Gatsby is great because he, simply put, retains an optimism and ability to dream that the vast majority of other characters in the book do not. When Nick returns from the war, he feels a discontent that is very common among Americans in the 1920s; even Daisy feels disillusioned. The world no longer seems like the same place that it did before the war. However, Gatsby returned from the war with the same fire he's always felt to do better, be more, reach higher. He believes that he can absolutely return to the past, when he and Daisy were sweetly in love; he thinks that it is possible to possess that kind of innocence again, despite her new status as a wife and a mother. Regardless of these changes or any other obstacles, he "believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." Even though his dreams seem to get further and further away, Gatsby keeps his optimistic belief in their possibility, their probability, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. This hopefulness makes him great.
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