Daisy Vs Gatsby

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In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is coming to the end of his journey of love to have Daisy. Gatsby’s love for Daisy was purely based that it was his first and only love. While Gatsby was fighting in war, he was building the American dream, while Daisy was enjoying the fact that her beauty could get her almost anything she wanted. The difference between Gatsby and Daisy is in their character and devotion for each other that differentiate them. While Gatsby was just a young man, he was highly awed by Daisy’s representation of old money and her life of luxuries. Gatsby was intensely in love with “young” Daisy, so he wanted to become the best possible version of himself for her. When Gatsby was off at war, Daisy continued in her quest for wealth in her false life. Gatsby “was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprison[ed] and preserv[ed],” however if he promised her money, that’d be his life long goal: money for Daisy (150). Although Daisy loved Gatsby when she was young, the aspect of being rich was a higher priority. For Gatsby, the distance made his love for Daisy even more desirable. Unfortunately Daisy’s “voice is full of money, [for]…that was [her] inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it…high in a white palace the kings daughter, [to be] the golden girl” was all Daisy truly desired (120). In the end, the easier decision for wealth was to marry a man whom she liked the idea of, but never actually loved: Tom Buchanan. According to Gatsby’s own opinion of himself, “James Gatz of North Dakota isn’t easy to say, [whereas]…Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (98). James Gatz came from... ... middle of paper ... ... they had made” (180). As Nick is leaving Gatsby for a final time he compliments him by saying, “they’re a rotten crowd…you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154). "As [Daisy] went over to say good-bye [she could see] the expression of bewilderment [on] Gatsby's face, as though a faint doubt had occurred to him of his present happiness… [For] Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion." (92) Gatsby's expectations of his past love for the young eighteen year old girl he fell in love with was not everything he had dreamed. Their dream of true love was hindered by their different social backgrounds and the difference in their focus on reality. Gatsby's dedication was admirable, however Daisy's abandonment in the end was what killed him on the inside, not the bullet from Wilson's gun.

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