Jay Gatsby spends his life chasing a dream. He builds his fortune to win Daisy back, believing that money and love will bring him happiness. But in the end, he dies alone, shot in his own pool. The question is, was Gatsby doomed from the start, or did his choices lead to his downfall?
Some might say Gatsby’s fate was decided long before he met Daisy again. He grew up poor and always wanted more. The world he dreamed of, full of wealth and status, was never meant for him. No matter how much money he made, old money families like the Buchanans would never accept him. He believed in an illusion, and that illusion could never last.
His hope was his greatest strength but also his greatest weakness. Gatsby refused to believe that Daisy had moved on. He thought he could repeat the past, as if time had stood still. This blind devotion kept him from seeing reality. Daisy was not the same girl he loved years ago. She had a life with Tom, and when it came down to it, she chose comfort and security over love.
Others would argue that Gatsby’s actions led to his death. He chose to take the blame for Myrtle’s accident, even though Daisy was the one driving. He trusted the wrong people and stayed in a world that would never truly accept him. If he had let go of Daisy and moved on, he might have lived. Instead, he waited by the phone, hoping she would call, while George Wilson was on his way to kill him.
In the end, Gatsby’s death is both fate and consequence. He was always chasing something just out of reach, and in doing so, he ignored the dangers around him. His dream was built on an illusion, and when that illusion shattered, he had nowhere left to go. He put everything into the past, but the past could not save him.
