The character Jay Gatsby in the novel The Great Gatsby can be compared
to the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote the book. It seems as if in a way
Fitzgerald is somewhat telling the story of his early life through Jay Gatsby.
Gatsby and Fitzgerald's lives are very much alike in the most important aspects.
Fitzgerald may have used his imagination to spice his life up with elegant parties,
big money spenders and many affairs and betrayals.
A brief description of Fitzgerald's life would make this essay more
understandable as to why Fitzgerald and Gatsby are so much alike. Fitzgerald was
born in St. Paul Minnesota on September 24th 1892. His father was from
Maryland and his mother was the daughter of a Irish immigrant. Fitzgerald,
unlikely to graduate from Princeton, joined the army in 1917. In June 1918
Fitzgerald was assigned to Camp Sheridan, near Montgomery, Alabama, that is
where he fell in love with Zelda Sayre. Later they became engaged and unwilling
to live on Fitzgerald's small salary, as an advertiser, she broke off the
arrangements. When Fitzgerald finally sold one of his books he became a rich
celebrity almost overnight. A week later he married Zelda. Fitzgerald was an
extravagant spender and spent money faster than he earned it. Zelda became
mentally ill and spent the rest of her life as a resident or out patient of sanitariums.
Fitzgerald died on December 21, 1940 of a heart attack. Zelda died in a hospital
A brief description of Gatsby would also make this essay more
understandable. Gatsby is the rich, majestic, protagonist of the novel. Gatsby was
the son of an immigrant. While it isn't clear as to how Gatsby earned his money
its obvious that it was with illegal dealings in organized crime. There was a
reference to the 1919 World Series. It is also clear that Gatsby motivation to
become rich was aimed at marrying Daisy. Daisy was the rich girl tha...