Human Condition In The Great Gatsby

Humans use coping mechanisms to ease the pain of dealing with reality. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby tries to gain the affection of a long lost love, but because he worries that this love is unrequited, he resorts to alternative methods to attempt at achieving his goals. Fitzgerald demonstrates that though denial and deception create a safe but false existence, the truth always prevails and the disillusioned are forced to face their fears directly.

Human nature empowers even the most unfortunate people to reach for superiority. In search of these aspirations, some people become obsessed with perfecting past decisions, or returning to a “golden time”. However, human nature renders the seeker unable to achieve such a delusion. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this principle within his novella, The Great Gatsby. Establishing déjà vu throughout the novel, Fitzgerald juxtaposes cyclical plot with the unattainability of the past to portray flaws in human nature at what seems to be the zenith of Gatsby’s American Dream.

Nick and Gatsby can both relate to wanting the girl that they can't have. For Gatsby, his dream girl is Daisy. They had a relationship but then Gatsby had to go into war and they hadn't seen each other for five years. All Gatsby thought about was seeing daisy again, he even bought a house across a lake from her. Daisy obviously moved on because she married Tom, a rich socialite but their relationship is toxic. A quote to support this statement is “Look!” she complained. “I hurt it.” We all looked- knuckle was black and blue. “You did it, Tom, she said accusingly. I know you didn't mean to but you did do it. That's what I get got marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a-”( ). This shows that Tom is abusive and he is a very ignorant and disrespectful human being. Gatsby's has always had an undying love for Daisy and he states that they should be together. A quote that shows is “I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before,” he said, nodding determinedly. “She’ll see.” ( )That shows that Gatsby has never stopped loving Daisy and he wants to fix his relationship with her. Nick on the other hand has his eyes on Jordan. Things are not easy because Jordan is focused on her golfing career and her Aunt is very controlling. Gatsby obsesses over Daisy and is in love with her but with Nick he is just attracted to Jordan, nothing close to love. Nick says, “ I wasn't actually in love but, I

True love is seen through a relationship of two people. Love exists when two people give all their trust, loyalty, and support to one another. Now imagine finding out all of the love and loyalty was false? Betraying a loved one can make someone capable of things they didn’t even know they were capable of. Betrayal is the breaking of a trust that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals. In The Great Gatsby, characters pursue in the action of having an affair and the result of betraying their loved ones. In the book, The Great Gatsby, the concept of true love is portrayed in a way that negatively affects the characters.

In The Great Gatsby, the author, F Scott Fitzgerald depicts the post - war roaring 20’s, a time of overwhelming prosperity and a new found sense of hope for the future. While this novel is often perceived as a romance, it is also a criticism on the devastating nature of the elusive american dream. The story of Jay Gatsby is a representation of what had become the values of the individual at the time. With the progression of the early 1920’s the vision of the perfect life, or the american dream, had been skewed. It was replaced with greed, and an abundance of reckless spending in which the wealthier individuals placed their misguided ideas of happiness. In the Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald chooses to expose the hidden truth behind the illustrious concept of the American dream. Through his use of literary devices such as, symbolism, metaphor, and, irony the central idea of the truly unattainable American dream is supported throughout the novel.

The Great Gatsby is a film that is starring a man by the name of Jay Gatsby, but originally named James Gatz, who grew up in a low status household. Being an officer in the war, Jay met the love of his life, Daisy, who he could not marry due to his low status and the fact that he was in the war. Later, after war, Gatsby disguises himself as an upperclassman who is rich and tries to get Daisy back- through the work of her cousin, Nick Carraway, who is also Gatsby’s next-door neighbor- who at this point is married to Tom Buchanan. The film finishes with the death of Gatsby. Midnight in Paris is a film about a man named Gil Pender, who is traveling to Paris with his wife. While in Paris, Gil goes out every night at midnight and travels back to the 1920s. While he in the 1920s, Gil meets a woman named Adriana, who was splendid during her time. Gil ended up having a short romance with her. At last, Gil decides to stay in the future and confront the reality. The effectiveness of the

“Screaming, crying, perfect storm” as Taylor Swift once wrote, perfectly describes the state that my family has been for the past few years. As my mother was achieving her dream by moving to America, my dad was falling deeper and deeper into his mental complication and depression due to the sudden change of foreign culture exposure. Eventually, my parents decided to get the divorce my sister and I expected for quite some time. Considering our economic status, we could not afford the bill for two separate apartments; so heavy and unpleasant tensions between each other developed as my parents continued to live under the same roof. As time has passed, I have become more aware of the sacrifices my parents have made in order to raise my sister and

Caroline Silva English 3 H - Reidling 3rd Period 10/17/14 The Great Gatsby Essay F. Scott Fitzgerald’s view on human nature in The Great Gatsby is that humans abandon their morals to get what they want. Human nature is inclined to lose morals to get in return money, material things, and a well-known name in society, and even for revenge. As soon as things go wrong or they are satisfied humans go back to their comfort zone with no regrets; not caring about others feelings and the damage they’ve done. “Their money or vast carelessness kept them together and let [others] clean up the mess they made.”

Humankind is simply a microscopic speck within this vast void of life, yet within that speck we hold the capacity of immense cruelty and greatness. These traits mix and spill haphazardly into the people of this world, leaving humankind a kaleidoscope of good and evil. This is true with many of the characters in The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald provides characters that are composed of attributes that enhance their faults and their strengths. Some characters, such as Jay Gatsby, are praiseworthy despite their transgressions. While others like Tom Buchanan are detestable and continue to travel down a shameful path.

When Gatsby is waiting outside Daisy's house the night after the fateful crash, he tells Nick: "I thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It's better that the shock should all come at once. She stood it pretty well" (151). This disgusts Nick, who is shocked that Gatsby can think only of Daisy under the circumstances: "He spoke as if Daisy's reaction was the only thing that mattered...I disliked him so much by this time that I didn't find it necessary to tell him he was wrong" (151). Nick dislikes Gatsby's take on relationships because it differs so greatly from his own. Nick has had many relationships with women, and Fitzgerald depicts his relationship with Jordan as rather intimate. However, Nick soon finds his relationship with Jordan dwindling. "I'd be damned if I go in; I'd had enough of all of them for one day and suddenly that included Jordan too" (150). In this scene, Nick finds that he has lost respect for Jordan and he decides to sever his connection with her. His actions are totally opposite to those of Gatsby, who sacrifices everything for his love. Thus there is a fundamental difference between Gatsby and Nick in their view of love and what sacrifices should be made for it. This is the root of Nick's distaste for Gatsby. However, despite his feelings towards Gatsby, Nick is always around him for reasons of

“Literature opens a dark window on the soul, revealing morea bout what is bad in human nature than what is good.” This quote an be interpreted to mean that in books, the reader more often sees negative views of the characters than they do positive aspects; one learns more about the darker sides of humanity in books that they do about the goodness in people. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the protagonist, Nick Carraway, is a man living in New York during the 1920s. While there are good, innocent people in the book, the novel is dominated by those who act against the moral standard set by F. Scott Fitzgerald and society.. Through the narrator, the reader learns about the darker side of people and human nature living in this time.

Nick’s love for Gatsby became more and more apparent throughout the novel. Gatsby was an: "extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I[Nick] have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I[he] shall ever find again".(2) Gatsby aspired for something and someone, which gave him a depth to him that no other character Nick met throughout the novel had. He had loved Daisy from the moment they met, and from then on, dedicated his life to winning her back, after he had lost her when he went off to war. He weaved his endless love for her, into his vision of the american dream and decided form that moment on see that dream out in order to win Daisy back. In the 1920's many

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald has many different settings from the very start. In chapter one the story begins explaining where the narrator Nick lives and then goes on to reflect on where Mr. Gatsby lives. Both characters live in New York, but each of the characters live in different sections. Nick lives in West Egg Village, with is where more middle class or modest people tend to live. Mr. Gatsby lives in East Egg Village the complete opposite of West Egg, people who live in East Egg have more of a exorbitant and exaggerated way of living. One thing that stood out the most was the actuality of people who have the capability to live in a part of New York and be apart of the middle class. It seems uncommon to live in that

Why is affluence so significant? It was not always this way. For hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, personal properties were insignificant or even disadvantageous unless it was food. For the sake of development and standards of life, this had to change. As wealth gained in value, people also lived better, longer lives, but at a certain point, it began to manipulate the society around it. Some may argue that this occurred around the 1920’s in America. The changes of this time were monumental. People were moving to cities in large numbers, the party lifestyle was adopted by men and women alike due to dramatic social change, and the economy was booming, they were not called “the roaring 20’s” for nothing. The large economy enabled people to gain more wealth than ever. A multitude of people, primarily in older generations, did not encourage this lifestyle, finding it fake, licentious, flashy, and unchristian. This disapproval of change is apparent in The Great Gatsby due to Nick’s distaste for the frivolous and gaudy lifestyles of the East and West Eggers and Gatsby in particular. This distaste, also conveyed heavily by the author, is most significantly formed around the iniquitous value of money and adultery. Ergo, In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that Modern America has become irrationally focused upon immorality and wealth rather than the true American values of hard work and faith, which is demonstrated through the motif of the colour

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells us a variety of themes-justice, power and greed, The American dream and so on. The Great Gatsby is regarded as a brilliant piece of social commentary. The Great Gatsby concerns the wasteful lives of four wealthy characters as observed by their acquaintance, narrator Nick Carraway. Like Fitzgerald himself, Nick is from Minnesota, attended an Ivy League university, served in the U.S. Army during World War I, moved to New York after the war. The narrator, Nick, is a very clever and well spoken storyteller. Nick confides with the reader in the first pages of the novel. He says that he needs to tell the story of a man called Gatsby. It is as if Nick has to overcome disappointment and frustration with a man who has left him with painful memories. This thesis is valid for three main reasons. First, it is evident that dreams and memories are central to the overall plot and meaning. Secondly, the American Dream is a “green light” of desire that Gatsby never stops yearning for and something he will not forget over time, even as he is dying. This is so, even though no one cares about Gatsby or his dreams after he died, except maybe Nick. Finally, the fact that Fitzgerald uses flashback; that Nick is telling us about a main character after he has already died and before the story begins, is ultimate proof.The Great Gatsby is structured by Nick’s memory. Fitzgerald’s clever use of flashback throughout and within the