"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God-a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would want to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end."

Man strives for perfection. Our lives revolve around the pursuit of a better, more perfect life. Today, plastic surgery enables people to attain the "perfect" body. People work every day to attain the "American Dream," the perfect life: wealthy, powerful, a beautiful family, and a beautiful house, with a convertible in the driveway. Jay Gatsby focuses life on finding perfection, which he thought was a good name like Buchanan or...