Glorification In The Great Gatsby

At first glance, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby appears to be a tragic love story about Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. But upon closer examination, readers will see that their love wasn’t love at all; rather, it was an obsession on Gatsby’s part. He had built up Daisy as he’d remembered her, negligent of the fact that they had both grown and she had changed. Gatsby hadn’t been in love with Daisy, but the idea of Daisy. However, Gatsby isn’t the only one guilty of romanticism. The book’s seemingly reliable narrator, Nick Carraway, is just as culpable as the title character when it comes to idealizing someone beyond their true nature. In his case, the target of his idealism is none other than Jay Gatsby. Nick’s romanticism of the

The Great Gatsby is considered to be a great American novel full of hope, deceit, wealth, and love. Daisy Buchanan is a beautiful and charming young woman who can steal a man’s attention through a mere glance. Throughout the novel, she is placed on a pedestal, as if her every wish were Gatsby’s command. Her inner beauty and grace are short-lived, however, as Scott Fitzgerald reveals her materialistic character. Her reprehensible activities lead to devastating consequences that affect the lives of every character. I intend to show that Daisy, careless and self-absorbed, was never worthy of Jay Gatsby’s love, for she was the very cause of his death.

In the roaring 20’s, America was referred to as the ‘Jazz Age’, a positive and optimistic time where possibilities seemed endless. The concept in EBB’s sonnet of ideal love transforming individuals is similarly interpreted through the characterisation of Gatz into Gatsby. The obsessive love to ‘own’ Daisy highlights the idea that this power of love can only exist in the Jazz Age. Gatsby’s idealised love is derived from the traps of wealth and money which is clearly evident in the dialogue “her voice is full of money”. Gatsby’s is willing to reinvent himself for Daisy and he consumes everything he does in life to make himself worthy of Daisy so they can marry as if it were five years ago. Nick the novel’s narrator, tells Gatsby that “you can’t repeat the past” to which Gatsby replies “why of course you can! I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before”. This evidently shows that the power of ideal love which is genuine and unconditional is very strong on individual’s and transforms them into a whole new world with new values. Gatsby’s determination to make everything right evidently depicts how the concept of ideal love had transformed him to attain his ideal love, Daisy. Hence, Fitzgerald conveys his perspective of ideal love during the Jazz Age, and similar to EBB, ideal love is seen to transform individual’s and demanding for love to

Fitzgerald displays Gatsby as man who came from nothing, with an unrelenting passion to obtain material success, or the 1920’s American Dream. Radical transformation was one of Mr. Gatsby’s most outstanding characteristics, taking his desire to change from the once impoverished man to the point of changing his name. Certainly Gatsby possesses admirable traits, as his will power is once again displayed through the longing for his lost love, Daisy. The misconceptions of the time period are illustrated as Fitzgerald displays that Gatsby’s underlying desire for money is to win over Daisy through impressing her with his wealth. Within Adam Cohen’s piece “Jay Gatsby Is a Man for Our Times”, Cohen discusses the worthiness of Gatsby’s goal: “The callow Daisy, whose voice is ‘full of money,’ may not be a worthy goal. But Gatsby’s longing for her, and his willingness to sell his soul to pursue her, are the purest thing in this sordid tale.” Essentially, Fitzgerald demonstrates that Gatsby, nor his relentless will to succeed, are not the issue. It is the time period, along with the misconceptions of a dream, which corrupt the character. Gatsby’s wealth is obtained through unethical ways, like many others who followed the path of easy money. The corruption of bonds does bring Gatsby the wealth he had always longed for, along with extravagant and lavish parties at his mansion. Consequently, we learn that reaching the goal of obtaining wealth ultimately does not lead to

The novel The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, revolves around the main character, Jay Gatsby, his actions, and his ambitions. The book tells of the twisted, corrupt love triangle that is formed between Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan. This develops when Gatsby is reacquainted with Daisy after not seeing her for five years. As the story develops, unfavorable aspects are demonstrated by Gatsby: his obsession with Daisy, his dishonesty with Nick and Tom, and his manipulation of Nick and Daisy. These traits portray him as a corrupt man, wanting only what is best for himself. Therefore, Gatsby’s actions prohibit him from being the hero of the novel.

Gatsby believed wholeheartedly that his happiness lay in the chance of reuniting with Daisy, but she was unfortunately unable to live up to his obsessive and arguably overwhelming dream. In fact, Gatsby himself becomes so engrossed in his “American Dream”, that when Daisy’s rejection comes, his life seems to lose all its purpose in the absence of his obsession. Perhaps even his former warm view of the world was lost as he lay in the pool, waiting for Daisy’s phone call, and “looked up at an unfamiliar sky.” This shows us how obsession can take over one’s life, wielding a complete unhealthy control over our emotions and actions. On the critical side, it is also showing us that the American Dream, which was once a genuine, pure aspiration for advancement, has, for many people, turned into a greedy desire and obsession for wealth and material goods. As well as the unrealistic notion of equal opportunity for all, Fitzgerald is suggesting that what was once “a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable”- as coined by U.S writer James Truslow Adams- has evolved into a dense objective of achieving personal material comfort. Although Gatsby claims that he did everything for Daisy, there is the underlying question; was his bootlegging really all for Daisy’s love, or was it for his own ideal life that he dreamed of- a life of luxury, aesthetic appeal and a beautiful woman? Fitzgerald is criticising the corruption of what was idealised to be a world of freedom, equality and opportunity. Instead of striving for an improved, richer and fuller life for the country as a whole, society has turned into a battle between individuals to get to the top and appear the most

According to some, true love is a pure motive for any venture; for others, the concept of true love is pure hogwash. Whether or not Gatsby’s affection for Daisy is really “true love”, the fact that it remains his sole motivator for success must compare with those classic fairy tales of heroes rescuing princesses. In Gatsby’s mind it certainly does, he sees himself as a heroic prince or knight in shining armor on the gallant quest to save Daisy from the man she does not love. Equivalent to the white knights of arthurian legend, Gatsby stops at nothing to achieve his singular goal; and goes to extents such as buying that specific mansion “so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78), reading “a Chicago paper for years on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name” (79), and taking the blame for her hit-and-run. His dream of love and a life with Daisy, naive though it may be, is morally righteous at its heart. However, one might call it

Regarding Gatsby, it is his lack of emotional satisfaction that shapes his obsession and greed toward Daisy. Gatsby’s goal is to regain his former romantic relationship he shares with Daisy, as he truly believes that it is possible to repeat the past (Fitzgerald 110). In fact, during the last five years, he builds himself a facade through illegal means to impress Daisy. Nevertheless, his greed for the exclusivity of Daisy backfires. Daisy says that “ ‘[he] [wants] too much!’... ‘[she] [loves] [him] now--- isn’t that enough?’ ” (132). When Gatsby asks Daisy to affirm that she only loves him, she could not confirm the statement truthfully, thus reducing Gatsby’s efforts throughout the years to naught. Gatsby’s commitment for Daisy’s affection is the very cause of Daisy’s rejection.

When reading The Great Gatsby, a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, something is lacking through all the relationships within the book. What is lacking is the passion and the loyalty that most people have whenever they dedicate themselves to their relationship. There are multiple relationships, but only Tom is married to Daisy, the rest are scandals going on. They both are in a relationship where they both are cheating on each other with other people. Tom is in a relationship with a girl named Myrtle, who is already married to Wilson, and Daisy is in a relationship with Gatsby, someone who had a crush on her for years. These relationships represents the society in the 1920s in what it was like trying to live in that time period. As a result, Fitzgerald mocks the idea of love within the 1920s and calls out how people throughout the book only wished for a social ranking, wealth, and materialistic goods and shows how much of an unhealthy relationship most of the characters have.

Through marriages, relationships, and friendships the author questions rather love itself is unstable or is it the way the characters experience love and desire problematic? I choose to write on this because the way that Frederick Douglass portrays them is a phenomenal complex that will make you reconsider true love. The relationship at the very heart of The Great Gatsby is, of course, Gatsby and Daisy, or more specifically, Gatsby’s tragic love of (or obsession with) Daisy, which is a love that drives the novel’s plot.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the compelling story of the lengths one man goes to in order to try and win back the love of his youth. In order to do so, the titular figure of the novel, Jay Gatsby, reinvents himself from the hardscrabble soldier of his younger years into an enigma of a millionaire; during his time living at West Egg, Gatsby is revered by all, but known by none. Despite the lavish lifestyle which has made him ever so well known, Gatsby is never able to win back Daisy, the girl who has for so long represented the culmination of all of his desires. To convey the complex themes of the novel, Fitzgerald makes use of the literary techniques discussed in How To Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster, especially in his portrayal of the geography of the Eggs and in Gatsby’s quest to win Daisy’s affection. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s desperate struggle to ingratiate himself into Daisy’s life to illustrate how one can never overcome the socio-economic barriers placed upon them at birth.

While most people chase love, few know that it is foolish. One should not chase after love, but allow it to find them naturally. Obviously, Gatsby was none the wiser about that bit of advice. In the story, we see Gatsby chase after his supposedly long lost love, but is she truly his love? With how little time they spent together, how much they’ve grown throughout the years, and all that has happened in both of their lives, does Gatsby truly love Daisy, a married mother of one? Their star-crossed story is the perfect example of a hold on the past destroying a future. This essay will explore their strange and twisted romance while supporting one simple fact. Jay Gatsby was not in love with Daisy.

Although it is the repercussions of their deceptive fantasies that Gatsby and Lester fall victim to, it was their continued search for love that leads them to these. Love is the principal value in The Great Gatsby and is illustrated best by the contrast of Gatsby’s idealized romantic love for Daisy with Daisy’s “love” for wealth and status, a love which is common to the majority of their irresponsible society. F Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes Gatsby’s “romantic readiness” through this contrast as well as Gatsby’s fall from grace that results in him becoming lost in “the colossal vitality of his illusions” (pg. 92). Daisy characterizes the power of a love of money in the Great Gatsby and is used by Fitzgerald in condemning Gatsby’s hedonistic society as well as his own. However it is the absence of love –rather than the presence- that is most prominent in American

Gatsby does not belong to his own class and he is not accepted by the upper class, therefore he becomes an exception. Because of disappointment of being looked down upon and impossibility of accept by the upper class, he has nothing left except his love, which is also his “love dream”. Gatsby’s love for Daisy has been the sole drive and motive of his living. Gatsby’s great love is also the root of his great tragedy, because he is desperately in love with a woman who is not worthy of his deep love. Fitzgerald offers Gatsby with the spirit of sincerity, generosity, nobility, perseverance, and loyalty. All his good natures can be seen

It is often said that certain literary works and characters within such works represent real-world issues. In the work The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Gatsby is shrouded in ambiguity to the reader, providing them with a possibility for personal interpretation. In the work, Gatsby’s character develops from a character representing materialism and a fixation on status to one filled with humility and selflessness for his romantic devotion towards the character of Daisy. Through this shift, the reader is provided with insight in order to draw parallels between Gatsby and two distinct periods in American history. The materialistic side of Gatsby, driven by wealth and his status in Long Island, represents the moral corruption and materialistic desires of America in the 1920s, whereas the romantically devoted Gatsby represents wartime America, devoted to sacrifice and nobility. The contrast within the life of Gatsby allows for a profound insight into the significance of the work as a representation of changing American values.