To what extent is love Presented as destructive in Graham Greene’s ‘The End of the Affair’. With reference to Scott Fitzgerald’s, ‘The Great Gatsby’.
In the end of the affair love is defined as “the desire to possess in some, like avarice; in others the desire to surrender, to lose the sense of responsibility, the wish to be admired… and of course the biological motive” (1951, 3.V.85). Theses “motives” lead characters to pursue or reject love the effects leading to destructive consequences. In the end of the affair the narrator catalogues his experiences of love which breaks him and those around him, Greene displaying the destructive qualities of love. In the Great Gatsby love is chased as something illusive and ultimately transient leading
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Sarah’s love for Bendrix almost destroys her marriage and at times her love for Henry “He’d won and Maurice lost, and I hated him for his victory” (1951, 3.VII.95). Yet she remains with Henry out of “fear and habit” (1951, 2.II.41), Fear of the unknown or the loss of Henry 's “security” (1951, 2.IV.51), or perhaps God’s wrath for her abandonment of her promise. Habit in the fact she had been married to Henry for 12 years, a choice she made when she was “too young to know what I {she} was choosing” (1951, 3.IV.82) there by blaming her naivety in youth. Fitzgerald 's character of Nick also seeks convenience out of his lovers for example Jordan, his main attraction to her is that she is there and willing and he fears a “Decade of loneliness” (1926, 7.129)that comes with turning thirty. Yet these ideas illuminate the presentation of love when it comes to Bendrix, he does not love out of convenience, love makes him “jealous” (1951, 2.II.42) and “tired” (1951, 5.VIII.160) and filled with “unhappiness” (1951, 1.VI.25). His love for Sarah is self-destructive rather than outwardly …show more content…
For one Bendrix begins the book as a “Record of Hate” (1951, 1.I.1) for he “hated Henry – Hated his wife Sarah too” (1951, 1.I.1) yet he questions whether his “hatred is really as deficient as my love” (1951, 2.II.44) and later acknowledges that his “hate got mislaid” (1951, 4.I.107). For him it is merely the loss of love that creates what he perceives as hate, yet even this dissipates and is realised to merely be anger and unhappiness. For Sarah it leads her to hate herself as “a bitch and a fake” (1951, 3.II.75), who leads others to unhappiness and cannot herself face her true emotions. Love within the end of the affair seems to destroy the everyday Façade and leaves behind the worst parts of our personality’s for Bendrix it’s his jealous possessiveness for Sarah it is her lies. Yet one cannot hate without love as “hatred seems to operate the same glands as love” (1951, 1.III.19) an idea that explains Bendrix so well, as even in his hatred he is still
Loving someone is a wondrous experience, giving life light and a sense of fulfillment. But frequently the love does not last, causing deep emotional pain and a new dullness to life. In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald repeatedly uses the motif and imagery of the eyes to present how much the lack of love can affect the happiness and joy in a person’s life. When people are separated and possibly reunited, their eyes seem to show the emotional turmoil that was caused by the time apart.
In The Great Gatsby and “Babylon Revisited” there is a copious amount of common themes. Love is a major seen in both literatures whether it a pure love or a tragic love. There is a pure yet tragic love between Charlie and his daughter Honoria. The same can be seen Jay and his lost romance with Daisy. The burden of the past and the ending situation keep the pure love as nothing more than a tragic
Courtly love is a fundamental metaphor of Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, and, therefore, the elusive Jay Gatsby plays out his role as a courtly lover throughout the novel. Gatsby’s abnormal situation with Daisy reflects the metaphor of courtly love. Many of the characteristics used to define courtly love are reflected in Gatsby’s actions. Every choice that he makes is an attempt to win Daisy’s love, however unworthy of it she proves to be. He and Daisy’s relationship reflects the way that knights had to prove that they were cultivated to win a woman, as well as abiding to the adulterous aspect of courtly love, and being an example of the many times the “white knight” dies for their love.
In the beginning, Gatsby was a poor army boy who fell in love with a rich girl named Daisy. Knowing from their different circumstances, he could not marry her. So Gatsby left to accumulate a lot of money. Daisy, not being able to wait for Gatsby, marries a rich man named Tom. Tom believes that it is okay for a man to be unfaithful but it is not okay for the woman to be. This caused a lot of conflict in their marriage and caused Daisy to be very unhappy. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy, and since he has accumulated a lot of money, he had his mind set on getting her back. Throughout the novel, Gatsby shows his need to attain The American Dream of love and shows his determination to achieve it. You can tell that Gatsby has a clear vision of what he wants when Nick says, “..he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I gla...
Love is a power that is able to bind two different people together forever. It is also a power that gives someone the drive to have a much harder work ethic so they can achieve the goal that they set for themselves. In The Great Gatsby, this is seen through the character Gatsby often throughout the novel as Gatsby tries to center his world around Daisy, the love of his life. Although some may argue that it is the attainment of Daisy that brings Gatsby satisfaction, the quest to get her is what truly grants him fulfilment because his overdramatic five year obsession causing him to over glorify her and the desire for her gave him something to work towards.
There is a fine line between love and lust. If love is only a will to possess, it is not love. To love someone is to hold them dear to one's heart. In The Great Gatsby, the characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are said to be in love, but in reality, this seems to be a misconception. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the themes of love, lust and obsession, through the character of Jay Gatsby, who confuses lust and obsession with love.
Love is vastly covered in “ The Great Gatsby “. The book itself is surrounded by love and everything within the book has to do with love. Gatsby and Daisy knew each other 5 years before they meet again in New York. They were lovers and Then Gatsby had to go off to war and he did not have a lot of money so Daisy marries Tom Buchanan. Even after 5 years away from each other Gatsby still deeply longs for Daisy. Gatsby says to Tom “ I told you what is going on, going on for five years and you didn’t know “ (131). As he tells Tom of them being together, you can also
The novel, The Great Gatsby, is a tragic story of lost love. Gatsby and Daisy are two different people in two different worlds. In their time apart, Gatsby was seeking for the American dream while Daisy was enjoying her riches with Tom. Gatsby is one of a few men who possess the knowledge of the true meaning of love. Love is so powerful and beautiful that Gatsby would do anything and everything to make Daisy his wife. However, love is also a mysterious thing that can turn anything from an everlasting relationship to murder. It turns out that Gatsby, a man with the possession of true love, is the one that suffers the most. Gatsby and Daisy, both represent love in their own unique way. Love could be beautiful but also cruel as the same time.
In the novel The Great Gatsby and the play A Streetcar Named Desire, the main characters James Gatsby and Blanche Dubois have a lengthy search for love. Both characters go about their search in similar and different ways. The characters choose illusion over reality, but the way in which they go about it differs. Also, in an attempt to impress, both characters try and “buy” love by using material possessions to attract people to them. Although Gatsby and Blanche devote a lot of their lives to finding true love, their search leaves them unsuccessful.
Of course, we cannot deny that Gatsby has achieved a great deal in his lifetime, all, apparently, in the name of love. Indeed the narrator of the story, Nick Carraway, describes Gatsby as having “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person”, and this forms the basis of his opening argument for the greatness of Gatsby. We must, however, examine the reliability of the narrator. Nick says himself that he is “inclined to reserve all judgement”, but then quickly goes on to say how “it has a limit”, that he cannot reserve judgement on everyone, and also that Gatsby was “exempt from my reaction”, following this with how Gatsby “represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn”,...
Louise Mallard is a woman who enjoys freedom and independence. She feels soaring relief and fiery triumph upon realizing that, yes, she is finally free. She is free of the weighted ropes of marriage. She fantasizes of her days ahead, living for herself and only herself. “A kind intention or cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (Chopin 234). She views the imposing of one’s will on another person as a crime, no matter the intention behind it. She has a taste of freedom after Mr. Mallard’s death and can finally see days without stress ahead of her. Prior to her husband’s death, young Mrs. Mallard feels tied down and even oppressed. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin 233). Despite the typical oppression of women throughout the centuries prior to the 1920s, Mrs. Mallard possesses a free spirit.
...ces throughout the novel demonstrate how he is not as innocent or quiet as readers think. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as not being a Romantic hero due to Gatsby`s attempts in faking his identity, his selfish acts and desperation for Daisy`s love and his fixation with wealth, proving that love is nothing like obsession. Gatsby does not understand love; instead he views Daisy as another goal in his life because he is obsessed with her and is willing to do anything to buy her love. Obsession and love are two different things: love is something that sticks with a person till his or her death, while obsession can cause a person to change his or her mind after reaching their goals. Thus Gatsby`s story teaches people that a true relationship can only be attained when there is pure love between both people, untainted by materialism and superficiality.
Many argue that F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is an example of the "great American love story", but it is not. The Great Gatsby is not a tale about perfect love; it is a tale of love and lust corrupting individuals in their lives, and of an American dream that is never fulfilled. Throughout the story, we follow multiple relationships, but focus is on the single relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. This relationship, however, fails to fulfill many requirements that would make it a true love story, and thus, while some hardship is to be expected, this relationship encounters an excessive amount. To determine if The Great Gatsby is a "great American love story", it is necessary to examine what this ideal actually is, as well as how Gatsby and Daisy fit into the mold, and it quickly becomes apparent that they do not.
Therefore, the realization of the link between love and destruction has been revealed, but how could hope, just like Gatsby had, lead to destruction? The hope of achieving the future fades away as the weight of the currents push unceasingly against the goals desired to attain. This leads to the fate of our hopes, which, because of the past, end in despair. The destruction caused by love is fierce and there is an unmistakable connection that is shared between the two. Destruction and love have an unquestionable relationship, one that is intense, one that occurs in instances such as an affair, lust, or obsession, one that inevitably leads to, for most, an unfortunate fate.
Nearly everyone searches for love during at least some part of their life, but what happens when that love destroys them? The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, an author who has had his own complications with love. The Great Gatsby is a novel about a man who is desperately pleading to get the woman of his dreams to notice him; consequently, spending thousands of dollars throwing parties so this girl – who is already married – may wander in and he can win her over. When Nick Carraway comes into his life he starts to show just how obsessed he is with obtaining his idol, Daisy. The man, Jay Gatsby, uses Nick to get to Daisy, but that proves to be a fatal mistake after they run over a woman and the woman’s husband – now infuriated and delusional – shoots Gatsby for vengeance. Destructive love is the driving force that defeats all of these characters in The Great Gatsby.