The Great Gatsby and the Tragic "Hero" he is by Jacob

The Great Gatsby and the Tragic "Hero" he is by Jacob - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books that I had to read for high school, because the deep truths it reveals about the human condition. At its core, the novel teaches us that the pursuit of the American Dream—when driven by illusion, materialism, or nostalgia—can lead to emptiness and destruction.
Jay Gatsby, the novel’s tragic “hero”, dedicates his life to recreating an idealized version of the past with Daisy Buchanan. Despite his wealth and lavish lifestyle, Gatsby still cannot obtain the treasure he seeked. His dream is based on his own fantasy, not the reality of the situation. From this, Gatsby shows how dangerous it can be to idealize people or moments from the past, and how doing so can blind us to the present.
The novel also offers a sharp critique of social inequality and moral decay hidden behind wealth. Characters like Tom and Daisy, who come from “old money,” act with entitlement and carelessness, leaving others to suffer from their own mistakes, this is seen especially at the end when Gatsby is killed by the wife (and lover of tom) of the mechanic. This teaches us that privilege without responsibility can lead to injustice—and that appearances often mask deeper truths.