Gatsby. The only genuine affection in the novel is shown by Nick towards Gatsby. He admires Gatsby's optimism, an attitude that is out of step with the sordidness of the times. Fitzgerald illustrates this squalor not just in the Valley of Ashes, but right there beneath the thin veneer of the luxury represented by Daisy and Tom. Nick is "in love" with Gatsby's capacity to dream and ability to live as if the dream were to come true, and it is this that clouds his judgment of Gatsby and therefore obscures our grasp on Gatsby. When Gatsby takes Nick to one side and tells him of his origins, he starts to say that he was "the son of some wealthy people in the Midwest- all dead now, The truth of his origins doesn't matter to Gatsby; what matters to him is being part of Daisy's world or Daisy being part of his. Gatsby's sense of what is true and real is of an entirely other order to Nick's. If Nick were motivated by truth, then Gatsby would still be poor Jay Gatz chasing a hopelessly futile dream.In Gatsby's dream, time has literally stopped. This is symbolized by his catching of the mantle clock when he's first reunited with Daisy. Gatsby thinks, he and Daisy are as they were before the war; unfortunately that's his biggest flaw and ultimately his undoing. Gatsby's dream is to reach the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, but he fails to see that dream is no longer a possibility after he has met Daisy. His own ability to dream is Gatsbys ultimate downfall, as he cannot let his dream go, even after its death.And so the American dream dies with Gatsby and the only person who notices is an emotionally insecure, young Midwestern bond broker who will now return home to hide. Nick's admiration for Gatsby still remains because he has accomplished what Nick had hoped to do. Yet it is this same admiration, which fogs a true picture of Gatsby. Thus, leaving Gatsby as another innocent victim of the cruel and destructive nature of the E...
