Why should we feel sympathy for Gatsby?

Jay Gatsby is a sympathetic character because his intentions were pure and his pursuit of the American Dream was solely motivated by his love for Daisy Buchanan. Jay Gatsby was born James Gatz and grew up in a working-class family. After briefly courting the wealthy Daisy Fay and working for Dan Cody, James transformed himself and entered the illegal bootlegging industry to attain wealth. While Gatsby's pursuit of wealth was corrupt, his intentions were admirable and pure. He understood that he would never have a chance of being with the woman he loved since she came from an upper-class family and he was extremely poor. Instead of lamenting his situation, Gatsby successfully attained the American Dream to improve his chances of marrying her. As a citizen of the West Egg, Gatsby is portrayed as rather naive and innocent in comparison to the debased, arrogant citizens of the East Egg. Unfortunately, Gatsby surrounds himself with shady, selfish individuals, who do not genuinely care about him, including Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby also demonstrates his love and concern for Daisy by taking the blame for Myrtle's death and making sure Tom will not harm her. Nick also has a positive perception of Jay Gatsby and views him as a charismatic, enthusiastic dreamer with pure intentions and a hopeful spirit. After praising Gatsby, Nick comments,

Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shortwinded elations of men.


Gatsby is a sympathetic character in many ways. He is born into humble means and an unimaginative family that is unable to help him conceive of and pursue a dream. Meeting a louche character like Dan Cody and a beautiful but vacuous rich girl like Daisy Fay contribute to distort James Gatz's thinking, and he is never quite able to become the success he wants to be as Jay Gatsby. He resorts to criminality because he equates wealth with success and social position.
Putting himself in harm's way to protect the totally unworthy Daisy Buchanan is another of Jay Gatsby's ill-conceived choices, and unfortunately, it leads to his untimely death. He misjudges the depth of feeling she has for him and goes to his death waiting for what never happens: Daisy reaching out for him with loving and selfless devotion.

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