Running Head: CASE SUMMARY & PRESENTING PROBLEMS FOR GATSBY 1
Case Summary & Presenting Problems for Gatsby
Debbie Horn
Liberty University
Running Head: CASE SUMMARY & PRESENTING PROBLEMS FOR GATSBY 2
Case Summary & Presenting Problems for Gatsby
Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald which was published in 1925 and was
written about the Jazz Age of 1922 in America, and turned into a movie. This novel was written
about a time in America when life was in great turmoil. World War I, a different kind of war that
no one had ever seen before, was over in 1919. This was a time of prosperity, corruption and
organized crime (Harton, Miflin, Harcourt, 2016).
Gatsby is a mysterious, good-looking man, who is polite, courteous, and very much a
dreamer. Gatsby is from the Midwest, and his family were unprofitable farmers. He was
ashamed of his family and distanced himself from them at an early age. His real name was
Jimmy Gatz which he changed to Jay Gatzby. Because he changed his name, he had the
opportunity to change his past as well. But, the only thing he did not have, which he wanted,
was money. He met the love of his life, Daisy, before he went off to war, around the age of 17.
Daisy was everything that he wanted in a woman, and he idealized her. Daisy was from a very
wealthy family, and money was the key ingredient that kept them apart. Gatzby made sure that
he would never be without money ever again. He became very wealthy, and obviously his
wealth was made on his own, no inheritance, which is very commendable, except for the fact that
it came from being involved with organized crime, and prohibition (Cliffs Notes, 2016).
Gatsby has made up a past that is very different from the truth. He tells Nick Carraway,
the story’s narrator and next door neighbor of Gatsby that he is going to tell Nick the God’s truth
about himself. He is a son from a very wealthy family in the Midwest. All of his family is now
dead. He was born in America but educated at Oxford where all of his ancesters were educated,
Running Head: CASE SUMMARY & PRESENTING PROBLEMS FOR GATSBY 3
which was a common tradition of his family. After his family died, he came into a great deal of
money. After that, he lived like a prince among the capitalists of Europe, in Paris, Rome, Vienna,
Venice, Zurich, etc. Then came the war and he became a war hero. He has pictures of when he
was at Oxford, and he has a medal that was made for him from the war. He does not want Nick
to think that he is just some nobody. This happens to be a big problem with Gatsby. He is a liar
and he believes all of his lies (The Great Gatsby, Amazon movie, 2013).
Gatsby has a very big ego on the outside, but really he has a low self-esteem. His whole
story is based around the idea that he wants to marry Daisy. He did everythinbg for Daisy, not
for himself at all. He probably would not be open to counseling because he wants to keep up his
story that he came from wealth, and is a war hero. He does not want anyone to think that he
came from nothing or was a coward. He is a self-made man, and does not want anyone to know
that about himself even though that is an incredible success. The way to get Gatsby’s attention
for counseling would be to use Daisy. His whole goal is to marry Daisy. But, Daisy is already
married to one of the wealthiest men in America, who inherited all of his money (The Great
Gatsby, Amazon movie, 2013).
The only reason Gatsby would ever go to counseling would be to help him get Daisy. He
does not seem to understand that Daisy is married and that she appears to be somewhat happy.
Daisy’s husband, though, is a womanizer and is unfaithful to Daisy. Gatsby has worked hard to
be wealthy, so that he could buy a huge mansion and win Daisy back. I’m sure that Gatsby
believes that his only problem is that Daisy will not admit that she does not love Tom, her
husband. Gatsby wants her to admit that so that he can marry her (The Great Gatsby, Amazon
movie, 2013). A big problem of Gatsby’s is that his whole life is a lie. He has not told the truth
Running Head: CASE SUMMARY & PRESENTING PROBLEMS FOR GATSBY 4
about anything in his life and he believes those lies. He seems to have the idea that he is God-
like or entitled, and that he can have anything and everything just because he wants it. He made
up stories about his family being extremely wealthy, about going to Oxford, about inheriting his
wealth, and about being a war hero. He seems to be delusional. Even when he is trying to get
Daisy to tell her husband that she has never loved him, he totally loses his temper and acts as
though he could really kill someone (The Great Gatsby, Amazon movie, 2013).
Gatsby could use counseling because he seems to be a good-hearted person but had
started believing his lies. If he decided that counseling would be helpful, then he would choose
to think that it could work for him. But, he does not have the chance for any of this. He takes
Daisy home, and lets her drive. On the way home, she runs over Tom’s (her husband’s) mistress
and kills her. Gatsby is going to take full responsibility for the accident but he is killed the next
day by Tom’s mistress’ husband. The husband, then turns the gun on himself (Fitzgerald, F.S.,
Amazon movie, 2013).
So, in conclusion, the three presenting problems that Gatsby had was that he was
delusional, a liar, and had a low self esteem. Gatsby was delusional because he thought that by
making all this money, he would be able to get Daisy to marry him. He had a low self esteem
because he became so successful, not for himself, but for someone else. He was a liar because
he totally changed who he was and where he came from, and started believing those lies.
Running Head: CASE SUMMARY & PRESENTING PROBLEMS FOR GATSBY 5
References
Fitzgerald, F.S., Amazon Movies, The Great Gatsby, Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com/
dp/B00E1L9N8E?ref=sr_1_1_acs_kn_imdb_pa_dp&qid=1517761460&sr=1-1-
acs&autoplay=0.
Harton, Miflin, Harcourt, 2016, Cliffs Notes, The Great Gatsby, Retrieved from:
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/g/the-great-gatsby/character-list
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