F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby is the fictional hero of the Great American novel. He is the archetypal American self-creator. He was born Jay Gatz but repudiated his origins and background while inventing a grand new persona. He was the perfect hero for a country born by casting off its European origins and creating a new world wherein success was determined, not by background, but by individual talent. Fitzgerald's tale is, however, a cautionary one, because he warns against the inescapability of the past, the dangers of trying too hard to escape from history. In the novel, Gatsby comes to...