preview

Examples Of Goals And Values In The Great Gatsby

Decent Essays

Throughout history, regardless of location or time, it has been said that goals and values are the basic building blocks for a unique personality within oneself. These goals and values are the unseen driving force behind F. Scott. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the reader can observe how the characters' personal goals and values are what drive them to live their extravagant life during the 1920s. Fitzgerald makes use of these unseen characteristic traits in many ways, such as the constant push from society to marry within ones same financial class, the lust for money and power, or the need for love. Fitzgerald gives a fine example of being pressured into marrying someone of equal financial status by writing about Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Tom Buchanan is the type of man that has lived at the top his entire life and his wife, Daisy, is quite similar in that way also. Daisy was born with the gift of beauty and charm and every guy wanted her. Tom was gifted with good-looks and a strong athletic ability. Both of these characters were born and raised rich. When it came time for marriage, it only made sense that these two seemingly wonderful people should be married. When Daisy first married Tom she loved him dearly, but as time drew on, Daisy lost sight of her love for Tom. Daisy describes Tom in such a way that she shows almost no love for him. "That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen of a----" (Fitzgerald 16).

Get Access