In Fitzgerald’s Gatsby, Gatsby is not great and not Gatsby (his real name is Gatz). He is a criminal who has involved himself with Wolfsheim. He has committed crimes in order to buy the possessions he feels he needs to win the woman he loves, who is another man's wife. Thus a central question for us, as the reader is, why is Gatsby a hero? Why, does Fitzgerald invite us to cry out with …showed first 75 words of 2848 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2848 total…on his dream. The tragedy of Gatsby is that he still dreams, but that he is not wise enough or strong enough to see that Daisy is not worthy of his devotion. He cannot step back to see where he has gone wrong. Nick can. Nick loves Gatsby, but he knows what is wrong with Gatsby's dream. And so, he returns to the Midwest to begin his own life. Clearly, Gatsby is a tragic hero.