How can someone hate a person, and at the same time think that they are great? Nick Carraway, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, demonstrates this abnormal reaction once acquainted with Jay Gatsby. Nick has the uncommon ability of seeing through the immorality that taints Gatsby's greatness. He picks out the hopeful idealist in Gatsby, whom remembers the past, and yearns for the future. In Gatsby's quest for self-fulfillment, he chases a girl, who is essentially the manifestation of his unattainable dream. Nick Carraway thinks that Gatsby is "great" for his not so evident romantic perseverance- his unrelenting desire to chase his dream. By the same token, Jay Gatsby's will to stop at nothing in getting what he wants, evokes his immoral side, which Nick has "an unaffected scorn (6)"for.
             In the midst of a society where "greatness" is generally marked by prestige and wealth, Nick seems to separate his opinions from those of the rest, and sees something hidden in Jay Gatsby. He discovers a quality for which he defines as "great". Such a quality is Gatsby's unyielding romanticism, and his undaunted urge to pursue a dream. Nick adores the "extraordinary gift for hope (6)" and "romantic readiness (6)" that Gatsby possesses and utilizes. What the majority of people in the community admire most about Gatsby, his lavish parties and pretentious estate, Nick deems meaningless. Nick is more concerned with the man who reaches off into the night, staring, mesmerized by the hopeful green light. This light symbolizes the supposed "love" Gatsby has for Daisy; however it's truly another representation of how he is completely fixated by his dream and desire for the past. This same man that gazes off across the lake, also spent the last five years of his life, and countless amounts of money, systematically approaching
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