Love Leads to Destruction

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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.
Love has a powerful impact on the characters and their emotions. Nick is one character in particular that is affected negatively by love. Nick does not seem to care about his relationship with Jordan, absent-mindedly ignoring her to keep up with Gatsby’s affairs. This causes the relationship between Jordan and Nick to fade, and Nick to get hurt. “Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.” (Fitzgerald, 177). This love has caused a mix of emotions for Nick as he cuts off the connection with Jordan. Nick abuses love by not caring enough nor putting in enough effort to make the love last; as a result, he has to turn away from her and deal with confusing emotions and a lost love.
Cataclysmic love is not just the cause for mixed emotions, but strong emotions, from both loss and pain. Tom Buchanan abuses love by cheat...

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...ow to himself – which eventually causes him to get murdered by Wilson – than let Daisy take the blame.
Apathy, affair, and obsession over love are the ways the characters destroy themselves in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby’s intentions were noble, but the fact that he took love too far led to Wilson shooting him and committing suicide, destroying them both. Mishandling love causes every main character to succumb to each of their depressive fates. The characters that are still alive live with a feeling of loss and grief that will always be there, gnawing at their hearts. Love leads to destruction. This theme is displayed as a powerful force, and when mistreated it can kill even the greatest of men; emotionally and physically devastating anyone, no matter how rich or how poor.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1925. Print.

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