In both The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main characters, Gatsby and Janie, respectively, are in search of their soulmates that they believe represent their idea of true love. They both strive to find their soulmates, though the restrictive societies they live in make it difficult for them to find what they are looking for in love. Another similarity between Gatsby and Janie is that they were willing to do almost anything to find true love. But in the end, no matter how hard they try, both characters are unable to hold on to their love. Both Gatsby and Janie try to find fulfillment searching for true love, but are restricted by society and fate, and are unable to keep love …show more content…
Social status is obtained, not by earning wealth, but by being born wealthy. Because Gatsby had to work for his money instead of inheriting his wealth, he is unable to raise his social status to a level that is acceptable to Daisy. Furthermore, Daisy would only marry someone who will raise her status in society because of pressures and values that society holds. Unlike Gatsby, Daisy has never had to worry about anything because she has always had money and been taken care of as is demonstrated by her care-free voice which Gatsby describes as “‘full of money’” (Fitzgerald, 120). Everyone can clearly see that Gatsby is not from the same social class as Daisy. This is proved, when Jordan suggests that Gatsby might have attended the prestigious Oxford university, but in the eyes of Tom Buchanan, Gatsby does not have enough social standing to attend Oxford when Tom says, “‘Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit!’” (Fitzgerald, 129). In the end, even though Gatsby is in love with Daisy, he is unable to be with her because of the way society defines Gatsby’s social status. Social restrictions make it difficult for Janie and Gatsby to find their versions of true love, but the societal restrictions are different in each case. The difference is that Janie was pressured into marrying for financial stability. While, Gatsby lacked the social status needed for a …show more content…
Gatsby was always hoping that Daisy would leave her husband and return to him, but Daisy’s love had always eluded Gatsby because Daisy had different values than Gatsby. Fitzgerald explains how Gatsby dream was fading when he says, “‘[Daisy] was drawing further and further into herself, so [Gatsby] gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away’” (Fitzgerald, 292). At the end of The Great Gatsby, Gatsby was deceived into believing that he had finally won over his true love, Daisy, while in reality, she loved her social status more than she loved Gatsby and was not willing to give her social status
GatsbyÕs dream give him a purpose in life and sets him apart from the rest of the wealthy class on Long Island. He never gives up his pursuit to win over Daisy; from the moment he is seen reaching towards her house in East Egg to the final days of his life, patiently waiting outside DaisyÕs house for hours when she has already decided to abandon her affair with him. Gatsby is the only character that retains the purest traits of the old dream, but loses in the end by attempting to achieve his dream by transposing his original ambition into the dreamÕs modern state.
Gatsby and Daisy had met years prior, but ended up going their separate ways. However, Gatsby remained in love with Daisy and longed for her affection. The two reconcile, and Daisy starts seeing Gatsby outside of her marriage with Tom. In this, Daisy is leading Gatsby on by making him believe he will attain his ultimate dream: a life with her. However, Daisy knows deep down she will not leave Tom for Gatsby. This is proven when a confrontation about the affair sparks between Tom and Gatsby, and Daisy attempts to defend Gatsby and stick up to Tom, but ultimately fails and retreats back to her husband. “Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone” (Fitzgerald 135). Daisy’s carelessness shines through in leading Gatsby to believe she would abandon Tom for him, but fails to follow through. She recklessly broke the heart of the man who had been in love with her for many
All in all, as presented through this work, Gatsby was indeed in love with Daisy for the most part, in the beginning of their relationship, but it all change when Gatsby lost Daisy and so he let himself believed that his past was the one to blame for this circumstances. It is after this, that Gatsby became rather obsessed with the idea of Daisy and having a lovely future with her, because having her meant having it all: stability, confidence, love, happiness and so on. Also, it meant that he had succeeded in life as a whole. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Chapter 9) All his life, Gatsby intended to escape
He dreamed that Daisy would leave Tom so they could run off and be together. When they went to New York Gatsby practically begged Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him "…Just tell him the truth- that you never loved him-and it's all wiped out forever (Fitzgerald, 139)." Gatsby's reality, after his initial encounter with Daisy, was to work hard and become wealthy so that he could win her heart. The reality was that Daisy was now married and too comfortable in her lifestyle to leave Tom and move on with Gatsby.
Daisy leaving Gatsby is one of the greatest examples of the moral decay of people in this time period with the growth in wealth. Her and Gatsby had something special together when they were younger and all of that was taken away when she had realized that social status meant more to her than her true feelings. “At his lips’ touch, she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”(Fitzgerald, 117). This is how she had really felt, she had wanted to kiss him and had loved Gatsby. He had waited for this moment with this “golden girl” forever and finally there was kissing her. They were young and in love. "She's not leaving me!" Tom's words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. "Certainly
When someone comes off too eager for something they desire, sometimes the satisfaction won’t meet the expectations they primarily had. The thrill to chase that dream has vanished and has now turned into a bland, dull thought. Gatsby’s memory of Daisy had changed and then builds her up to more than she actually is. He then proceeds to market Daisy as something completely different. The tendency for Gatsby trying to lie to himself about his memory of Daisy has faded and is now trying hopelessly to revive his past feelings about Daisy. “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity”(Fitzgerald 92). The cumbersome attitude of Gatsby towards
Gatsby had not achieved his goal and dream to win Daisy’s heart and have her fall for him again, in order to “fix everything just the way it was before” (The Great Gatsby, p.110), despite the fact that he had won Daisy’s heart back, it wasn’t the Daisy that Gatsby wanted. Gatsby had worked all his life to impress Daisy and meet her standard for wealth, not because he is tremendously attracted towards Daisy, but more because of the idea of having Daisy.
He wants to marry Daisy and he is so determined that not even her husband can stop him. Winning her love is the only thing Gatsby cares about. He tries many times to win her over but fails. However, he is so determined that he never gives up. “‘She’ll be alright tomorrow,’ he said presently. ‘I’m just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her about that unpleasantness this afternoon.’” Gatsby wouldn’t leave her alone even after he knew he had lost her. Both men have immense determination to get through their struggles.
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby spent years trying to achieve his dream, but he made a bad decision and lost his chance. Gatsby met Daisy a couple years before (Fitzgerald 74). He would hide his social class from her because he was afraid she wouldn’t like him. He never forgot her, even when he went to fight in the war. He has been formulating a plan to get Daisy back. He comes back and got a house across the lake from Daisy, hoping to be with her some day. He did a lot of bad business to get all of his wealth, but the money wasn’t enough. He wanted to be with Daisy. He eventually gets to meet up with Daisy because of Nick’s help, and Gatsby gets closer to being able to live a life with Daisy. One day, everyone (Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan) is in town, renting a hotel room to deal with the heat. Tom figures out that Daisy and Gatsby have something going on. Tom gets mad and everyone starts to head home. On the way back, Gatsby lets Daisy drive his car, which was his bad decision (Fitzgerald 143). Daisy hits Myrtle,
I believe that Gatsby is still in denial with Daisy’s love. He wants the Daisy that once loved him instead of the Daisy she is now. After all the Daisy he wanted only loved him any nobody
“He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you’ ” (Fitzgerald Chapter 6). This is when it is very clear what Gatsby is trying to accomplish, his goal is to get Daisy to abolish all the experiences she’s had with Tom. Gatsby wants Daisy to follow his ideals and to try and spark their past together. Although Daisy is stuck between choosing Tom and Gatsby, she realizes that the past cannot be relieved, because she has experienced too much with Tom, and that Tom also has a major influence in her
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces the character, Gatsby, to show how The American Dream failed him so devastatingly. Gatsby had the dream to be reunited with Daisy and repeat the past again. Daisy and Gatsby were once in love in October of 1917. Daisy was eighteen and Queen Bee of high society, while Gatsby was a young officer who was head-over-heels in love with her. However, Gatsby had to leave for war, leaving Daisy behind. Even
Everyone has an ideal vision of what he or she wants out of life. In a perfect world, everyone would die happy having achieved every goal ever set. A perfect world does not exist. Fitzgerald knows this, and he chronicles the life of Gatsby. Gatsby deeply desires to live out the “American dream.” He wants fame, riches, parties, mansions, but most of all love. Gatsby succeeds in every area except the most important. Gatsby still feels a desire to fulfill his final dream of finding a true love. Not willing to settle for an arbitrary love, Gatsby sets his sights on a young woman named Daisy. The problem is that Gatsby can never have Daisy because she is already in a relationship with another man. Gatsby, still wanting Daisy’s love but
All through the book, Gatsby's mind is stuck on getting Daisy back. He thinks that in one magical moment, Daisy will leave Tom and return to his bed for a fairy tale ending. After he comes back from the war his thoughts are on his love's betrayal, her marriage. He sees his actions as a method of love, but his thoughts are ill hearted towards others. He has been involved in illegal financial methods and is trying to break up a marriage for his own gain in life. After their fling officially begins, Gatsby has Daisy lying to Tom and he is convincing her that she never loved her husband. Gatsby thinks that by getting Daisy to realize her marital mistakes, she will simply leave Tom and marry him. He is corrupting a relationship and an individual further than their present state of dishonesty. He thinks that his plans are going accordingly until a heated discussion breaks out and he is on the losing end. He has ended up emotionally unbalancing Daisy to the point where she accidentally kills someone. Gatsby then takes the blame like it was nothing with the thought that it is his duty. Gatsby's train of thought was a bit off the tracks and did crash and burn, but who could blame a man in love,
Gatsby remembers Daisy as the pretty girl from North Dakota he fell in love with when he was in the military. He soon sees that she is different, although he denies it, even to himself. In order for Daisy to have a relationship with Gatsby, when they first meet he lies and says his parents are actually wealthy. This is the first example of how society dictates Daisy’s life. Because of her social status, Daisy must marry a rich man, preferably from old money, according to society. When Gatsby leaves, Daisy promises that she will wait for him, yet she instead marries Tom Buchanan, an extremely wealthy man who her parents approve of. Even when Tom cheats on Daisy, and she is fully aware of it, she refuses to leave him. She loves her status and money so much she will not give it up even at the expense of her happiness.