Life is not perfect

Submitted by: Alexander Isidori

Submitted to: Mr. Costa
ENG4U1-02
Date: April 10 2019
 I sit here not knowing what to write and as I stare at a blank page the page stares

back at me. There are always challenges that get in the way of the plan I set for myself

but what I often forget is life gets in the way. In F Scott FitzGerald’s The Great Gatsby

characters fail to realize life is not perfect. James Gatz cannot handle the rejection he

faces so in an attempt to start over he alters himself. Myrtle Wilson married out of money

and regrets the decision. I am not sure if I will ever figure out my life, I realize this is a

part of the everyday obstacles I encounter. The measure of a man is how he deals with

struggles and when adversity knocks him down he must find the ability to get back up

and keep fighting.

It is tough to hear the words ‘you were not good enough.’ I pick a point in my

life’s past to blame my failures on and try to fix what I do not have. James Gatz fell in

love with Daisy though the culture clash between rich and poor is what ended their

intimacy. When James faces rejection, he feels the implication of words of failure and

vows he will never feel depressed again. Though in this vow James takes he does not

realize that the “thought” is that “he killed a man,”(FitzGerald 44). Jay springs from "The

Platonic conception of Self,"(98) and has begun his journey to a life of no return. When I

live in the past I fail to appreciate what I have today. This dissatisfaction comes from my

inability to see that I cannot change what has already happened. Jay faces reality and sees

"you can’t repeat the past," though he continues to fulfill his own façade crying

“incuriously ‘why of course you can’.”(110). It is impossible to re-create what you had,

as you are not that same person anymore. You can tell when a boy becomes a man, as he

is persistent enough to live for himself.

 I make decisions all the time, the decisions lead to fulfillment or regret. I find

myself dwelling on the negative rather than enjoying what I have. As Myrtle has aged she

has not aged well but instead in spite of what could have been. She had made the choice

of a passionate love one full of emotion but not the money she remembers. Tom comes

into Myrtle's life as some sort of savior. Tom represents the money and security she’s

missing in her life. In Myrtle's imagination, she creates this fantasy of her self and Tom. I

often tell myself my worst actions are not as bad as when I try to justify what I do. After

regret has amounted on Myrtle she has an affair with Tom. Myrtle knows this is not right

but “you can’t live forever,”(36) so trying to fill the voids we have is the best way to deal

with regret. Since I am not able to change what I have done I dwell on what could have

been instead of what it is. I fail to realize though that if I try to re-create what was my life

will never be as good as what I have now. Life is a struggle, and people must search

within to push through the struggle.

I find myself thinking of who and what I am exactly. I am unable to answer if I

am good enough or if what I do will be enough. Nick represents me in The Great Gatsby

he represents the reader. I am the best person I know and the "most honest person,"(59) I

may ever know but in retrospect, I am only as good as the lie I live. Yet acknowledgment

of this fact does fight half the battle but is not able to push my search to the finish. I am

always questioning my actions wondering if they will be good enough to please those

around me. Worrying too much for their approval and not my own. I have found that the

first thing others ask is “What are you doing nowadays,”(10) as opposed to how are you.

I am sad to say I wait for approval from their face and care too much of their thought

instead of mine. My success against the inner skirmishes I fight will define me as a man.
 As a child, I thought life was a perfect game if I follow the plan riches and

success would be mine. As a young man, I have come to realize a flaw in the plan life is

not perfect it is the most completely imperfect journey I will ever know. A man's

integrity is tested every day but his response to the misery is what determines if he keeps

his dignity. James Gatz was not good enough for Daisy and his reaction to the hardship is

what changes his life forever. Myrtle Wilson is in a marriage full of regret and questions

ever marrying George. I don’t know if I will ever feel satisfied or if I will ever know who

I am. Answers are for those who have won, insanity is for those who will never know,

and struggle is for those still fighting.

 Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby New York: Scribner, 1925