Gatsby ended up murdered and his funeral was not what we all wish for, it does not mean his life was a failure. He strived for money and status, and he gained them through hardwork and determination for one motivation that kept him moving forward. Think that you are Gatsby, place yourselves in his shoes. Do you think he is regretting it? I doubt it. He did his best, he did what he can do. In such a life, there is no regrets. Gatsby lived a successful life, and there are no questions about it. Let me paraphrase my definition of success here. If no regret is said on your deathbed, then that is success.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Royston, Hertfordshire: Large Print hop, 2014. Print.
Turner, Lana. "Lana Turner Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.