The Overall Analysis of the Mysterious Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the title character takes on many different roles and personalities throughout the story.  He is introduced as this fascinating man of mystery, but upon getting to know him he seems lonely.  After getting to know his neighbor, Nick, he gives the reader the impression that he is actually a very socially able person.  His interaction with Daisy was an interesting one.  His romantic and unrealistic image of her led to an uncomfortable first meeting, but as Gatsby got more comfortable he became fun.  This was the only moment in the story in which I personally believed Gatsby might be a normal person, as opposed to a man surrounded by people but on an island.  After the car crash, many people decided to disassociate themselves from his name and reputation.  For either the sake of their own reputation or for the sake of just not burdening themselves, very few people responded to Nick's pleas to attend the funeral.  Upon hearing that nobody wanted to go to the funeral, one of the few people who apparently cared about Gatsby at all said "'Why, my God!  they [the people] used to go [to Gatsby's house] by the hundreds,'" (Fitzgerald, 175).  My initial instincts were correct about Gatsby being lonely at the top.  Even the woman he loved and ultimately sacrifices everything for was unwilling to stand by him.  Gatsby truly was a man alone at the top.