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Application of the great gatsby to today's world
Application of the great gatsby to today's world
The background of the great gatsby
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Jay Gatsby started out as a poor boy from Minnesota; now he is a man who is synonymous with wealth. Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s former flame was pressured into marrying a rich, but unreliable man, Tom Buchanan. Tom is extremely wealthy, but he cheats on his wife and is an arrogant man who uses his wealth as power over people below him. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel The Great Gatsby, we are shown through the three principal characters that wealth can buy a good time, but it cannot buy true love and happiness.
Gatsby has spent the past five years of his life accumulating enough wealth to impress Daisy when in reality, she is married to a man even wealthier and has no plan to divorce him and get re-involved with Gatsby. The infamous
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Gatsby and Daisy had a brief love affair that ended when Gatsby went overseas during World War One. Although they loved each other then, five years have passed, and Daisy now has a husband, and a daughter. Gatsby has waited for Daisy “Almost five years! There must have been moments…when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams… because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.” (103). Gatsby has been holding onto the idea of Daisy and having a life with her for so long that reality is no longer viable and he wants to just pretend that the time they spent apart never happened, which is obviously unrealistic because she has moved so far on. Gatsby is truly removed from the reality of the situation. He went as far as to buying a mansion on West Egg, just across the bay from East Egg, where Daisy and Tom live. Gatsby purposefully decided to live in West Egg so that he could see Daisy’s house. When “[Gatsby] stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… I could have sworn he was trembling…[I] distinguished nothing except a single
Wanting to be with her true love again, she sneaks visits with him without Tom knowing. Just like Myrtle had, Daisy torn into her own marriage. She loved both men, but as soon as it was found out, the men began fighting for her. “I glanced at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband…” (Fitzgerald 143). This isn’t what Daisy wanted at all. At some point Daisy loved Tom, and it’s very likely that she still does, regardless of all of his cheating. Living a life of riches for so long has affected her with affluenza, blinding her morals as it did to Tom. When someone already has everything they could ever ask for, they’re still going to want more. Something to work for, or else life becomes boring as Daisy points out many times in the novel. When both men she loves are threatening each other and fighting for her fondness she’s realized what she’s done wrong. She’s fallen into the same trap as Myrtle, being stuck between two men, but she still has feelings for Tom.“I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily and say ‘Where’s Tom gone?’” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby tries to convince Daisy that she loves him and only him, yet Daisy actually loves them both. After Daisy was married she could think about anything except Tom, while Gatsby has spent the five
“Money can’t buy happiness” is a saying that is often used to make one understand that there is more to life than wealth and money. Jay Gatsby was a man of many qualities some of which are good and bad. Throughout the book of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we learn of his past and discover the true qualities of Jay Gatsby. Starting from the bottom, with little money, we learn of why Gatsby struggled so hard all his life to become wealthy and what his true goal in life was. When reading this story, the true reasons behind Gatsby’s illegal actions reveal themselves and readers can learn a great life lesson from this story and the actions the characters take. Readers can see through Gatsby’s contradictions of actions and thoughts that illustrate the theme of the story, along with his static characteristics, that all humans are complex beings and that humans cannot be defined as good or bad.
While Gatsby did not have excessive wealth, or much wealth at all, between her beauty and her voice “full of money”, Gatsby found himself inevitable attracted to her. Nevertheless, the feeling of love was equally reciprocated between Daisy and Gatsby. Regardless, before the chance of marriage, Gatsby was summoned in the line of duty, and was therefore forced to temporarily leave his everlasting love, Daisy. The uncertainty and fragmentary of Gatsby’s past initiated the start of a lifelong need to return his life back to the day when he felt complete, whole, and in love. However, when he returns from war, Gatsby finds that Daisy is now married to another man: Tom Buchanan. In response, Jay Gatsby spends years making himself wealthy, and proceeds to build a large house in East Egg, a place just across the lake from West Egg, and consequently, Daisy. In his mansion, Gatsby frequently hosts large parties, all for the glory of the chance that he may one day woo Daisy back to the past that he so strongly wishes to reconcile with. Eventually, Gatsby’s incredulously large parties successfully grab Daisy’s attention, and Daisy and Gatsby begin to reconnect. Gatsby’s intentions are clearly based on the past, as Gatsby wants to once again start a life with Daisy, despite her current marriage, and daughter. In an attempt to reconcile the uncertain past, Gatsby continues to deny the change around him, and relentlessly hopes to return to the way things were
First, Daisy plays Gatsby emotions. She tells him that she was going to run away with him and leave her husband, when in reality she knows she wasn't telling the truth. "“Why—how could I love him—possibly?”“You never loved him.”
During the roaring 20s, money was the only thing that meant something to many people. If one had money, then he or she was considered important in society. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, many characters have the quality of being careless. Along with carelessness, many characters were selfish, and they did not consider the feelings of other characters. In the novel, Jay Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, and Jordan Baker all possess this tragic flaw.
With the growing importance of wealth and materialism during the roaring ‘20s, riches became one of the most influential factors in a relationship. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is torn between her past lover, Gatsby, who returns with an extravagant house and parties; and her wealthy but cheating husband, Tom. Upon Gatsby’s return, Daisy becomes infatuated with him and his new money, drifting away from her husband for a more successful man. It does not take long once Tom uncovers his wife and Gatsby’s affair that Tom reveals the origin of Gatsby’s wealth: buying up drugstores and selling illegal alcohol over the counter. Astonished and frightened, Daisy retreats into Tom’s arms and abandons the man who truly cares for her.
"Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The Great Gatsby tells the story of a man who came from nothing in order to achieve everything for the love of his life. However, during the 1920s, that everything was basically wealth. Wealth was one of the American Dreams, means to achieve prosperity through hard work. In the Great Gatsby, wealth appears to be a central theme, and it had been evident in the relation between Daisy and Tom, Myrtle and Tom, as well as the enigma Jay Gatsby.
In the book, he is known for being immensely rich and for throwing extravagant parties. One would think that someone so rich, with people always around him would never be empty and lonely. Yet, this is not the case for Gatsby, he is as lonely and empty as ever. Despite his wealth and fortune, Gatsby is not content and never will be until he obtains the one thing he’s ever wanted - Daisy. Because of his obsession everything he values and accomplished is based off of her, she is the only thing that matters to him. As demonstrated in the book, “The whole caravansary had fallen in like a house of cards at the disproval in her eyes” (109). This quote shows that the things Gatsby has and values are likely to change based off of Daisy’s opinion. Sadly, the reality is that he was never able to win over Daisy. Unfortunately, he will remain forever empty, longing for his life to be filled with
Gatsby follows Daisy to New York and buys his house in West Egg “so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 79). Daisy does not know he is there, but he wants to be as close to her as possible and sometimes stares at the green light at the end of her dock (Fitzgerald 21). Also, Gatsby throws elaborate, expensive parties almost every weekend for people he doesn’t know or talk to. Jordan reveals the reason he throws these parties is because “he half expected her [Daisy] to wander into one of his parties, some night” (Fitzgerald 79). At these parties, he asks people about Daisy, always trying to find a way to get close to her. He is willing to try anything he can think of for the chance to see Daisy again. After Gatsby and Daisy return from the town, Gatsby refuses to leave Daisy alone with Tom. Despite Nick reassuring him that Daisy is safe and Gatsby should go home, Gatsby insists that he wants “to wait here until Daisy goes to bed” (Fitzgerald 145). He continues to try to protect Daisy, even though he is not welcome. Everything Gatsby has done for the last five years has been an attempt for him to get closer to Daisy. He invades on her life because he still loves her, even though she has clearly moved on. Because Gatsby buys a house across the bay from Daisy, throws elaborate parties hoping she will come, and waits outside her house all night, he is obviously
The novel, The Great Gatsby, displays the lifestyle of the wealthy but more specifically, the “new rich” and “old rich”. The two wealthy classes are disparate since the “old rich” abhor and decry the “new rich” since the “new rich” earned their money and they inherited their money. The “old rich” will never view the “new rich” as the epitome of wealthy. In The Great Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan see Gatsby as inferior, even if he might possess more wealth than them. Gatsby is diligent in getting Daisy back, but she is dismayed by the West Egg, she is uncomfortable being at Gatsby’s mansion, and she will never be part of the “new rich” with Gatsby.
Daisy Buchanan, one of the richest from the East Egg refuses to accept the unsatisfactory life that she leaves and paints a illusion of happy fool to deal with the truths she cannot accept. In the “old money” social class that Daisy belongs to, she lives a disinteresting life where their immense inheritance is only subtly displayed to the world. Daisy's ultimate desires is a life of happiness, colossal wealth filled with adventure. Yet, such a life is impossible, and it defies the social expectations of the high-class inhabitants of the East Egg. Unable to deal with the imperfections and tediousness that are apparent in Daisy’s life, she creates the facade of a foolishly happy woman as they are the only ones who are truly content. This type of mindest stereotypically
Earlier on in his life, Gatsby met a young Daisy. At the time Gatsby had no money and no influence. He was simply an army officer with good manners. The idea of Daisy’s wealth and social standing sent Gatsby into a frenzy. He wanted Daisy, he wanted her for what she had to offer. For five years, Gatsby kept adding to the idea of Daisy Buchanan. Until this idea was so large that it could not possibly be real. When Gatsby finally meets with Daisy after those many years of dreaming, she disappoints his expectations. She is not what he imagined she would be, a vision of all that is pure and proper in this world. When nick realizes this, he says, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart”(96). This quote truly explains it all with great detail. His vision of her is so perfect, that it is nothing like the real thing. Even though his vision is unrealistic, he still holds on to this idea with steadfast determination. When Tom Buchanan confronts Gatsby about his wife, Gatsby becomes quite hysterical. He tells Tom of Daisy’s undying love for him and that she has never loved Tom. Gatsby even goes on, telling everyone that they have loved each other for five years without meeting. Gatsby says, “Not seeing...No, we couldn’t meet. But both of us loved each other all the time”(131). This is once again, not true. Daisy had moved on from Gatsby long ago. She married Tom and had a child, living a comfortable life. It was not until they met again that Daisy’s emotions began to stir. Why Gatsby tries so hard for
“Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none” (Richard Devos). Even though people in the 1920s felt they could buy their happiness, they were corrupted by the idea of money. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, money played a significant role in the lives of Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s extremely wealthy, dominant, and unfaithful husband; Daisy Buchanan, a woman who settled and became trapped in her selfishness; and Jay Gatsby, a young, fabulously wealthy hopeless romantic.
Gatsby impresses Daisy with his wealth, like his enormous house and endless amounts of clothes. He moved to Long Island, New York to be closer to Daisy and even threw extravagant parties so she would notice it one day. They were together before Gatsby went off to war but after that he dedicated 5 years of his life to find her and to be with her again. For 5 years his mindset was set on repeating history with Daisy and he didn’t quit until he found her. Gatsby’s main tragic flaw is that he doesn’t see things realistically. He thinks things will go exactly the way he wants them too with no set backs. When Gatsby and Nick are talking about repeating the past Gatsby says “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald, 106). In Gatsby’s vision if he is around wealthy people then people will accept him and he
After Gatsby rises into the upper class, he buys his house in West Egg “so that Daisy would be just across the bay" (Fitzgerald 78). Specifically, Gatsby’s house is bought in order to stay closed with Daisy and to make her notice him. Indeed, Gatsby’s action demonstrates that he puts his relationship with Daisy in priority because love is what he values. In contrast, what Daisy values is money and wealth. After Gatsby left for the war, Daisy soon made her final decision to marry Tom Buchanan, a wealthy nobleman, because “she wanted her life shaped now, immediately— and the decision must be made by some force—of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality - that was close at hand” (Fitzgerald 151). Daisy could not wait for Gatsby because she wants her life to shape permanently. For Daisy, love is the thing that she can use for her luxury and comfortable life. Undoubtedly, Daisy does not idealize her life like Gatsby idealizes his love for Daisy, but Daisy focuses more on practical values. While Daisy values stability and wealth, Gatsby values love and memories. Even before Gatsby dies, he still does not realize that Daisy is not worth his admiration. Therefore, his death escapes Gatsby from chasing into something which is not worthy for