Theme Of Wonder In The Great Gatsby

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The Delusional Wonder of Gatsby Wonder is a powerful yet unclear feeling that works it’s way into the emotions, thoughts, and actions of people. Wonder can be a combination of many emotions such as admiration, surprise, marvel, and longing which are directed towards someone or something unexplainably beautiful. This cluster of emotions has the power to alter one’s perception of what is real and what is a delusion. Wonder can make people believe in the beauty of something that isn’t actually real. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, wonder is interwoven throughout the entire book. Certain characters and settings evoke wonder in other characters and ultimately the readers themselves. Daisy is a wonder to Gatsby just as Gatsby is a wonder …show more content…

Gatsby moves to West Egg so that he can watch “the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock” (180) which represents the wonder of Daisy and the future that he so badly wants with her. The green light is so blinding to Gatsby that he does not realize that Daisy is no more than a vision that he has made up for her. To him, the wonder of Daisy is his past, present, and future. Even though Daisy is no more than an image made up by the delusions of Gatsby’s wonder, when he is reunited with her, “he literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room” (89). Daisy’s enchanting and wondrous voice is reflected in Gatsby’s glowing appearance. The wonder that Gatsby feels is so strong that it is visible on his body. When they are reunited, his body and mind are completely overcome by Daisy’s wonder. When they are together, Gatsby cannot control his actions or his sense of reality because in Daisy’s “actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real” (91). Even though Daisy married Tom and did not wait for Gatsby, he is still completely taken by Daisy because of the wonder that she bestows on him. His wonder is so deceptive that he believes in the Daisy who is a figment of his imagination. Gatsby believed in “the green light, the orgastic future” (180) to such an extent that he was unable to see the reality of Daisy before his

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