The Great Gatsby Analytical Essay F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many motifs in The Great Gatsby to convey all sorts of different themes. One that stuck out to me is Fitzgerald expressing how the idea of true love is just a dream that can be bought with money through using cheating as a motif. The idea of cheating demonstrates how the characters of the book are reckless and view love as something that can easily be replaced by the attention of another human being. Tom Buchanan is a man that believes he can have anything or anyone because of his social status. When the narrator, Nick first moves to town, he decides to hang out with his old college buddy, Tom. At one point, Nick wants to go home but Tom confidently states that he “wants [Nick] to meet his girl” (Fitzgerald 24). Nick being …show more content…
This represents how Tom just thinks that no matter who he’s with; Daisy will stick by him because he is wealthy. James Gatsby grew up being an unwealthy man. He met Daisy five years before the story took place but lost her because he didn’t have enough money. When Gatsby and Daisy reunite they start having an affair and because so much time has passed, Gatsby was able to become rich. Gatsby strongly urged Daisy to come clean to Tom but because she didn’t, Gatsby ended up having to tell Tom what was going on. Tom asked Daisy if it was true but she couldn’t respond. Instead Gatsby told Tom that “[the affair] had been going on for five years” (Fitzgerald 131). Truth be told, the only reason Daisy chose Tom instead of Gatsby is because in that moment, Tom had more money and Gatsby knew that. Because of the affair that Gatsby and Daisy were having, she began to get a lot more confident. At one of Gatsby’s parties one night, she was about to walk off but turned and offered a pen to Tom stating “if you want to take down any addresses here’s my little gold pen” (Fitzgerald 105). She was so confident because she realized, she didn’t need Tom. She had a
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Show MoreAll Daisy had to do was either tell Tom that she still loved Gatsby, or turn down the idea of an
Tom functions under the illusion that Daisy not only loves him now, but has always loved him and been completely devoted to him. Daisy does admit that she once loved him, but he was not her first choice; Gatsby was. Tom is also under the illusion that Daisy will never leave him. He has an ongoing, almost public affair with Myrtle but still wants to be devoted to Daisy and demands her devotion to him. Tom feels as if he will never lose anything: his money, Daisy, or his social status.
It would appear that if only a few small things were to change, Gatsby would end up as the winner. Regrettably, Gatsby was set up to fail from the start. Daisy is a wicked person, her and Tom simply hurt others and retreats back to their money for security. After she left Gatsby for Tom, not only did she refuse to resolve the issue with Gatsby, she refused to even attend his funeral. When Nick calls Daisy to inform her about the funeral, their butler answers. Their conversation went like, “Left no address?” “No.” “Say when they’d be back?” “No.” “Any idea where they are? How I could reach them?” “I don’t know. Can’t say.” (Daisy was Gatsby’s goal, his life. She knew Gatsby did everything for her, yet she would not even show up at his funeral. When daisy cried at Gatsby’s mansion it becomes obvious that she only felt that she missed an opportunity. That she could have been with Gatsby who who was more exciting than Tom but equally as rich. Daisy would have used Gatsby up and thrown him away as fast as she let him in. Gatsby changed his life for Daisy, but she wasn 't the right one to change his life for. Even if Gatsby earned his money earned properly, his goal would prevent him from
Then Gatsby had to go to war. While he was away in war, Daisy met Tom and then
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is a thirty-year-old young man that changed his lifestyle from having a poor childhood to becoming rich. In 1917, preparing to leave for World War 1, Gatsby, being presented as a military officer in Louisville, laid his eyes upon a charming, graceful young woman, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy was a beauty from Louisville. She then was not only Nick Carraway’s cousin but also suddenly the love of Gatsby’s life. In order to make him look like the perfect person for Daisy, Gatsby presented himself to have a clear background. In all reality, Gatsby participated in crimes, such as providing alcohol when it was illegal and selling stolen objects.
For five years, Gatsby was denied the one thing that he desired more than anything in the world: Daisy. While she was willing to wait for him until after the war, he did not want to return to her a poor man who would, in his eyes, be unworthy of her love. Gatsby did not want to force Daisy to choose between the comfortable lifestyle she was used to and his love. Before he would return to her, he was determined to make something of himself so that Daisy would not lose the affluence that she was accustomed to possessing. His desire for Daisy made Gatsby willing to do whatever was necessary to earn the money that would in turn lead to Daisy’s love, even if it meant participating in actions...
The Great Gatsby presents the main character Jay Gatsby, as a poor man who is in love with his best friends cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby was in love with Daisy, his first real love. He was impressed with what she represented, great comfort with extravagant living. Gatsby knew he was not good enough for her, but he was deeply in love. “For a moment a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb man’s”(Fitzgerald 107). Gatsby could not think of the right words to say. Daisy was too perfect beyond anything he was able to think of. Soon Gatsby and Daisy went their separate ways. Jay Gatsby went into the war while telling Daisy to find someone better for her, someone that will be able to keep her happy and provide for her. Gatsby and Daisy loved one another, but he had to do what was best for her. Gatsby knew the two might not meet again, but if they did, he wanted things to be the same. “I 'm going to fix everything just the way it was before”(Fitzgerald 106). He wanted Daisy to fall in love with him all over again. Unsure if Daisy would ever see Gatsby again, she got married while he was away. The two were still hugely in love with one another, but had to go separate ways in their
When Daisy left Gatsby due to his lack of excessive funds, he began to work to earn enough money for her to want him again. Daisy does not directly agree with Gatsby when he proclaims to Tom that, ““She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!”” (Fitzgerald 130). Yet it is not until Gatsby purchases an extravagant home in West Egg and shows off his newly found wealth that she becomes interested once again. Gatsby’s sole motivation for formulating his millions is the past, and the hope that he and Daisy can go back to the way they used to be. He overthinks his every move, scared to do or say the wrong thing and ruin his chances. Something as simple as a casual tea causes his face to seem stressed, “and his eyes were brights and tired. “She didn’t like it,” he said immediately. “Of course she did” “She didn’t like it,” he insisted. “She didn’t have a good time.” He was silent, and I guessed at his unutterable depression” (109). Despite her married and mother status, Gatsby still stops at nothing to try and win her over and snag her away from her husband. He even, as exposed by Tom,“”bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter”” to start his fortune (133). His
Gatsby developed his desire for material wealth when Dan Cody showed him how easy it was to acquire such wealth.(Fitzgerald 98-99) Ever since then Gatsby has taken any means necessary in order to acquire material wealth and high social status. He met Daisy while he was a high ranking officer in the US army during World War One. Daisy to Gatsby is just another material possession for him to acquire. However, Daisy takes a large sum of money to win over. She likes social status, and while Gatsby was in the army he had that social status, but when Gatsby's leave is over, Daisy marries Tom. Gatsby's delusion of status led him to believe that her marrying Tom will have no effect on his relationship between himself and Daisy, but Gatsby doesn't have the status to acquire Daisy. Gatsby then goes on a path of self-destruction to try and win her over. He throws parties and buys expensive things in attempt to win over Daisy, but because of his residence in West Egg and his inability to fit in with East Egg residents,
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
In just a few years after meeting Daisy and getting out of the army, he “came into a good deal of money”(Fitzgerald 65), “bought a house so that Daisy would be just across the bay”(Fitzgerald 78), “read a Chicago paper for years on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name”(Fitzgerald 79), and put out weekly invitations, hoping that Daisy would “wander into one of his parties, some night” (Fitzgerald ibid). All of this was done for Daisy, who since then, fell in love with Tom Buchanan, got married and had a child. None of this occurred to Gatsby until they finally met again, and he realized that he had built Daisy up in his head for so long. “Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her ... Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (Fitzgerald 93). Although Gatsby continued to fight for Daisy to the very end, he realized in this moment that what he had been dreaming of for years might not actually be within his
Gatsby went through a time of difficulty trying to get to Daisy but does not give up. For a long time he could not find anyone who knew of her until he met Jordan. He planned to have Nick invite Daisy for tea and allow him to come without her acknowledgment of him coming over. The barrier he must overcome is Daisy’s marriage with Tom. Gatsby hasn’t seen Daisy for four years and shows feelings for her that are still relevant after all this time. On the other hand, Daisy has the difficulty of a cheating husband, and what seems like feelings for Gatsby. In the end, she must figure out her
After their reunion, Gatsby and Daisy pick up where they left off, talking about old memories and future plans, Gatsby however does not see that these future plans are not entirely possible. He claims that he is going to “fix everything just the way it was before” and that he wants to restarts their new life together and leave the past couple of years behind them (118). This is saying that the pursuit of Ideals can cause a man to think irrationally and impulsively. In addition to this, Gatsby has a false sense of of safety, he states that he “wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and Say ‘I never loved you’”, obliterating three years of marriage with the statement (117). This shows how through focusing all of himself into chasing his dream, Gatsby sees his situation through rose coloured glasses.He sees only the good and ignores all the negative repercussions are at inevitable in his case. Gatsby is also shown to be very overconfident in his dream, acting impetuously and arrogantly. He confronts Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby goes to Tom and tells him that his “wife doesn’t love [him]” and that “she never loved [him]” (139). This caused Daisy to move farther from Gatsby, realizing his addictive and obsessive nature towards
The Great Gatsby , written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was a novel based on the lives of multiple characters involved in love triangles within their group of friends and associates. Not only was there countless acts of adultery that took place in this novel, but also the drama behind what love can do to a single person. In The Great Gatsby affairs were very common among a group of friends and or spouses. It all came to an uproar when Nick Carraway moved to the West Egg near his long distant cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Fitzgerald 8). Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, who is very rich.
Toward the end of the novel, Daisy chooses high class over her first love. Daisy makes the decision to stay with Tom even after she has love affairs with Gatsby. As the readers think about why Daisy would go back to Tom, the idea that she is trapped is a common thought. Daisy makes the decision to go back to Tom in fear. Daisy fears losing her wealth and the high social status that Tom brings to her. On page 84 Daisy says “Oh you want too much!” to Gatsby telling him that he expects to much of her. Daisy feels as if she isn’t the girl Gatsby wants her to be. It seems as if Tom and Daisy reunite after the crazy day in the city. Overall Daisy wants wealth and high class which Tom gives to her and Gatsby did not.