The title character, Gatsby, is exposed as a pitiable fraud and his carefully constructed life falls apart, ending in murder. Upon first glance, The Great Gatsby appears to be a tragedy. Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #3: The Great Gatsby: Comedy or Tragedy? What might the author be trying to say about identity and self-acceptance? Considering what the reader learns about Gatsby’s humble origins and the life that he has created for himself, what does his “passing” signify? Another idea might be to consider how others relate to Gatsby’s efforts to “pass”… Initially, there is an air of intrigue about this man who is so generous yet so mysterious, but as his false identity is exposed, he becomes a pathetic and pitiable character. Although it takes awhile for the reader to learn that Gatsby has invented his entire life in order to pass as someone from a higher social class, this dynamic becomes one of the most important aspects of The Great Gatsby. Many great American novels such as The Great Gatsby tackle the subject of “passing,” which involves a character pretending to be something or someone that he or she is not. Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #2: “Passing” and Issues of Identity in The Great Gatsby Are Gatsby’s most obvious flaws also his most fatal ones? Or is it the case that Gatsby’s seemingly less important flaws are those which bring him the most pain? How did character flaws function in the development of plot? Choose one direction for “The Great Gatsby” and elaborate upon it by providing relevant evidence from the text. As you think about “The Great Gatsby” and the topic of character flaws, consider how rich this topic is and how many different directions it could take. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby has a number of serious character flaws, though these are only revealed over time. Stories and novels such as “The Great Gatsby” interest us because they involve people whose lives are as complicated as our own otherwise, they would be unlikely to hold our attention. Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #1: Character Flaws in “The Great Gatsby” For background, here is a condensed summary of The Great Gatsby by F.