Gatsby is considered as the most tragic character in world's literature, but somehow I'm not getting that impression, and I was thinking who could be 'as tragic as him' and Onegin come up to my mind. Compering their life and tragedy my vote goes to Mr. O.
Gatsby was born as poor and even though his success wasn't result of his fight for better things, but pure luck; Onegin was aristocratic spoiled child, his only effort was hedonism. Gatsby was trying to achieve enough for the one he wanted and loved, and Onegin had too much vain so he couldn't recognize what he had lost even before he desire it. As Tatiana told him, he cursed himself; he killed his friend Lensky and his soul become even more restless, and in whole that condemnation, pain changed him. So when he saw Tatiana again, her appearance was like a liberation for him... but that thought was just the first one, because liberation he thought he found was a thorny path of agony.
Gatsby had moments with Daisy, so his effort wasn't pointless, before death he had already lived his dream for some time; Onegin regected his salvation/love, and when he wanted to be saved again he was regected, and his curse was to live with that feeling of nothing for the rest of his life. Gatsby did something in his life - he achieved status and a piece of his dream but his death was pointless, which is opposite to Onegin's case whose life was pointless and his death become a dream for cruel reality that he created for himself. Onegin was an eager bastard, and Gatsby was shadow on his own parties, so for me his tradegy was just a shadow of tradegy.
I wanted to share my thoughts. What do you think?
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Originally Posted by Kluna
