Final answer:
Gatsby's believability in recounting his background is subjective and influenced by Fitzgerald's intention to portray his characters as unique individuals, not as stereotypes. Thus, Gatsby's story is personal and designed to resonate on both personal and universal levels, with the essence taking precedence over factual details.
Step-by-step explanation:
The character of Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is portrayed by a single, flawed narrator, which raises questions about the veracity of his background.
When determining if Gatsby's account of his past is believable, it's crucial to consider that Fitzgerald's characters are meant to be seen as unique individuals rather than as representations of a larger group.
This notion is supported by Fitzgerald's statement in The Fitzgerald Reader that while Gatsby may be 'great,' his story is his own and not representative of 'any other industrial baron, brewer, or bootlegger of the 1920s.'
Gatsby's story is individual, which means it is meant to resonate on a more personal level rather than serve as a universal example.
The enigmatic and selective revelations of Gatsby's past by the narrator add to the allure and mystery of his character, and by not revealing all of Gatsby's secrets, Fitzgerald has crafted a tale where Gatsby's rise and fall become both personal and relatable to the broader human experience.
Therefore, whether one finds Gatsby believable may depend more on how one interprets the intention behind Fitzgerald's storytelling and less on the factual accuracy of Gatsby's account.
Fitzgerald seems to suggest that the essence of Gatsby's character is more important than the factual specifics, making the believability of his background a secondary concern to the narrative.
This approach aligns with Fitzgerald's own views of the 1920s as expressed in his personal essays, like "The Crack-Up," where he describes an era characterized by individual dreams, disillusionment, and the pursuit of an elusive 'good life.'