James Gats fits the definition of the classic tragic hero to a tee. A tragic hero is a person who seems like a "better human". This person is not exceptionally good or evil; they are just a mere human who has some quality or characteristic that is greater then those around him. Hamartia is what makes this hero tragic. It is his flaw. It causes the ultimate misfortune in the "better human's" path. Gats defiantly fits this description of a tragic hero in every way. He seemed to be superior in education, wealth, and also in his number of friends. Gats was not evil but it was rumored he had once killed a man, and his misfortune was great when he lost the love of his life, Daisy.
"I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few quests who had actually been invited. People were not invited- they went there."(34) Gatsby held parties almost every weekend. People would come from far and wide to attend these extravagant parties. He had a live orchestra, and he also had it catered. This we later find out was all just in hopes that his love, Daisy, would come to one of these parties. "[Gatsby] wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was."(116) Gatsby loved Daisy, and would do almost anything to get her back. ""This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn"t cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?""(46) Gatsby appeared to be well educated and well read, however the pages on the books had not been cut which leads you to believe Gatsby's books were never really read.
""He's a bootlegger One time he killed a man who found out that he was nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil.