Gatsby's legal name is James Gatz but, as we discover, the law is for him a lesser reality than his own vision. A name change has major significance for Gatsby, because he believes it is the key to changing his self.
Jay Gatsby (originally named James Gatz) is the titular fictional character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby.
Jay Gatsby was born James Gatz and changed his name when he was seventeen. He did it to tailor it to his new lifestyle and reflect his wish to obtain wealth and status. Detailed answer: Jay Gatsby is introduced as a mysterious millionaire.
Answer and Explanation:
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby's real name is James Gatz, who was originally from North Dakota. Nick says that Gatsby changed his name "at the age of seventeen . . .
We learn from Nick about Gatsby's true origins. His real name is James Gatz. He comes from North Dakota. At the age of 17 he changed his name to Jay Gatsby after meeting a rich mining prospector called Dan Cody.
The main resource of Gatsby getting all his money from is from bootlegging. Wolfsheim says “...these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know”. Gatsby never grew up into money, selling alcohol illegally made him become rich because alcohol was illegal in the 1920s.
Tom tells George that the car belongs to Jay Gatsby who lives in West Egg. George walks to West Egg where he shoots Gatsby in his pool, killing him instantly, before taking his own life. Gatsby is 32 years old. Of all Gatsby's high society friends, only one, Owl-Eyes attends Gatsby's funeral.
So between the start of Prohibition and the summer of 1922, Jay Gatsby may have personally netted somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.25 million.
In his will, Cody had generously left Gatsby $25,000 (roughly $600,000 by today's standards), but Gatsby never saw a single cent of that inheritance. Somehow, Ella Kaye walked away with all of Cody's fortune.
In the novel, Jay met Daisy in 1917 when he was 27 and she was 18. The present setting of the novel is in 1925 so that would make Jay Gatsby around 35 now. Daisy Buchanan is 26 years old since she was 18 in 1917; she is married to Tom Buchanan who is 30 and went to Yale at the same time as Nick.
To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfection—she has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby's ideals.
One of the most memorable images in The Great Gatsby is the green light that Gatsby watches across the water, which simultaneously symbolizes Gatsby's love for Daisy, money, and the American Dream.
She angrily replies that Gatsby's wealth comes from a chain of drugstores that he owns. Gatsby seeks out Nick after Tom and Daisy leave the party; he is unhappy because Daisy has had such an unpleasant time.
Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is an American novel that follows a cast of characters and their experiences living in the wealthy Long Island town of West Egg in the “Roaring Twenties.” The story is primarily based on the extravagant, but also mysterious, life of a millionaire named Jay Gatsby ...
His real name is James Gatz. He had his named legally changed to Jay Gatsby at the age of seventeen.
In fact, Gatsby even lies about his name, which is actually James Gatz, so Daisy wouldn't find out about his poor past. He had to lie and cheat about everything to get his dream girl. Throughout the book many of the people at the party spread rumors about Gatsby and how he got his money.
Upon seeing the shirts, Daisy cries and explains, “It makes me sad because I've never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.” One reason for Daisy's reaction could be that she only cares about material goods, and so something like fine clothing can make her feel affection for Gatsby.
Who got Gatsby's Money when He Died? The novel does not say who inherits Jay Gatsby's money at the end. By details that F Scott left behind, we can guess that either the inheritance would go back to his parents or other family members, but not to Daisy.
Daisy does not enjoy the party. In fact, she is "offended" by it, especially by the people who are in attendance. Daisy dislikes the fact that so many people "push their way in" to Gatsby's home instead of waiting for an official invite, as is commonly practiced in the East Egg.
Fitzgerald makes it very clear that the wealth that Tom and Daisy has is superior to the wealth that Jay Gatsby has. Tom and Daisy were highly educated and came from money, while Gatsby got his money from selling illegal alcohol and throwing extravagant parties with the alcohol.
Daisy chose to marry Tom over Gatsby because Tom was wealthier and more powerful than Gatsby. Gatsby grew up poor and never had money as Tom did. Daisy promised he would wait for Gatsby while he went to war, but she knew her mother would never let her marry a poor man.
After returning home from war, Gatsby purchases a 12-room mansion in West Egg, Long Island (West Egg is thought to be a thinly veiled stand in for Great Neck, LI). Lamm estimates that an estate like Gatsby's would cost $30 million today, even after the collapse of the housing market!
Gatsby is stationed at Camp Taylor in Louisville, where he meets Daisy Fay (he is 27, she is 18). They are together for a month, and he is shocked by how much in love with her he falls.
Gatsby's Death and Funeral
In both book and movie, Gatsby is waiting for a phone call from Daisy, but in the film, Nick calls, and Gatsby gets out of the pool when he hears the phone ring. He's then shot, and he dies believing that Daisy was going to ditch Tom and go way with him. None of that happens in the book.
Daisy kills Myrtle. Gatsby hides the car with its evidence of the accident. Daisy and Tom decide to get away with murder.