The Great Gatsby: Jay's Background and His Downfall In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby did not fit into the lifestyle of Daisy and her friends. Because of his background, his dreams were destined to be shattered even before he tried to achieve them. Jay Gatsby's nouveau riche lifestyle was not of the ways of the old rich. Jay Gatsby killed James Gatz at the age of seventeen as he boarded Dan Cody's yacht. It was "...James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon...but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a rowboat...and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up..." (ch.