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Theme Of Hindrance In The Great Gatsby

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When we think of Gatsby as a character, we would typically describe him as dedicated, cunning, and, more importantly, as a dreamer. This aspect of his character worked to his advantage in many situations, as shown when his dreams of being something more than a farmer led him to run away from his past life, and helped him gain his fortune. However, with some areas of his life, this proved to be a hindrance. While we all must be able to think creatively and think of new ideas, it is also important to know when to come down to earth. If Gatsby had learned his, he could have avoided his tragic fate. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s love for Daisy to show that we need to focus on the present. The one of the first instances of this …show more content…

The first example of this is shown when Gatsby sent Daisy the letter before her wedding immediately. While it seems rational to send a letter to someone you love, there are a few reasons why Gatsby should have hesitated. First, it had been awhile since Daisy and Gatsby met. And, in addition to that, Gatsby had always assumed that Daisy would be his. Because Gatsby himself is a dreamer, it didn’t occur to him to see what was happening in Daisy’s life before sending her a letter. He had his future planned out, and wanted Daisy in it. Fitzgerald did this to, again, highlight Gatsby’s inability to be more grounded. The foil between Daisy and Gatsby is also brought out again. Although Daisy wanted Gatsby, and was devastated to get his letter, she married Tom anyways. Daisy realized that it was irrational to drop everything for Gatsby, something that Gatsby did not understand. Yet the true revealer of this theme is the overall difference in feelings between Gatsby and Daisy. As we talked about earlier, Gatsby’s flaw was that he was too caught up in the past. He saw Daisy, even several years later, as his one, true love. Daisy’s feelings can be identified with the line, “After you had gone home she came into my room and woke me up and said “What Gatsby?”… she described in the strangest of voices that it must be the man she used to know.” (pg. 83) Daisy saw Gatsby as someone she had a nice relationship with, but that it is in the past. Daisy realized that her life was with Tom and her daughter. Unlike Gatsby, she wasn’t willing to drop everything and leave that. Fitzgerald used this contrast to illustrate the importance of understanding one’s place. Daisy knew where she belonged, while Gatsby was too caught up in his dreams and past

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